Question:
Sooner or later these words are going to come to your mind. You are going to get totally fed up with what you see as an idiot for a supervisor, and more than likely you are going to think the company you are working for is just the worst thing under the sun. But is your FM really an idiot or the company really as bad as all that. Hmmm maybe yes, maybe no.
Before you jump ship or get yourself into hot water there are some things you need to realize about your FM.
1. You are not the only truck the FM has to deal with. With medium to large companies the FM has a fleet of trucks between 20 and 60 (sometimes more). So at any given time your FM may be dealing with 100 different issues and you wonder why the FM is confused.
2. The FM is not only dealing with issues from the drivers but more often than not are also dealing with demands from other departments within the company and possibly with customer issues directly.
3. When the QC beeps with a message it may not be your FM sending it. Often times the shop or customer service will send messages to the driver and unless they "sign" the message you have no way to know who sent it. Also many companies use "canned" messages. These are sent automatically by the computer when certain criteria are met. (For example when hauling a haz mat load, or hauling a load for a "special" customer). Also sometimes on some loads these canned messages are set up to ask for extra ETA updates.
4. In some companies the FM has no control over the loads you recieve. Some companies have a trip/load planner that issues preplans and actually dispatches the loads. All the fleet manager really does is act as a problem solver or as a liason between the driver and the rest of the company.
I hope the above helps you look at "problems" you may be having with your fleet manager in a different light. Good communication is essential if you are going to even have a chance of getting what you feel you need to be content working for any company. Also it is very important to fully understand exactly what your Fm's job is so that if there is a problem you know who and how to direct your grievence to. The Fleet managers exact job responsibilites vary for company to company and sometimes from fleet to fleet in a single company (ie the flatbed fleet may work differently than the dry van fleet).
If there is something you do not understand or you feel you are having problems or one sort or another the best thing to do is have an honest talk with you fleet manager. It could be nothing more than an easily corrected misunderstanding. If your problem still exsists then go up the line. Be calm, be professional, and be willing to listen as well as talk. If possible offer a potential solution, but also be willing to compromise if at all possible.
If problems continue with your fleet manager then request to be assgned a new one. Be sure to have concrete reasons why you want reassigned. Document the problems you are having when you are having them and the steps you have taken to solve those problems.
On a final note. It is too easy for a driver to confuse a dispatcher with the company. Since your fleet manager is the only manager you have regular contact with it is easy to see this person as representing the company or as being the company. You need to try to separate the two and look at the two as different entities. It is possible that you may really be working for the perfect company for you but problems with your fleet manager may make it seem like the worst nightmare.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
Answer:
Uturn,
Thanks for the advice, sometimes we are quick to judge, and that is not a good thing.

Answer:
I have a question for you though regarding a hypothetical situation with a FM.
Lets say you have a reason that you need to be home like your mother is going to have surgery. You do everything you can to cover yourself, you put in the request for time off over two months in advance. You also let them know what time you need to be home the day you requested your home time to start. Your FM keeps telling you he has it taken care of and you will be home on Monday afternoon. The last thing your FM tells you on friday is that you will get a DH from the consignee to home as soon as you send the empty on Monday.
Monday rolls around, send the empty over the qc. You wait about 15 min but no response back from the qc so you call the fm. He tells you to hold tight there. An hour goes by before you finally get a msg on the qc telling you to start dead heading towards some where that is not your home. Long story short, instead of getting home by monday afternoon as promiced, you get home late Monday night. The plans you had made with your mother to go out to dinner and spend the evening with her are blown to hell because your FM lied to you.
Just to add a twist to the above story, lets say your FM just happens to be married to the daughter of boss.
How do you handle this one Uturn???
It comes down to simple math to me in the long run. You only have 1 mother and father, and there are thousand of jobs out there to be had.
Thanks in advance

