The truck dispatcher is a prevalent profession today. It welcomes active and motivated people who understand the freight industry. If you feel that this job is just for you, then you need to study it in more detail.
After all, this is not an easy specialty, which requires a lot of perseverance and attention to detail. This is especially true for box truck dispatch services, as they say on this site. Dispatchers play a crucial role in cargo transportation, so let’s get down to the details.
What are the responsibilities of a truck dispatcher?
These specialists have an impressive list of responsibilities, which makes them irreplaceable employees. Individually, these tasks do not take much time and effort, but together they can well test your stress tolerance. Do not be afraid, software solutions and cooperation with other departments in the transport company will come to the aid of dispatchers.
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Communication with truckers
The dispatcher must convey to the truck driver all the information from the client, including wishes, and route details. In turn, the driver can contact this specialist anytime to solve urgent problems. Communication should take place 24/7. Of course, this does not mean that you will be sitting at work for days because of communication with a trucker. But you will have to be in touch all your working day. Then another dispatcher will replace you.
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Communication with clients
The truck dispatcher negotiates with them about working conditions and details of cooperation. In case of problems, he reports them to the shipper. The specialist also communicates with clients about paying bills.
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Cargo search
Truck dispatchers are always looking for potential customers and profitable orders. They are looking for downloads in certain apps, on download boards, or through their own dating. This is a significant responsibility for small transport companies and owner-operators
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Route planning and optimization
The specialist should draw up the most profitable transportation route that will allow the cargo to be delivered to the right place in the shortest possible time. Truck dispatches can use Route4Trucks software to help them plan and optimize routes, so they can identify the most efficient way to transport goods.
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Working with documents
Contracts, driver logs, invoices, and maintenance schedules are all the responsibility of the truck dispatcher.
How to become a truck dispatcher?
First, you need to know everything about this profession. Study articles and forums and communicate with colleagues from this industry. Before you go a long way to a career, it’s better to understand if you like this industry at all immediately. Moreover, you can get useful tips from people on building a career, finding a job and choosing software.
Next, you have to find suitable training for yourself. It can even be courses. The main thing is that you will learn basic information about work, cargo search, communication with customers and working with applications. Also, improve the skills you need to become a successful truck dispatcher. By the way, we’ll talk about them in the next section.
The necessary skills for a successful truck dispatcher
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Knowledge about the industry
If you have never encountered cargo transportation and have no idea what it is about, study this topic. After all, you will manage the work of truckers and advise customers. Moreover, this knowledge will help you to join the team faster and achieve promotion.
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Communication skills
In this job, you will have to communicate constantly with different people. Some of them will be easy to contact, some will not be so friendly. And yet, you will have to find an approach to everyone in order to do your job effectively.
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Working with different software
Dispatchers use software for every taste: for routing, for creating and filling out documents, for sending invoices, for cargo search, for fleet management, and for monitoring drivers’ work schedules. In all these applications, you will have to figure it out. Their knowledge is necessary for work because software simplifies and speeds up work.
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Organization
This is a crucial skill of the truck dispatcher, which helps not to get lost in the flow of tasks. This skill, combined with time management, will help you keep up with everything, do not forget about important things, and transmit all information on time.
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Problem-solving skills
Unexpected situations constantly occur on the road. And the first person the trucker will call in this case is the dispatcher. Therefore, you must be a stress-resistant person who can quickly get together and solve problems remotely. Your task is to deliver the cargo with minimal losses, follow the law and listen to the voice of reason.
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The ability to be patient
This is essential when communicating with customers. During the conversation with them, you will represent an entire transport company. In such a situation, it is impossible to lose self-control. You will also need patience when waiting for news from drivers. After all, he’s driving, and he can’t always answer you right away, even if the question is very urgent. Patience, just patience.
How can you acquire the missing skills? In most of them, you only need self-control and personal qualities. But with solid skills, such as knowledge of the laws or the ability to manage a fleet, specialized courses will help you. They teach the basics of the profession there, which is very useful for beginners. You can also find online courses or get an internship at a transport company.
