The trucking industry in the USA is prosperous and profitable by default. But do you know what can make your trucking experience even better? A good dispatcher.
Working with a dispatcher is bliss both for the carrier company and drivers. Dispatchers manage all that paperwork, deal with routes and schedules, find a profitable freight to move. They’re basically mega minds of the freight delivery process. The truck dispatcher position is a sweet spot in the trucking industry.
Fleet Care has some great examples of how dispatching services benefit everyone in the trucking business: https://fleet.care/.
Dispatchers are interested in choosing the best paying loads as cheap freight never leads to success both for the dispatcher and the driver.
The professionalism of every dispatcher decides the company’s financial success and driver’s effectiveness and working conditions apart from the financial side of the question.
Learn more on how the dispatcher’s job benefits everyone in trucking in this article.
Benefits for brokers and truck drivers
There are usually two viewing points in this industry in the USA, most of the time they’re opposite to each other: brokers and truck drivers.
So, why dispatcher’s position is a sweet spot in trucking that will make you want to consider this job?
Brokers are actually invested in building strong and trustworthy relationships with dispatchers. The reason is quite obvious: dispatchers connect them with drivers and rule out the best conditions of freight moving across the USA. Dispatchers are useful in this case: they find the best routes, get the best equipment, and find available drivers. They have resources to do all that, and the more professional the dispatcher is, the more counterintuitive it is for the broker to argue with them on prices and other issues. Dispatchers always get the best prices that will satisfy both the company and the broker.
For a carrier company, professional dispatchers are the gold worth digging. These people carry a huge responsibility of building a steady roadmap for every order. They carry out all the scheduling and logistics:
- route building;
- finding a good freight load;
- creating a healthy shift schedule for drivers;
- keeping an eye on health & safety, constantly checking safety records and safety ratings.
Also, the dispatcher relieves every driver of the responsibility to negotiate rates with every broker, which can be really tedious sometimes. The dispatcher does all the “office” jobs for drivers while they are on the road. It’s convenient for drivers, and what’s convenient for drivers, is convenient both for the carrier and for the broker.
Dispatchers know the market situation and find the best rates, ensuring the financial success of the company. Also, these people take care of driver’s safety and carrier’s safety ratings: keeping an eye on weather conditions, rebuilding routes if necessary, creating a healthy schedule for drivers of every shift.
Reduce the paperwork
As we’ve mentioned before, what’s good both for the broker and for the driver, is always good for the carrier company. But it doesn’t necessarily end there: dispatchers take care of the whole onboarding process and manage all the paperwork like a pro. Confirmations, freight documentation, every bit of financial and legal communication are on them, which is a great responsibility, but also a great relief for the trucking company.
Also, a good dispatcher takes care of the whole onboarding process and communication with the broker so the managers can focus on bigger business decisions, and drivers can drive without overwhelming themselves with tons of paperwork. The communication during the freight moving process is also a dispatcher’s responsibility ‒ this way, drivers can drive safely, and brokers get relevant updates.
And if there’s any problem on the road or at any other point of the roadmap, dispatchers also take care of that. Out-of-service orders, bad weather conditions, problems with finding the freight are solved through dispatchers, which brings more stability to the trucking company’s work. Basically, the dispatcher takes the task from the broker and makes sure that the freight gets from point A to point Z without problems neither for the broker nor for the driver or the company.
This is a truly unique job position. In a country as big as the USA, especially in the big states like Texas, on-time freight delivery is the key to any business success. Dispatchers are the people at the root of this success, providing companies all over the country with high-quality trucking services that benefit everyone: brokers, companies, and drivers. They take care of logistics, like providing a safe truck parking place in Houston for the drivers, health & safety, rates, and a big chunk of the paperwork, which is a great responsibility but also a privileged and important job position.
As for safety, companies like Dispatcher360.com, always make sure that working conditions for drivers comply with DOT requirements. Any violation of these requirements gets noticed and reported by dispatchers, then the company takes some steps to improve their safety rating and imply better and safer practices.
Does everyone in the USA trucking industry really need a dispatcher? That’s a difficult question, as some on the road drivers prefer to work by themselves. Some companies manage to work without dispatchers, having very few drivers. But as a general practice, having a dispatcher to manage it all is a perfect solution that benefits everyone including dispatchers themselves. The salary rates for this job position are a great example of that.
How can a truck dispatcher improve your trucking experience?
If you’re an independent trucker, a dispatcher is someone you really want to have around. There are several reasons for this conclusion:
- You need a backup ‒ always! Things can get unpredictably bad at any moment, and instead of getting desperate, you’ll know that there’s a person who will take care of the issue. Managing big and small problems is essential in terms of maintaining a good business reputation, and a dispatcher is the best person to do that for you.
- You need more time. For family, for rest, for recovery ‒ everything has to be healthy (and actually, it’s written in the law). The dispatcher’s job is also about scheduling freights in a smart way to make sure you as a driver get enough sleep and recreation time.
- You have to stay informed. Weather and traffic conditions, roadworks, and any changes that might affect your route are just the kind of stuff a dispatcher takes care of. This way, your routes are better organized and you remain informed about the situation on the road.
If you’re not the only driver in the trucking company, a dispatcher will figure out the best schedule that works for everyone and ensures there are no delays. Also, dispatchers take care of trucks and driver’s safety ‒ every company should treat these things seriously because there’s nothing worse than an out-of-service order when you have a lot of clients to take care of.
Dispatch services are fundamental for steady work in the trucking industry ‒ when you have a nice flow of clients, you cannot afford delays. Dispatchers are always there to help truck drivers, and hiring one is the best business decision that can be made in this industry.
