5 tips to become a successful truck dispatcher

Truck dispatchers play one of the key roles in the trucking industry. They manage freight on behalf of a carrier, find loads, negotiate with shippers, plan routes and speak with brokers. They are also responsible for setting up routes. Their main goal is to ensure the timely and efficient delivery of cargo. But how can you achieve success in this field and become a professional truck dispatcher with a decent income? In order to answer this question we have prepared 5 tips for you:
1. You must have a clear understanding of the transportation industry and the process of driving a commercial vehicle. A dispatcher needs to have a driver’s license and knowledge of how to properly operate a vehicle. Understanding how a truck works can help dispatchers communicate with drivers and structure their tasks. It will be easier for you to understand the driver, establish contact with them, and therefore increase the productivity and quality of your work with the driver.
2. In addition to maintaining good relationships with drivers and negotiating with shippers, you also need to develop and improve relationships with the sales and estimating departments of the company. Usually, no one mentions this, but it really affects the success of truck dispatchers. Collaboration with sales and estimating departments provides more clarity to the business, showing the big picture, and also helps you determine the volume of customer requests.
3. This advice is not new. When you work in the field of transportation, especially as a truck dispatcher, you must use software to manage truck dispatching. Why is using software so important and how does it greatly impact the success of a dispatcher? It saves your time and energy, freeing you up for other tasks. Moreover, most software nowadays not only includes planning the most efficient routes, but also helps track the driver and cargo movements, analyzes fleet maintenance requirements and driver behavior, custom reports, and maintains documentation. If for some reason you still don`t use software, you should start doing it right now.
4. To become a successful dispatcher, you must be open to communication and friendly. Don’t be afraid of feedback from drivers, you should actually want it. Even if a driver has bad feedback about your service, through feedback you can always learn about it and make improvements. This will help enhance your business processes and help your customers feel important and heard. By the way, how many communication channels do you use? This also plays a decisive role, as we recommend using only one channel of communication. For example, instead of sending information through email, messengers, social networks or phone, do everything to simplify this process. Find the most convenient and effective method of communication and improve it. Moreover, in this case, software can again help you by optimizing the communication process and consolidating all information about the trip and delivery in one place.
5. And finally – reduce stress. But now we are not just talking about a rest and having a planned day that includes breaks. We are talking about the stress that drivers and you feel when you push deadlines and rush them, creating a tense atmosphere and undue importance on the work process. Undoubtedly, timely and efficient delivery is important, but it is even more important to maintain balance. Forget about tight deadlines and rush, instead plan the delivery schedule so that in case of a problem or delay, the driver has additional time.