Tips To become a successful trucking dispatcher

Working as a trucking dispatcher can indicate long, very focused hours. They are in charge of the driver and trip scheduling and all driver communication while they are on the job. This kind of communication can involve details about traffic delays, vehicle breakdowns, project delays, or delivery issues. 

Truck dispatchers are also in charge of recording transportation expenses like mileage, fuel use, and repairs. They are also likely to record all shipping and delivery details. They plan routes that’ll ultimately save the driver’s time and the company money.

Lastly, they could ensure the accuracy of completed timesheets, payroll, and other summaries, depending on the size of the company they work with. They can even be responsible for sourcing new drivers or external trucking companies to fulfill ever-increasing project demands. 

What makes a good dispatcher?

Working as a dispatcher is a lot more than arriving and going for a few calls on the radio. A really excellent trucking dispatcher possesses the following skills and traits:

• Organized
• Focused
• Attention to detail
• Capability to multitask
• Adaptable 
• Higher level of confidence
• Superior communication 
• Empathic and compassionate
• Exceptional emotional self-control

As a trucking dispatcher , there is rarely any downtime. A good dispatcher must have the ability to coordinate trip schedules, manage routes, and handle calls and requests from operators, third-party vendors, and their supervisors. They should make decisions confidently and have the knowledge to support them.

Superior communication skills are necessary as a trucking dispatcher. Written and verbal skills are necessary, but the capability to listen with an amount of empathy and compassion can be required. The capability to understand just what someone needs and act on it — professionally and efficiently — is just a skill which makes a dispatcher great.

Working as a trucking dispatcher can indicate dealing with highly stressful and emotional situations. The capability to remain calm and act with reason, rather than emotion, is essential to success in this role. Sometimes, dispatches change and can go in a different direction than originally planned. This is the reason it is very important to steadfastly keep up an amount of flexibility and adaptability within the role. Thinking quickly and making good decisions and judgments with little time and energy to plan ahead.

Is it hard to be a dispatcher?

Truck dispatching requires a high-level of organization, focus, awareness of detail, and patience. Dispatchers constantly manage a higher level of requests — somewhat such as an air traffic controller of the trucking world. It can be quite a stressful and challenging position. However, those who possess the fundamental skills may be well-suited for employment as a trucking dispatcher.

5 Tips For Becoming a good dispatcher

1. Go for a ride 

In case a dispatcher hasn’t done a fleet truck ride along, they will not have a whole knowledge of the trip process. Finding a front-row seat from what a trucking assignment (i.e. a  dispatch ) takes to complete will greatly assist dispatchers when assigning jobs and communicating with drivers.

Developing a rapport along with your drivers will allow you to better understand each driver’s habits, values, and communication styles. This may increase productivity, improve workflow, and minimize friction or delays. 

2. Cultivate relationships 

Cultivating relationships with the company’s sales and estimating team is key to being a successful dispatcher. We recommend working closely along with your estimating and sales departments to completely understand the quantity of truck requests coming your way. 

3. Be open to feedback and collaboration

Create an open channel for feedback and encourage drivers to make use of it. Feedback is an invaluable tool that improves business flow and procedures while ensuring those involved feel valued and heard.

Beyond receiving feedback may be the actual implementation of it. What good is driver input when it isn’t used? Consider actionable and constructive feedback and apply it to relevant processes.

4. Use truck dispatch management software

Element of truck dispatching is finding probably the most efficient routes that’ll save the company time and money. Implementing a  truck dispatch management software program that takes the guesswork from this task improves budget and frees up time for other tasks.

Truck dispatch management software also increases driver visibility, provides data on driver behaviour, fleet maintenance requirements, paperless e-ticketing, custom reports, and more. It’s a highly useful tool for trucking dispatchers in the construction industry.

5. Use one channel of communication

In place of sending information through numerous channels (email, text, radio, etc.), make an effort to simplify the communication streams to 1 reliable method.  Truck dispatch management software supplies a means to fix this issue by streamlining communication and housing all trip information in one single, easy-to-use application.