Should Drivers Refuse To Work For Companies With Forced Dispatch?

I've had instances where weekends or nights will give you a load where there is no possible way to finish it. So while they have your hours available to them on their computer, it is highly suggested that before you accept the load, do your math and see if you have the hours available. Call in (if a live dispatch is required) or at least send in a qc message politely advising them of your hours. They may in fact just want you to move the load down the road, and will repower it later, or they will find something else for you.

Like Old School said, we only know a small bit of what is going on. Weekends and nights are short handed and are usually covering more than just their own fleet.

Refusing a load, I was working for a company and was hired for no touch freight after 1 year and 7 month working for them they gave me a load on the holiday that say that I have to unload myself about 1000 tires and they say if I find lumpers there and pay them I’m not going to get reimburse for it. Instead of causing all the assle at the customer i refused the load and got fired. After being fired some companies will not hire you regardless the reason. My advice is don’t refuse the load just quit on the spot.

Hurts to hear you say that just because tires are what I have been doing for five years straight now.

1000 tires can work up a sweat in the summer time but it is nothing to lose your job over. Just shoot them out the trailer one at a time. They probably would have payed you extra for unloading it yourself.

A thousand tire load at one spot for my particular job comes to exactly $150 for 90-150 minutes of work. Then there is regular mileage pay on top of that. That is why they are my favorite.

Got to be a joke, right???

Refusing a load, I was working for a company and was hired for no touch freight after 1 year and 7 month working for them they gave me a load on the holiday that say that I have to unload myself about 1000 tires and they say if I find lumpers there and pay them I’m not going to get reimburse for it. Instead of causing all the assle at the customer i refused the load and got fired. After being fired some companies will not hire you regardless the reason. My advice is don’t refuse the load just quit on the spot.

A few Saturdays ago, I was dispatched to pickup Clorox products in University Park IL to Aberdeen MD. The miles were great! However, I had requested a guaranteed home time (had a medical related appt with my wife that I couldn't miss on Thursday) with my normal DM 2 weeks prior for that Wednesday. I honestly didn't see any possible way I could get the load there AND be home on time. So instead of refusing the load outright, I worked with the weekend DM to figure out a plan to relay the load (I don't know what y'all non Schneiders call that lol).

At first I thought Obetz OH as it was about halfway there, but the DM said the market there was just going east, so eventually we got it changed to a relay in Gary IN; the Chicago market is much easier to find loads back to Iowa.

I received a well thought out email about Old School's article and this is what it said:

In response to your article on Forced Dispatch, it really shouldn't be an issue. You sign up to work for a company - any company - and they ask you to do certain jobs. If you get hired as a janitor you expect to clean everything - including bathrooms. If you get hired as a nurse - you expect to get asked to take care of sick people. if you get hired on a fishing boat, you're expected to get out of your bunk and work - each day at sea.

If you hire on as a truck driver - you take the loads where they need to go. what I've learned is this. Customer Service agrees with a client to move their goods from one place to another for a fee. Dispatch needs to figure out which drivers are in what areas to pick up and deliver that load. Drivers are assigned to pick up and deliver loads.

If everyone wanted to say "NO" to certain loads - companies will go out of business. Just do what you're asked. dispatchers always know which driver is easy to work with, does what they're asked and skips all the complaining. Plus as time goes on, you'll see more favorable loads coming your way.

When I worked in this arena there were only a handful of times a load made me wonder. I would tactifully ask a few questions hoping to make them think a little before it was finalized. Sometimes it worked ok and the others I did what I called my charity load for the week. It all worked out in the end. It would be nice to always get your way in life, but life just doesn’t work that way.

Question slowpoke. Do you remember telling that driver the plan for the rest of the week to get him home? I would think that if he had known the plan from the get go, he would have been more likely to follow orders.

Good question Unholy, Yes, the whole week was explained, the whys and wherefores and how the plan was certain(failing a mechanical breakdown of course) to get him home, with decent miles for the week. I always tried to do that for everyone, but sometimes we just do not listen, as in the case of this particular driver. He heard something he did not want to hear and simply turned his ears off to the explanation. Any good dispatcher will work with you to get what you need/or want as long as they have time to work it into a plan. You know I used to joke with drivers who accused me of intentionally trying to mess up their lives with the following phrase, "Yep, I got out of bed this morning at 5:00am and the first thought that crossed my mind was, how can I make John Doe have a miserable day today?" Generally, that diffused the person getting worked up because it is completely ridiculous for any person who needs to get others to work with them on their plans, a dispatcher for example, to intentionally try to mess them up as much as possible.

There are not many certainties in this industry, but one of them is that if you are fortunate enough to have found a dispatcher or company that takes your needs into consideration on a regular basis (please notice I did not say every time), you have found a company or dispatcher that is worth sticking with. Yes, that carrier down the road may pay you an extra penny or two for every mile you turn, but then ask yourself, "what is knowing that your needs or wants are being considered as part of the planning process worth to you'"? I know what my answer is, PRICELESS, but of course you all need to come up with your own answer for that one.

Rainy brings up an excellent point, good communication goes two ways and sometimes you will need to let your dispatch know that their plan wont work, and that is not refusing dispatch. The Hours of Service problem is probably the best example, and if there is a legitimate concern about compliance, be prepared to discuss it with those planning the loads. Yes, even the best dispatcher in the world will overlook something sometimes and will be able to work through the problem with you and the customer, but you must be specific with what the problem is, do not just call up and say "I am not doing that, its illegal". Maybe it is, maybe the dispatcher missed something, maybe you are making an assumption that it has to be there at 6:00am because the last load you took to the same place had to be there at 6:00am, and the receiver gave you a blast for being 2 minutes late. What ever the reason you believe you can not do something, please call the dispatcher and use the following phrase (or something similar).

"I am not certain I will be able to meet the requirements of the next load you have assigned me, but maybe I have missed some important information" This type of statement will always open the door to communication as it is not in anyway threatening and very neutral in nature. It also assures the person hearing or reading it that you acknowledge it may be simply the need on your part for a little more information. I can only speak for myself, but as both a driver and dispatcher working together to find the solution to any problem will always work out with a better result than two parties doing everything they can to find their own solutions to a single problem that affects both parties.

Regards, Slowpoke

Not sure how every company works. But our loads are supposed to be no touch. One time I had to manually unload 40,000lbs I called my dispatch, updated them, and continued my work. I had a nice welcome bonus in my check the next week, courtesy of the receiver who's staff was "supposed" to unload.

Granted, the only time I could see refusing to unload is if you are physically unable to do so. I know a few drivers that agreed to no touch contracts because they've got a bad knee or something. They'd literally be unable to move 40,000lbs without causing themselves injury. For that, I understand. Besides that, the faster you unload the faster you get another load.

We do the needful,...never forgotten and at times rewarded.

Good question Unholy, Yes, the whole week was explained, the whys and wherefores and how the plan was certain(failing a mechanical breakdown of course)

I would love it if my DM would let me in on the home plan. That's awesome. I never know till that day comes. I have also already learned to go home extra day or even two earlier than needed for important events. To many unknowns to do other than that. When I do go home it's normally a 19 hour day and I am always out of hours ending up driving on OD to get there so having and event that very next day would be a failure to plan on my part.

I would be interested in knowing the average distance other drivers drive to get home time from the 90. Flatbed OTR