At a mega, who typically makes more money, a trucker or a fleet manager?

Having worked at a couple mega carriers, as a driver- I’ve seen some dispatchers that made god ###### bank. I think the one that really sticks out to me, was Prime. There were several people that ran a tight ship, and did well.

There’s a certain bag of tools on the flats dispatch board, who’s name I will not mention, been there ten years. Dude seems to be doing pretty good.

Being good at your job, is not a promise of money, though. I knew plenty of day dispatchers, with established boards, and fairly good drivers, that always seemed pretty broke.


From what I do know, the performance of your drivers, and yearly revenue of the trucks you dispatch can heavily dictate your pay.


If you’re looking into getting into dispatch- I would say, invest heavily in petroleum jelly.

 

Let me do the math... carry the 2...

 

I believe there is a pay scheme, base plus commission, in a good number of cases.

I know for a certain fact, a lot of smaller/medium sized company dispatchers are paid fairly regularly.

 

At Swift we have driver leaders (used to be called driver managers), the fleet manager and the terminal manager.
Also planners.
There are no actual dispatchers, though any of them can dispatch loads. The computer dispatches most loads.

I have no idea of what any of them make, or the bonuses they might get by running a 'tight ship'.
I do know that none of them have tried to coerce me to run harder or tighter, so 'running a tight ship' has little meaning for me.

 

Well, in the context of running a tight ship is “forcing a driver to run” so much as it is, being on top of trips.

I worked at Kaplan, in Cleveland OH for a few years- and those dispatchers knew their god #### business.
Loads were planned well by the dispatchers, and executed well by the drivers. Because they worked together, and communicated.
If there was an issue, dispatchers would actively work to solve a problem, rather than just let the Buck pass.

 

I know the context, and 'forcing a driver to run'.
I also know the concept of running hard with just barely enough time to get the job done, if nothing goes wrong in the meantime.

And I don't work that way. Never have.
I take my time, and allow myself plenty of time for breaks and any unforeseen events.

It sounds like those dispatchers and I would not get along very well.

 

From what I’ve been told, and it was over 20 yrs ago. Dispatchers or DM’s Fleet Leader whatever you call them, are basically messengers. Dealing with Drivers, relaying info. Typically they make less than an experienced solo Driver. The Load planners that give dispatchers their information are the ones that make good money. They’re responsible for matching available Trucks with available freight. Usually have a degree in Logistics. Dispatchers are like Truckdrivers. More where they came from. Many job hop as much as Drivers do. Never quite happy with their jobs.