Truck Driving Jobs

jrhbull · #1 11-07-2007, 01:34 AM

What exactly does this mean?Does it mean i can take a load then come home for as long as id like then call for another load?? Any info appreciated

LostProphet · #2 11-07-2007, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrhbull

What exactly does this mean?Does it mean i can take a load then come home for as long as id like then call for another load?? Any info appreciated

No.It means that you dont necessarily "have" to take a load.However most trucking companies want you back in the seat within a reasonable amount of time.Which any good company will usually send you a preplan for when you come out of hometime.However dont fall for the whole "non force dispatch" thing,most dispatchers will pay you back for refusing a load by keeping you sitting somewhere.

Skywalker · #3 11-07-2007, 02:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LostProphet

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrhbull

What exactly does this mean?Does it mean i can take a load then come home for as long as id like then call for another load?? Any info appreciated

No.It means that you dont necessarily "have" to take a load.However most trucking companies want you back in the seat within a reasonable amount of time.Which any good company will usually send you a preplan for when you come out of hometime.However dont fall for the whole "non force dispatch" thing,most dispatchers will pay you back for refusing a load by keeping you sitting somewhere.

Ditto.

One other factor to consider: If there are no other loads available, and the only load that is....is one you don't want....guess what? You'll pull it, or pay the consequences. Its a simple fact of reality. And no...you can't deliver and go home. You get another dispatch from where you unloaded to the next pickup and then its delivery, and then repeat, and repeat again, until you are eligible to take time off per company policy.

coastie · #4 11-07-2007, 02:40 AM

Non force dispatch means your not force to take the load. But as LostProphet stated it can come back and bite you in the rear....

Now I did have it go into my favor once. Asked to take a load that I could not have done legally nor safely. I turned it down. I ended up with a better load, and from then on all my loads were better. With that company they loved to send me to NJ twice a week. Afterwards, I started to go west more. Meant longer runs and more money and able to do it with out forging my logs...

Skywalker · #5 11-07-2007, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coastie

Non force dispatch means your not force to take the load. But as LostProphet stated it can come back and bite you in the rear....

Now I did have it go into my favor once. Asked to take a load that I could not have done legally nor safely. I turned it down. I ended up with a better load, and from then on all my loads were better. With that company they loved to send me to NJ twice a week. Afterwards, I started to go west more. Meant longer runs and more money and able to do it with out forging my logs...

This opens the door to another facet of "forced dispatch". The dark side of "forced dispatch"......where a dispatcher leans on you to take a load and run with it...even though you have no hours to run it.

If this happens...do not, I repeat, do not take the run. Refuse the run, and if the dispatcher tries to lean on you....tell them you have a bad connection and hang up. Immediately call your Safety Department and tell them that dispatch is leaning on you to run illegal. If doing this causes a problem....immediately locate another driving job and move to another company.

Failure to stand your ground sets you up to become a whore for dispatch and they will take advantage of you ad nauseum, and then when you are caught by safety, the DOT, or have an accident....your life will become a living hell. Safety will fire you, the DOT will fine the crap out of you and safety will fire you, and in the event of an accident...all the foregoing will happen and a lawyer is going to ream you alive in court. If there are injuries or a fatality....bankruptcy won't help, and if there is a fatality, it won't matter anyway...because "Prisoners" can't pay bills.

zipy46 · #6 11-09-2007, 11:32 PM

If a company runs 'legal' like the CCC and CFI bunch its doubtful
they would press a dispatch issue.From what I hear they respect your obligation to the logbook and acknowledge your need for rest.
Alot of companies out there are getting on the safety bandwagon
and helping drivers run safe.

If the company is sorta 'silent' as to their drivers logbook habits
and they dump load after load on you then become spiteful if you say no then I would find a better job.These people are trouble.

I learned real quick that if 'Call Me' appears on the Qualcomm...DON"T!
Those punks are gonna use you...and mess you up.You'll end up going 2 days with no sleep.

jrhbull · #7 11-10-2007, 02:47 AM

I just meant if i was out 7-10 days if you took like 4 or 5 days off then get a load or noway that long off

inmate1577 · #8 11-10-2007, 01:38 PM

Some companies that dont do "forced dispatch" will let you pass a load, but they wont let you keep passing loads til something comes up that you like. If the truck doesnt roll, you and the company dont make money.

SNI is forced dispatch, but then again its not been a problem. If I'm short on hours, I get reassigned a new load. Its really no big deal to have forced dispatch. IMHO, the non-forced dispatch is a just a recruiting scam.

Copperhead · #9 11-10-2007, 01:51 PM

The company, Mike Brooks, Inc, that I have been with for a little over 8 years has a "forced dispatch" policy, but we have a batch of dispatchers that have a brain as well.

I am usually offered options on loads, and at the very least, I am asked if a I can do a run. I have never had a problem when I turned down a run due to hours. I will meet them halfway sometimes by picking up a load and getting it to an area where I can relay it off to another truck, get in a break, and by then they have another load in the area to grab.

It does take a team effort, but forced dispatch is not a "evil" to live with. If it done right, it really isn't hardly noticable. If drivers are abused, it is time to move on.

rvrjr7 · #10 11-27-2007, 11:39 PM

Even when a company says they are a no force dispatch like with owner operators theres times you have to take loads to an area that you might not particularlly like but if it means sitting for a few days not making any money or going to that location you dont care for heck ill take the load.
When I was a company driver at my last company we were a forced dispatch company, I was at one of the terminals kinda out of the way from the primary freight lanes what i mean by that they dont send too many of the otr drivers there mainly just regional drivers, they had one load available one driver turned it down ended up going to nyc but i took the load even though it was just 300 miles or so and my dispatcher at the time got me a load going home even though that wasnt my hometime weekend.
one thing I have learned if you work with your dispatcher and are a reliable and dependable driver for them they remember that stuff and they will give you the good loads if they have them available 8) and give the lets just say new jersey to a less reliable driver and let u go to texas