Question:
Well I think I may see the end of me being at Roehl. The reason for this is being moved to a different fleet manager. There are other reasons also that I have already discussed, primarily the over reliance in Opti stop. But I was willing to live with this issue because I had a good fleet manager that worked for me. By working for me, he would always have a pre-plan out to me. He began trying to find my next load as soon as I sent my load conformation for the load I was currently on. I like to use an analogy about pre-plans.
In this industry drivers are a fart in the wind. With a pre-plan we at least know what direction the wind will be blowing tomorrow.
My fleet manager was also good about home time. There was never an issue with when I was going to get home or for how long. I had an issue with weekend dispatch pulling me out early, but my fleet manager was going to correct this by giving me an extra day at home on my next rotation. I was getting consistant miles with my fleet manager and we had setteled into a "groove" with each other. He would run me hard for 6 days exhausting my 70 hours. He would make every attempt to get me either home or at relatives homes for a 34hr reset, then I would go back out. When I started to get close on my 70 hours again, it was time to go home for 3 days. Three days was what I got also, or more, none of the home on late Friday night, leave early Sunday morning BS that I had to deal with for the first 7 months I was at Roehl.
I found out about this switching of boards last Thursday, I had alot of reservations about it. It had just been the day before that I had made the statement in the Gary terminal infront of the terminal manager and all of the other fleet managers there that Rick was the sole reason I was still working at Roehl. The irony of it stings when I think of it. Rick is now the 7on 7off fleet manager. His board was split up and I ended up with another fleet manager in Gary. I met with him on Friday, I stressed the importance of a preplan to him. I also stressed my reservations on the switch based on my past experience with other fleet managers at Roehl. He assured me that he would work just as hard for as what Rick had. The load I was under at the time had been dispatched to me on Thursday. It delivered just South of Cincinatti on Friday evening, appointment time was set for 8pm. As 5pm rolled closer as I was bouncing down the road, I anticipated a beep from the qual-com with a pre-plan. None came, I arrived at the customer at 7:30, to find no one was there. I attempted to call the customer but was greeted by a voice mail system. I contacted night dispatch and it took them a little over 2 hours to make the decision to have me drop the trailor at our Sharonville, OH drop yard. When asked if I had a pre-plan when I arrived at the customer the answer was no. The way I look at it, these are 2 strikes right out of the shoot with the new fleet manager. I left a mesage on his voice mail, I told him, I will either be put back on RIcks board or I am giving my 2 week notice effective Saturday.
On the surface this may seem immature and minor. But the first 7 months at Roehl I have had more then my share of frustrations and issues. I had 2 hum dingers for my first 2 fleet managers and had finally hit the jack pot with Rick. After running on his board for over 2 months, I learned that there is no exscuse for not having a pre plan out for the drivers, the only time in 2 months that he did not have a pre plan for me was trying to find a load going home, which after 2 hours of waiting, I was cleared to dead head home. Any fleet manager that does not consistantly give their drivers a pre-plan is lazy, period, no exscuse. I personally do not have the energy to go through the process of working out the kinks with a new fleet manger at Roehl. When combined with my aggravation with Opti stop, and some of the other new policies, it is just not worth it for me.
I will update this post later today if I find out if I am placed back on Rick's board

Answer:

Not really. You are in this to do a job, for whatever reason. You have specified the parameters that work for you in getting the job done. If the person assigned to you cannot reasonably accommodate your parameters, then it is time to either change your parameters, or them.
I can understand them not PP'ing you if you had a history of arrival failures. If you appointment is 5 hours out and you are 3 hours away, I think you are going to make your delivery. I also think that the planers should know how long the site takes to unload a driver. If you have 6 rolls of paper you should be under way in less then an hour. If you are at the grocery warehouse, and they have a history of taking 6 hours to turn a truck, then there is more to consider. Are you going to have to supervise the load (HOS) or will you be able to take a sleeper berth break? When will you be able to roll again? That is all part of getting to know the driver and how they operate. But that means they have to get to know the driver. Most usually don’t. It sounds like Rick did.
Good luck either way.
-J

Answer:
Sorry to hear of your troubles, and you've had a few!
One of my biggest complaints has been pre plans, or lack there of!
I would think it would not be that hard! We have appointments to make, we make them, they know we are going to be there why wait for next load?
UntiI talked to you and read some of how you had been pre planned way before your delivery, I just figured it was not possible to pre plan that far in advance.
As far as working with night and weekend dispatch, I try to take care of that during the week, more then once I've been let down after hours!
My next biggest complaint is having directions available at dispatch!
There is no reason why they should not be there when we punch them up!
Three or four times in the last few weeks I have been dispatched with a Monday morning 0700 delivery and not been able to contact the consignee because they were 9-5 M-F!
No excuse that customer service or someone can't get directions when they are talking to them! Loads just don't appear out of nowhere!
Not too long ago I had to gat a little resourceful and had my wife post here at Trucknet, and it wasn't long before I had directions, and I was most greatful for the help!
Hope things work out for you Buzz! Give me a call sometime! Sent you a text message last week, no reply though!

