Commercial truck drivers are often independent types who find that the open road has greater appeal than the office environment with its office politics. It takes a certain type of person to put in the driving hours that truckers do and office workers are not that type. So unless your dispatcher is an ex trucker, you need to understand this fundamental difference between yourself and him.
People skills are still important for the commercial truck driver in their dealings with the people they deliver their loads to and especially with their dispatcher. The reason is that your dispatcher can mean the difference between losing money because you aren’t putting in the miles, and earning a good income. You also depend on him for other things such as supplying you with important information and working in home time into your schedule. Being unpleasant with them is going to affect their decisions because they are people after all, and people often allow their personal feelings to influence their decisions.
On the other hand, their decisions aren’t 100% centered around any single commercial truck driver’s needs because they must also manage the other drivers. They can’t always give you good load assignments and home time once a week because the demands of their work doesn’t always make that possible.
Getting along with your dispatcher involves people skills in the sense that you can’t bluntly speak your mind about some things. Instead, you will have to adopt a professional persona in your dealings with them and the others that you interact with in your job. It also helps to thoroughly understand your dispatcher’s job. Spend some time researching this.
Of course, not all dispatchers are polished professionals and may have serious personality flaws. The commercial truck driver isn’t the only person who suffers when dealing with this person because others in the same office also do this 8 hours per day.
Successful office working types find ways of avoiding confrontation and offending such people. This is a skill you must acquire when dealing with people like this. If it’s really bad, then you must keep things civil until you find another employer. The best companies employ the best people, including dispatchers who are true professionals.
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