Trucking42 School
5 tips for a novice dispatcher from the head of the dispatching department
We don't claim that you will become the best dispatcher after reading this article, but even by simple following these tips you will become more professional than many existing dispatchers who now earn $5000.
In this article, we will look at 5 tips that will help you improve your skills. And so, if you are reading this article, then perhaps you are interested in the profession of a truck dispatcher. Maybe you were attracted to remote work, good salary or ability to have your own business, but to be good in this field, you need certain skills. We can’t say that you will become the best dispatcher after reading this article, but even following these tips you will be more professional than many existing dispatchers who now earn from $ 5,000 dollars.
Perhaps you are wondering:
Why do we give advice?
Perhaps you are wondering:
Why do we give advice?
There are 2 main reasons for this:
An operating dispatch company
We are an operating dispatch company that has been in this business for more than 5 years. We are a constantly developing company.
Experience in logistics and in teaching
Most importantly, we have trained more than 200 of our employees. That is, we have experience not only in logistics, but also in teaching logistics to beginners.
And so let's look at 5 tips :
Tilda Publishing
Avoid "mission impossible"
Check the Facility
Plan ahead
Ask the driver to explain his expectations of this trip
Use technology and read the news
Avoid "Mission Impossible"
The first advice: you need to understand that we are all human. Do not demand of others what you can’t do yourself. Don't give them an impossible mission. What does it mean? Mission impossible - these are actions or tasks that practically leave the driver no room for error. These are deliveries in a short time, which sometimes leave no opportunity to make even a small stop. Sometimes it seems that it’s better to strain yourself and take the best cargo, but overloaded delivery schedules irritate truck drivers, which can reduce the efficiency and effectiveness of work in general. Instead, it’s better to leave a small buffer for emergencies.
Ask the driver to explain the expectations of sending
The second avice is that a lot of problems can be prevented simply by communicating with drivers and indeed with anyone. The driver probably wants to spend time with his family every weekend, maybe he has his own appointment. Or he can say that he needs to gain 10,000 miles a month, because for him the main thing is earnings. Of course, the driver can inform you himself, but if he won’t inform you, you will only find out about it when there are misunderstandings. Any misunderstandings between the dispatcher and the driver is money. Whatever a person's expectations are, you should find out about them and try to fulfill them. If the expectations are unjustified, you will have constant problems with this driver, which will affect your mood, and most importantly your earnings.
Check the Facility
The third advice: take your time and check all the data several times!
This advice will help to avoid a situation, when you have booked a good cargo, and at the facility (this is the place where you can check the correspondence of the cargo number) it turns out that the pick up number is incorrect. Now you have to spend additional time to give the driver the correct pick up number, call the broker back and so on. Or even worse, when the driver arrives at the facility, they tell him that the appointment was yesterday. Rate confirmation already has to be done on hand, there are all addresses. And all because of one point: you didn’t check Facility.
Why do you need to check it at all if you have already discussed everything with the broker? In practice, everything is not as it should be. There is even a case when the broker doesn’t know when the appointment should be. He can just write any time when the driver arrives. It turns out that the appointed time was yesterday and he has to stand with the driver for 2 days without being able to start moving. It’s also possible that a particular facility takes a long time to load, you can find out about it in the reviews.
Probably you are wondering :
This advice will help to avoid a situation, when you have booked a good cargo, and at the facility (this is the place where you can check the correspondence of the cargo number) it turns out that the pick up number is incorrect. Now you have to spend additional time to give the driver the correct pick up number, call the broker back and so on. Or even worse, when the driver arrives at the facility, they tell him that the appointment was yesterday. Rate confirmation already has to be done on hand, there are all addresses. And all because of one point: you didn’t check Facility.
Why do you need to check it at all if you have already discussed everything with the broker? In practice, everything is not as it should be. There is even a case when the broker doesn’t know when the appointment should be. He can just write any time when the driver arrives. It turns out that the appointed time was yesterday and he has to stand with the driver for 2 days without being able to start moving. It’s also possible that a particular facility takes a long time to load, you can find out about it in the reviews.
