Dispatching and Load Planning

Dispatching is assigning you a load.  Load planning is having the next load lined up.  How well it's done will have a direct impact on your paychecks so I will tell you how to help your dispatcher help you.

If you don't run miles, basically you don't get paid. The only way you can positively affect your load planning and dispatching is to have a reputation for making appointment on time and early. 

How Dispatching Works.

How Does Dispatching Work

The way dispatching works can vary greatly from company to company.  Varies again from an owner operator stand point.

First things first, you can only drive 11hrs in a day.  You can only be on duty 14 hrs in a day.  Every driver need to keep up with this.  Some dispatchers also keep up and some don't.

So if you know you don't have hours to pick up or deliver your load you should bring it to dispatch attention.

Also remember, the dispatcher is on your team.  You should be working together not against each other.  ( Explanation for why I bring this up here)  

So the dispatcher will look on the load board if you're owner operator or he/she might get loads from internal source is dispatch works for large trucking company.

They will either have loads that need to be covered due to contracts with the manufacture or they will have to find loads that match their criteria.

Taking into account.....

• How much it pays
• Where it delivers to
• How much time you have left to get to pick up and delivery
• The weight of the load
• The weather sometimes (Most won't monitor this so you MUST)
• The type of freight it is (to make sure you can haul it)

Being Dispatched as Company Driver

• You get assigned a load often sent over an electronic device
• You accept the load by sending a response message
• You go to the pickup when directed (always be on time)
• If you have free time before appointment, get fuel if needed.
• Some times, its a strict appointment and sometimes it's first come first serve from open time until closing hrs.
• Usually you send a notification to the company when you arrive and when you are loaded.
• If it's a heavy load, you stop at the closest truck stop to get weighed.
• You head off to the delivery destination. 

Being Dispatched as Owner Operator

As an owner operator, you won't have forced dispatch.  Meaning you choose your loads or if you have dispatching service you can refuse your load.  (Unless you are leased on to a carrier, then they might have forced dispatch )

The rest of the dispatching process is pretty much the same.

• You get offered a load and it may or may not be sent over on an electronic device.  Or you might just get sent a rate con by email.  (That's my process)
• You accept the load by signing the rate con.  Or your dispach will.
• You contact broker to get pickup information.  And do check call.  (That means tell him/her where you're at.)
• You go to the pickup when directed (always be on time)
• If you have free time before appointment, get fuel if needed.
• Some times, its a strict appointment and sometimes it's first come first serve from open time until closing hrs.
• Usually you send a notification to the company or broker or dispatch when you arrive and when you are loaded.
• If it's a heavy load, you stop at the closest truck stop to get weighed when you leave.
• You head off to the delivery destination. 

Load Planning

Ideally you want your loads pre-planned. This means that when you leave out on a run, the dispatcher will already have or be looking for a load to dispatch you to another destination after your delivery. This way when you're empty, you don't sit around waiting for him/her to find a load.  You already know what the next move is.

So prior to you making your appointment on the first/current load, you contact the dispatcher with a planned ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival).  That is the information that the dispatcher needs to plan.

When you are actually empty call and dispatch will send you the information for the next pick up from near that location. That's what good dispatchers do. Some dispatchers will give you that information in advance.

Also if they are not sure about YOU, they might wait until you are empty. Some companies allow the dispatcher to coordinate loads like this for the week or at least a few days into the week at a time. Other companies will not. A good way for you to ruin your own ability to get preplanned loads is to not be reliable.

Think about it, if you won't show up on time to your deliveries. The dispatcher can't predict that when you will be empty. Why would he/she promise another company that you will be there by a certain time if he/she is not sure based on your past performance? He can't in good faith.

So there is a catch 22 for some companies. Although they would like to dispatch early, they won't allow dispatching on loads early. They won't allow preplanning or limit the number of days out for fear of drivers causing them to look bad to the shippers that they would promise a pick up time.

Most smart companies or dispatcher however, will just not pre-plan that unreliable driver early but will pre-plan the reliable drivers that have proven themselves.  That's more money for the company and the good driver.

I have never had a problem of consistently waiting extended periods of time for a load.  At all companies that I drove for, I would come across drivers for the same company every now and then who delivered to the same locations and talk about having to wait for loads.

I would say, "Well, if you think about it, how can they plan your loads early if they don't know whether or not you will be there when you are supposed to." "Like I said, I will get there when I get there. I don't make a difference, they are going to do what they want to do." Now that attitude will certainly not be one that helps out your trucking career.

So you have to look at the big picture and kind of handle the position as you would want a driver to handle the position if you were the guy in the office communicating with the customer, hoping the driver did this one with a certain amount of care for his/her job performance and customer service.

If you look at it that way, at a good company, you will not hurt too much for miles and look forward to your paycheck.

Handling Problems With Dispatchers

Managing Your Time With ELD

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