Answer:
The plans you had made with your mother to go out to dinner and spend the evening with her are blown to hell because your FM lied to you
Not necessarily a "lie". Like Uturn2000 said, you're just one part of a huge puzzle they're trying to solve with many conflicting interests.
The FM might have had a plan in place and would have got you home on time, but everything went to hell at the last minute and they had to draft you to do something they thought they had covered. Someone else breaks down or quits or gets delayed, and the resulting chain reaction leads them to your truck at your location with your available hours. And they never "promised" you on time home time, just that they'll do "everything possible" to meet your request.
They make a calculated decision -- matching your possible resignation (etc) versus a service failure. And if that FM'panner is running too many service failures that month (etc), releasing you to home time may be difficult to justify to their boss when their work is reviewed.
Like uturn2000 said, you're just part of a huge, complex puzzle. Stuff happens, and the company's bottom line is making loads run on time. Getting drivers home on time is secondary, and even the best systems and managers will have to disappoint a few drivers now and then. They know some will quit as a result, and they consider that an inherent condition they can't completely avoid. Losing drivers who can't/won't accept late home time now and then creates a "natural selection" that continously clears their board of such drivers, keeping a higher proportion of drivers who will accept it.
Most companies will suggest you request home time a day (or two) before a critical appointment. But even then, due to circumstances beyond their control, a breakdown or just plain incompetance/dishonesty or whatever, it's still no iron-clad guarantee with ANY random dispatch OTR carrier that I know of. The nature of this kind of trucking (random dispatch) with imperfect machines and people, doesn't lend itself to absolute scheduling guarantees. And when these conflicts collide, customers -- the ones who pay the bills -- are taken care of first.
.
[This message was edited by Shuffler on July 24, 2003 at 14:50.]

Answer:
Maybe I am just unique but, I was told I would be home on Monday afternoon. If someone tells me something like that, I take them for their word. Trust me on this, lies were told to me in this situation. I was born at night, but not last night. I was extremely fired up about this, called Hoss to try to calm myself down over it. I have been delayed on getting home in the past, but it did not bother me, but this situation was completely different. It was the only time I requested to be home. If my FM had just told me the week before that I might not get home until late Monday, then I would have been prepared for it. Actually in the back of my mind I knew something like this was going to happen. But was trying to give my FM the benefit of the doubt. After I did call him, he admitted that he "Boned me" over not getting me home when I had requested. Now if that is not an admission then what is?????
Buzzdog

Answer:
and this is not to say you didnt play it this way but here are the detailed playbook.
1. As soon as you knew you needed time off you notified your FM and informed him why if it was for something very important such as a family surgery, or a very important doctors appointment.
2. 2 weeks from date you needed off you reminded FM or needing time off and reason.
3. One week out you reminded FM again of needing time off and reason.
4. 2-3 days out you remind them again and ask what the "plan" is to get you home.
***Note*** Be sure at least one of these reminders is done via quallcomm.
5. If at any time in the last day or 2 anything seems to go against you getting home when you need to be home contact your FM immediately and find out what is going on and dont be afraid to remind your FM of the reason you need to be home.
The whole reason to remind your FM several times as to the reason for your request is so if it comes down to it they can prioritze who needs to be home. On any given day your FM may have several drivers wanting to be home, but maybe all but one or two are just wanting home fore basic time off while the other one or two are really NEEDING home for a legitimately important reason.
Finally in my experience if you really need to be home by lets say 5 pm on the 20th tell your FM that you need home on the 19th. That way if something does go completely nuts you do have an extra day to work it out and get home.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
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The real truth here is that your dispatchers or FM get paid to keep your truck running, They will lie to you or create a snapfu to keep you out. If they are a large carrier, they can get you through your house anytime they want.Just think about it. They have freight going every where.
Thats not to say things can't go wrong, and do.But the majority of the time they just want to keep the truck generating revenue.
In your circumstance you told him enough times that it was very important for you to get home, and he screwed you. I would have deadheaded home as he first said, and let them make the decision to fire me or not, The more you let them get away with, the more they will do to you. They are not your friends, and 95% of them are paid to lie to you.This is thre reason there are so much turnovers in this industry.Stand up for yourself.

