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Quote of the Day

Great quotes from great leaders:

“The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”
Vince Lombardi (1913-1970)

“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”
Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969)

“We must become the change we want to see in the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”
Henry Ford (1863-1947)

“There are two ways of exerting one’s strength; one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.”
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)

“Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours.”
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)

“If a man does his best, what else is there?”
George S. Patton (1885-1945)

Source: Simpletruths.com

Drivers Sound Off

In terms of driver retention, the relationship between an over-the-road professional and his or her dispatcher might be the most critical relationship in the industry. After all, a dispatcher is the driver’s primary contact with the company day in and day out. If the relationship heads south, more often than not the driver will head south as well.

With that in mind, we asked drivers the following question:
What type of person makes a good dispatcher?

Here are some of the responses:

Gary Close, 43, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Professional driving experience: 24 years

“Communication is the key. He or she’s got to have been in the trenches and know what it’s all about. A lot of drivers will tell you that dispatchers who used to be drivers forget what it’s like out on the road real quick, but it still comes down to communication. If you can’t communicate, you’re just beating your head against the wall.”

Edward Bosket, 56, Lake City, FL
Professional driving experience: 35 years

“A good dispatcher will try to get you to deliver the loads that have to be delivered – looking out for the company -- but they will also be looking out for your home time and the runs that you like. They’ll pick the happy medium, so they can be happy and we’ll be happy, too.”

Cleo Yates, 51, Pioneer, LA
Professional driving experience: 31 years

“They’ve got to be a people person. They also have to have a sense of humor to get along with truck drivers, because most truck drivers have a pretty good sense of humor. At least they think they do.”

Brian Boyd, 36, Grayson, LA
Professional driving experience: 17 years

“Someone who understands the needs of a driver. I don’t think an ex-driver makes a good dispatcher, because he or she tends to remember the things that happened to him, and now it’s payback time. At the same time, I do think they need to know something about the industry as opposed to someone who just came out of college.”

Woody Miller, 64, Speedwell, TN
Professional driving experience: 40 years

“Our dispatcher did a good job. She didn’t yank you around. Everything was laid out a couple of days in advance. You knew where you were going. A good dispatcher is well organized and most of all, they don’t lie to you.”

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