Trucking Software Blog

All aspects of your business are important, but dispatching is the department that can make or break your company. A good dispatcher that knows and can work with your customers, drivers, and carriers, is an invaluable asset and will add to your bottom line. A mediocre or poor dispatcher can ruin your reputation and cause unbelievable problems. Good dispatchers keep the company’s heart beating and the revenue flowing.

I knew a small trucking company several years ago that illustrates this concept. For many years one dispatcher ran the operation almost single handedly. The customers loved him because he got the freight delivered on time. The drivers respected him, most liked him and worked for the company for years. The company grew steadily.

The owner of the company hired a second dispatcher that talked a good game and convinced the owner that he knew what he was doing. A few months later the original dispatcher got fed up and left. Within a year the company filed for bankruptcy. The owner reorganized the company but kept the mediocre dispatcher. In a couple more years the owner shut the doors completely. While other companies expanded rapidly during this same time frame, this company went out of business, mainly because of one mediocre dispatcher.

In order for good dispatchers to keep your business going, they need the right tools. They need a way to easily enter customer orders and assign one or more orders to one or more trucks or carriers. Customer credit history must be monitored, and the dispatcher notified, if there is a problem, before he takes more freight orders from that customer. As the load progresses, the dispatchers must be able to monitor the truck's current location and the status of the load. If additional expenses are incurred, the estimated net profit needs to be accessed easily by the dispatchers.

If any problems occur, the dispatchers need a quick way to add comments and track progress. They need the ability to quickly query previous trips for the carrier, driver, or customer and see all the information immediately. Once the dispatchers have the right tools, they can help you grow your business and keep your company’s lifeblood flowing. In addition, you can monitor the dispatchers work performance and insure they are performing efficiently.

If you need to improve the tools you and your dispatchers use to keep the heart beating, contact TruckMaster® today for a free online demo of the best dispatcher-friendly software package on the market.

Craig Sorensen
TruckMaster® Solution Provider
TruckMaster® Your Trucking Company™