Answer:
They are not your friends, and 95% of them are paid to lie to you.
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And the ones that do not lie, are the Dm's that quit OR get fired or end up going back OTR, becasue they can't handle having to screw the drivers so bad..
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http://www.msnusers.com/PrincessPennie/shoebox.msnw


Answer:
some of them are nice as can be, but beware. I had asked a load planner about loads going east, he looked said he had a run to georgia, and then he proceeded to tell me the loads i would need to get to medford from pacific. Well, not good customers, but i looked on the bright side, well as instructed i checked in in morning for georgia load assignment, and then my disp says it's a team load......needless to say i hated the guy, but if you think about it, you all have a job to do, your just at the bottom of the line, so you get **** on the most. And after awhile, the ld planner isn't a bad guy at all.
fell on my head, had stupid thoughts

Answer:
Buzzdog! I'm glad that you took the time to cool off before you talked to your FM.
Like Uturn & Shuffler said, you (we) are a small piece in a huge complex puzzle. Stuff happens. We may not like it, but it does happen, and often! You were (are) a Marine, Improvise, Adapt & Overcome!
I'm glad you got home, even though it was later than you had planned.
Did you get to spend time with your mother before she went into surgery? I hope so.
If not, I bet she saw your smiling face when she opened her eyes afterwards.
RC's mother had the same surgery a couple months ago (if that long), her Dr. released her to go back to work on Tuesday.
Your mother had "major surgery", but it is a relatively "simple one" (from what I've been told).
Sorry about the "phone tag" BS the other day. I will be having words with my cell phone provider tomorrow or Saturday. I never got any messages after you called back, until almost noon the next day.
Give your mother my best wishes for a speedy recovery. (That way she can kick your butt twice as hard)
Call me sometime tomorrow afternoon (7/25).
*******************************
"I've always been different with one foot over the line.
Winding up somewhere, one step ahead or behind.
It ain't been so easy, but I guess I shouldn't complain.
I've always been crazy, but it's kept me from going insane." (from Waylon Jennings)
[This message was edited by Hoss on July 25, 2003 at 3:41.]

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I played it to the letter by your play book with 1 exception, I did not use the qualcom in any of this. But there is one saving grace, at Roehl they have recently started to record the phone calls for "training purposes". I understand what you are saying though. As Hoss will confirm, I at no time was going to quit under dispatch or abandon the vehicle. This experience did make me evaluate my long term outlook with the company. I will not do anything rash. When the time does come for me to move on, I will do it the right way.
Be safe,
Buzzdog

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in using the quallcomm is that there is a written record of your request. That way the FM can't come back and say "You never told me."
But barring that like I said earlier the best thing to do is to request yourself home a day earlier than you really need to be home. For some reason when a driver says I need to be home on the 20th most FM's seem to hear "I need to be on my way home on the 20th".
Oh yeah. Finally do not be afraid to go over the dispatchers head if need be to try to work something out.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
Answer:
Thereis a variety of things causing this perpetual problem getting home on time.
Stuffs new job with Heartland where he's home every weekend -- it's almost built in to the loads he gets all week, since it's a regular occurance and the arrangement he was hired for up front.
But "random dispatch" means they're basically sending you on a random pattern around the country (region) matching you to whatever load makes sense at the moment -- up until about a week before you need to be home.
As your home time nears, they need to restrict the loads they consider you for.
Four days away, they shouldn't be sending you to Florida, for example, if your going home to Portland OR.
Three days away, they should have you on the west coast or a nearby state.
Two days, you shold be within 900 miles, max, etc.
This all makes it that much more important to keep communicating with them and dropping friendly reminders, especially before you empty out and get re-assigned your next load, each load assignment seals your fate further if they send you in the wrong direction and it's too late to swap loads with another driver or fix it somehow.
Sometimes you end-up at an akward location a couple days before home time. A load home will get you there too soon and there's no shags or short loads to keep you busy once you're in the area. Everything else is going in the wrong direction and risks not being able to find a swap in time to get you turned around. When this happens (you get a feel for it after a while) I make it known whether I'd rather take a load home early and possibly sit doing nothing till home time starts, or prefer running miles (money) and risk getting home late.
In other words, help them by making your feelings known when you see potential problems looming the next couple days. And as Uturn2000 said, always put these reminders and such on the QualComm -- not just to fully document them, but to elevate them above the more casual nature of comments and requests made over the phone, especially if you have a critical appointment -- doctor/legal appointment or important family matter.
But in the end, sadly, getting there on time is kinda' like expecting an airline flight to land on time. Man, machines and a host of other problems constantly conspire against you. Add the hack dispatchers who just want to leave for the day before their work is really done, weekend dispatch coming in and changing their best laid plans, and drivers who scream about lost productivity going home one minute, and getting there exactly on time the next......it's an imperfect science to say the least, especially with random dispatch companies, and you're doing pretty good if works to your satisfaction about 75% of the time I suppose.

