Working with a Dispatcher

The problems with some preplans is the history of that load and how many times over the last few days it has recycled. I have got loads that were already late when I got the dispatch. Most of the members here have no idea what happens in the carrier load planning dept. Some loads are the carrier load and some are broker loads. I was once at the Hershey warehouse near St Louis in Illinois a few years ago. I went in there to drop a load knowing there was no pickup and was headed to a truck stop to get some sleep. I was just about to pull out from under the trailer when a guy on a yard tractor asked me to stay in the yard. Turns out another larger company could not get a rush order out to a Walmart DC in time. One of the funniest calls I ever made I made that day. It is not often a driver calls his company to tell them he is already loaded. I'm sure the dispatched driver loved me when he got there. Because of some situations beyond your (dispatcher) Fleet managers control sometimes a load does not have enough time. Tell your dispatcher you can't make that delivery and ask them to get a delivery rescheduled. This is how drivers have done this for years. Also with experience, you will see that some loads esp the drop and hook ones the receiving (or for that matter the shippers either) company doesn't get too upset about appointments.

Edited:: To add something.

To answer what I am sure will be a how did you pull another company trailer, I did not. Hershey loaded that load into my company equipment. I had to wait for about 30 minutes on it.