Regardless of the area in which a person works, each profession is within certain limits and standards. Do not forget that the participants of any business activity interact with each other. Since the transportation business is heavily regulated in the United States, these rules apply to the dispatcher profession and other areas of activity. That is why it is so important to understand the basics. In this article, we will talk about the peculiarities of the job of a truck dispatcher.
Setting up a dispatcher’s office does not require high costs. You will need a computer, monitors, laptops, special programs, printers, a scanner, and a fax machine. It is also important for the organization to have high-speed Internet. At the same time, there are no special requirements for the office’s location. The choice will depend on. You can work in the office, and you can work remotely. Instead of a scanner, you can use an application on your phone like CamScan, and other analogs. This system makes it possible to receive faxes by e-mail and print them out. It will be possible to send documents for signature to the cargo recipient or the broker.
Professional skills
From the very beginning of your work, you will have to be in daily contact with shippers, brokers, dispatchers, insurance workers, and other people. The speed and success of development in this business will depend on how competently you can build a behavior model. The main tools by which you will interact with customers are telephone, e-mail, and fax. It is important to demonstrate professional skills instantly during the first communication, because if you do not impress the clients that you are a real professional in your field, a personal meeting may never take place, regardless of what kind of relationship with clients has already developed, it is necessary to communicate politely and respectfully on the phone. When writing letters, you must use only business language, follow the English language rules, and carefully consider each sentence. At the same time, swearing in business correspondence is completely unacceptable. Perseverance is important in work, but it should not turn into aggressiveness. If it is not possible to resolve issues with one or another partner within the framework of business communication, and at the same time, they treat you without respect, the best solution would be to exclude them from the list of business contacts.
The main truck dispatchers’ responsibilities
The main part of the truck dispatcher’s work is the search for customers within the country and worldwide. Most often, the search for customers is carried out via the Internet. There is an algorithm a truck dispatcher follows:
- Agreement on loading into the required vehicle moving along the desired route.
- Providing all data on the car and the driver to the cargo owner.
- Sending information to the driver about loading confirmation.
- Notifying the cargo owner of successful loading.
- Ensuring that the car gets to the right destination and the cargo is in its original form.
These tasks do not require special skills or education. It is necessary to be able to use the basic means of communication of the modern world: telephone, Internet, etc. Therefore, people can work as truck dispatchers, both with technical education and without it at all.
Starting in the morning, the truck dispatcher plunges into work. Then the truck dispatcher tracks orders online. In case of a positive result, the dispatcher looks for an order for the required machine. You might find the right cargo in a couple of minutes, and sometimes you have to spend a working day in vain.
The truck dispatcher must be ready to deal with any emergencies. Most often, this is the customer’s refusal at the final stage of the transaction or the breakdown of the transport. The dispatcher must control the situation, take care of its prompt resolution, and solve the problems via the phone or Internet to satisfy clients.
Truck dispatcher salary
The amount of remuneration is formed based on performance indicators. It all will depend on your performance. The average salary for dispatchers in the US is over 33,000$ per year. The salary depends only on the work of the truck dispatcher. If you make an effort and look for the most profitable loads for drivers, you will get a good salary. It is the same with loading. The more you find loads for drivers, the more money you will earn.
How to find a job as a dispatcher?
If you write “I am looking for a job as a truck dispatcher in the US” on a search website like Google, you will be given so many results that you might be confused. The best way is to use job search websites. One of the best job search websites is Jooble. On Jooble you will find a lot of nice vacancies for truck dispatchers.