Answer:
"You are not the only truck the FM has to deal with" If he cant handle the load he should find another job.
"2. The FM is not only dealing with issues from the drivers but more often than not are also dealing with demands from other departments within the company and possibly with customer issues directly. " See above
FM's are a great bunch of folks. With a big work load. Good ones know how to balance their load and take care of each of their drivers. Poor ones or those that are new get overloaded and overlook drivers.
Mine is fairly new but now knows me by my first name and voice on the phone. I wanted our relationship to get more personal and it has. Creating and maintaining a good open relationship with your FM seems to be one of the most important aspects of job satisfaction. For me it has worked so far. They have to know you and what you need. But you have to leave the emotions in the truck when calling them. Keeping all conversations professional and honest is a priority.
Buzzdog it seems to me the FM is more concerned with the company and his level of production.
Shuffler said," Stuff happens, and the company's bottom line is making loads run on time. Getting drivers home on time is secondary" Sounds like what happened.
"The real truth here is that your dispatchers or FM get paid to keep your truck running" Also true and most likely applies.
"You were (are) a Marine, Improvise, Adapt & Overcome!" Probably why trucking companies like hiring ex-military. It actually sucks for those of us that would like to see things get better. But it may never as long as most say "thats trucking" and adapt to it.
"Stuffs new job with Heartland where he's home every weekend -- it's almost built in to the loads he gets all week, since it's a regular occurance and the arrangement he was hired for up front." The question is when do I get home. friday morning, night. Saturday morning, night. Then when do I leave out again? None of that is promised. Only that I'll be home. So far so good and has been ok. But I know my time is coming.
You are right it is built into the loads. My week starts heading as far away from home as I can. In the SE Region. Why, because as far away as I go I know I'll get those miles back heading home again. Then come Thursday my truck is headed in a somewhat southern direction. Almost always I've ended up in Jax relaying my load going the wrong direction that will take another driver towards his house. Then I hook one that's going my way. Seems to work so far. When it delivers and what time of day I get my load home is always a question. But so far so good.
"Caution: Door May Open"

Answer:
Almost always I've ended up in Jax relaying my load going the wrong direction that will take another driver towards his house.
I've found heading the wrong direction is a great way to burn miles going home, assuming they find you a good swap and get you turned around -- they usually do.
I request home time every third Thursday.
I get home on Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the load -- that's about the best you can expect if you want to burn-up some hours coming home.
The other extreme seems to be staying closer to home doing less productive loads. I'd rather run and take my chances. I never schedule anything important my first day. I come home late once in a while, but it's never been a problem. I just write off the first day and hope for the best -- and if I make some good miles the last couple days, I figure I'm doing better than most.
It's interesting to see you experience this new swap/drop trucking and talk about it. It's amazing how they've taken a simple thing like "pick it up here and deliver it there", and turned it into brain surgery. But it keeps your rolling, doesn't it?