Probably you are wondering :
“What should I ask when I call the Facility?”
1
Compliance check
Tell your pick up number, the product you are carrying. Find out when you have an appointment. And just check for compliance with what the broker sent you.
2
Parking
Find out if there is parking and if the driver can arrive in advance. Ask if there is overnight parking . This is necessary to ask and tell the driver in advance if he can arrive earlier.
3
Working hours and working status
Ask about working hours and working status. It’s very important to know how long the facility works. If the driver is late, at least you will understand how much time you have. Find out if they accept those who are late or arrived earlier. Sometimes it happens that the driver arrives earlier, wants to check in, but he can’t do it. Or he arrived half an hour later, and again it is not possible to check in.
A lot of things depend on this point. From how you plan everything in advance, how prepared you are for what will happen, you can prevent many problems in advance and make the cargo cancel if it doesn’t correspond to reality.
A lot of things depend on this point. From how you plan everything in advance, how prepared you are for what will happen, you can prevent many problems in advance and make the cargo cancel if it doesn’t correspond to reality.
Plan ahead
The fourth advice seems banal, but, as people say: the wise man plans everything twice.
This seems obvious, but in practice, dispatchers often miss this point.
A track dispatcher can save a lot of time by planning ahead. For example, by setting up geofences, adding subcontractors and creating templates when you’ll receive a task, it will free up a lot of your time on the day of the project.
We also recommend finishing each working day by spending 5-10 minutes confirming plans for the upcoming working day. For example, look at the weather forecast; check if it has changed since you made the trip schedule. If it changed, should you make any adjustments to the route or planned delivery times? Advance planning minimizes last-minute changes and improves overall workflow and productivity.
This seems obvious, but in practice, dispatchers often miss this point.
A track dispatcher can save a lot of time by planning ahead. For example, by setting up geofences, adding subcontractors and creating templates when you’ll receive a task, it will free up a lot of your time on the day of the project.
We also recommend finishing each working day by spending 5-10 minutes confirming plans for the upcoming working day. For example, look at the weather forecast; check if it has changed since you made the trip schedule. If it changed, should you make any adjustments to the route or planned delivery times? Advance planning minimizes last-minute changes and improves overall workflow and productivity.
Using technology and reading news
And finally, a final advice - use your time correctly by technology and constantly follow the news. On such a difficult job, you will not be able to track your datas by notebooks and phone calls. You can significantly increase your efficiency by using specialized technologies.
Of course, you can use “the old-fashioned way”, but there are different programs to make your work more convenient, for example, hot market map, which will help you better understand what is happening in the market, and accordingly take the best loads.
Reading the news is important for the same reason. Knowledge of the market is one of the key skills of a track dispatcher. It’s very important to know what is happening in the market in general. So here are some tips:
Of course, you can use “the old-fashioned way”, but there are different programs to make your work more convenient, for example, hot market map, which will help you better understand what is happening in the market, and accordingly take the best loads.
Reading the news is important for the same reason. Knowledge of the market is one of the key skills of a track dispatcher. It’s very important to know what is happening in the market in general. So here are some tips:
1
Follow the news. Browse the markets, look at DAT NEWS, also a very
useful tool.
useful tool.
2
Be always on trend! The market is an active organism that is constantly changing chaotically, keep an eye on it. If you do this, you will always be on trend and will anticipate which zones you need to go to.
Thus, observing the seemingly well-known rules, but which many forget, you can significantly improve your work skills, save your time and nerves and increase your income. This sounds good of course, but without the following of these tips it will be impossible. It’s not enough just to know the theory, you also need to use it in practice. Because theory without practice makes no sense!
Are you still thinking how to improve your skills ?
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Get free access to the first module of Truck Dispatcher course!
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