Long Haul Dispatcher
Ghost Transportation Services
Posted: Oct 11, 2024
Apply by Nov 25, 2024
Number of Jobs: 1
Job Description
Do you like puzzles? Figuring things out?
Have you ever played chess? Does solving problems give you joy? Are you like
Hannibal from the A-Team and “Love it when a plan comes together!”
Ghost Transportation Services is looking
for a Senior Truck Coordinator. This
used to be called a dispatcher, then they got broke down to Planner, Customer
Service Rep and Driver Liaison, or at least the big companies with a whole lot
of trucks do. We quite frankly don’t
care what its called, you could be called a Driver, Freight, Truck and Trailer
Integration Engineer if you want. What
we need is someone to build the plan, execute the plan, adjust the plan on the
fly and make sure what needs to happen does happen.
What skills are needed?
Well, you need to be able to use a
computer. No not for solitaire, you need
to be able to utilize email, spreadsheets and figure out how to use TruckMate,
which is the dispatch system we use. While
it is as easy as filling out blanks and clicking on things, you need to look at
it as a tool that with the right blanks filled out, the proper clicks and good
formatting of columns, you then see your dispatch board. You need to be able to use our tracking site
to see when and where the trucks are.
You need to see the future. Well not really, but you do need to look at
things and try to figure out the best case, worst case and multiple scenarios
in between. You need to look at what has
happened before to predict what will happen next.
You need to understand where you can go and
where you can not. What weights can you
haul on different roads, in different jurisdictions, on different truck and
trailer configurations. You need to
understand hours of service and how long a driver can drive and how fast a
truck can go.
You need to understand what we are hauling. Is it eggs or is it concrete? All freight has different aspects to it. How does it fit in a trailer? Does it fit in a normal trailer? Is it over dimension? There are a lot of questions that will
require answers
You need to have great communication and
people skills. All drivers are
different. They have different goals and
desires. Some aren’t happy unless they
are rolling at 4 am but shut down at 6 pm.
Others do not bother having a load till 10am but they will run late into
the night. And they all have stories and
knowledge they want to share so you have to be a good listener.
Scheduling.
You need to make the plan for the trucks and discuss with the drivers. Nothing is worse than a driver showing up
late because they were not told they had a specific load or unload time. Or the driver needs to know that you have to
be somewhere at 0800 in order to get unloaded to reload at 1000. If they don’t know, it usually does not
happen. You also need to work with the
fleet manager for repairs, services, etc to keep the trucks (and drivers)
operating.
Learning geography is a must. You may not know where Love is, or how to say
Waskatenau (its wa-set-na) or that Lodi isn’t just a song by CCR. You don’t need to know where everything is,
but you do need to use the tools to find out. And yes, if you can read a paper map, that is
a bonus.
Math is important too. How far/how fast= how long it takes. How much paid/how far=Revenue per Mile. How many hours does a driver have left? Can he/she make the delivery? How much does the rounder pay? Is the truck making money this trip? How much payload can we put on? How much space is left in the trailer. Math skills are ESSENTIAL!!!!!
So yeah, it can look like a lot. But if you can learn this, you can do it.
Many successful dispatchers move up the
ladder if that is something you are interested in, because the skill set needed
to do it well if fairly robust. This
skill set is also transferrable to many other industries.
Hours for this vary. Yes, the general expectation is Monday to
Friday 8-5. But there will be days that something happens at 445 that needs to
be dealt with. But there will also be
days where you need to come in a little later because of some appointment and
the answer is yes. As long as the trucks
and customers are looked after, that is fine. You will have a cell anyway. So yes, it can be flexible, as long as the
work is done properly.
Is it an easy job? No, but it is a fulfilling job when you do it
well. Putting all the pieces of the
puzzle together and then tear it apart the next day and start again. But no two days are the same.
As a bonus, we will even pay you to do the
job complete with benefits!!
So if you are looking for a mindless job that
does not require any thought, no this is not for you. If you want something that will challenge your
mind, give you the opportunity to learn everyday and develop skills that will
help you see the world a little differently, by all means, send in a resume.