Answer:
I can certainly understand why you like to be preplanned on loads. From the drivers seat it is nice to know what you are going to be doing next so you can better plan your day, and if used properly pre plans can make things run a lot more effeciently. Unfortunaltely some dispatchers and/or load planners view pre plans as set in stone load commitments. and will go balistic if you are unable to keep the load commitment.
One of the best dispatchers I ever had would have a preplan ready to go but wouldnt tell his drivers until he was sure that they could really commit to the load or not. The reason he did this was that he felt that it caused too much stress on the driver worrying about keeping the preplan when something went wrong, and he felt that the current load was enough for a driver to worry about. At worst I wouldknow within 30 mins of unloading of what the next load would be and would be asked if I could do it. If I said no he would want to know why and when I could do it and within 15 mins would either have a load to fit my schedule or let me know that I was free for the rest of the day.
It has been my experience that FM's like Rick are a rare breed and the ones like you have now are more the norm. IMHO the reasons for this are numerous. Part of it is lack of communication skills, part of it is lack of knowledge and/or understanding of what it is like on the road, sometimes stupidity or apathy come into play, fleet sizes that are really too large to manage correctly (50 plus drivers/trucks per FM is just a bit too much as far as I am concerned.. 25-1 or less is a better mix IMHO) and a host of other factors that vary from FM to FM.
Buzzdog......if knowing where you are going day in and day out is that important to you, to the point of causing you stress, then may I suggest you look for some type of dedicated run where you go to the same place or places all the time.
Answer:
Buzzdod,
uturn is right, with a dedicated route you know exactly what is going on every day, including what time you will finish up, other than traffic delays ect.
Also, you get to know your customers. Treat them right, and they will treat you right.
Big

Answer:
If he is upset with a bit of waiting and god forbid they do not preplan him after only a few days after being switched to a different board , how long until he is bored with the same trip , same people , same places on a dedicated run.
This time of the year things are generally slow and it is not always possible to preplan every trip for every driver , when you get switched to a different dispatcher you start at the bottom.
Give it more than 2 days before you start talkin about walkin.

Answer:
Military Intelligence (OXYMORON)
Fleet Manager(oxymoron)
Pre-Planning (oxymoron)
Intelligent Dispatchers (oxymoron)
Decent HomeTime (oxymoron)
Common Sense Trucking (oxymoron)
Good Trucking Company (the one that isn't bottom feeding today) ''


Answer:
Well, I am back on Rick's board. The issues were more then just the pre-plans. It was also about trust. I honestly trust Rick. I did not want to go through the ordeal of having a new fleet manager. If that were going to be the case, I would just as soon go to a completely different company. I do not aggree with everything about Roehl, but with a good fleet manager it was alot easier to overlook them and live with it. It just seems to me, if your dispatcher does get you a preplan to you before you are empty, then it proves that they are working for you in a pro-active manner. Instead of waiting to try to find something for you after you have sent your empty call.
Flatbed,
If you had read my entire post, I said that I had 2 fleet managers before that I had serious issues with. When I was put on Rick's board, it was 180 degrees different from what I had experienced before. It was the experience that I had with the 2 prior to him that made me reluctant to even consider having to deal with some one new.

Answer:
I read your ENTIRE post.
My point was that it just sounds like no one gives anything a chance now days it is " I QUIT " instead of lets try and resolve this glitch.
I went through a few problems with a customer who changed some people around , the new guy screwed things up so bad 2 carriers just walked.
I took the time to sit down discuss the problem and helped resolve it. Had 1 of the carriers who left ask how things are running so smooth " DID THEY CAN THE (edited) " I said no he found out that people are willing to work together and resolve things , he is now doing a great job.
Wish everything works out for you.

Answer:
Two things I will never again tolerate. One is forced dispatch and two is having a dispatcher as a boss. The dispatcher I have now is not my boss, she is an expert co-worker. She knows her stuff too... When she looks at loads she tells me what she knows I will want. She also reviews all the loads I get from brokers and tells me whether they are keepers or turds wapped in cash before I commit to them.

Answer:
My fleet manager just quit on Thursday after giving me an unusually good two weeks. I suspected something was up when he took his vacation three weeks ago, instead of in the summer like he usually does. I think he got another job, came back and gave two weeks notice, and disappeared without saying a word in advance to his drivers, as is the custom at Werner.
He was real good all the time, but he planned the last two weeks exceptionally well -- I presume because he knew he was leaving and wanted to end it with me on a high note. That's the kind of guy Dave Vincent was, and I'm going to miss him. The announcement on the QualComm was very supportive, and also said he'll be missed. (sometimes they say, Sam Smith is no longer associated with Werner Enterprises in any way....) I've had seven dispatchers in 5 years. The bad ones get fired and the good ones quit voluntarily. I worked with Dave for two years - longer than any other. I haven't been told yet who my new dispatcher is, but I hope they don't stick me - a high production low maintenance driver - with an incompetant newbie to reduce his problem load. Cause if I don't get good "service" from my new fleet manager, it could be the reason I finally leave. Werner doesn't pay enough to justify anything but the best dispatch they have to offer -- to me, after five years. And the sad truth is, they know it, and know they can't make everyone happy.....it's like Russian Roulette. I'm anticipating a deal-breaking bullet, but I'll give my new fleet manager a fair opportunity to work for me. .....but ohhhh....the thought of training a new one.... ...
Dave Vincent, wherever you are, you will be missed. Thanks for giving it your best. You were very good. Good luck with your new venture.

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I dont know ll the trouble you have been having? But I can say i would never quit over a dispatcher...or tell a company its either my way or else....i found out in 10 yrs otr,its not always going to be good. I have been hung out to dry more than once....hey trucking is not always roses...!!!!!! hope things get better for you......

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Buzz, run fast, run far. I'll be right behing you. this company is for the birds, I've been applying elsewhere for a few weeks now and I've found that close to a year is good enough at most places as long as you've got your first winter behind you.

Answer:
Buzzdog: Glad to see you are back on Rick's board. I'm sure that you probably went in in a mature calm manner and just talked with them. I wonder if half of the drivers that got mad and quit ever "tried" this? When I started at Roehl, I was on Midwest regional, with an excellent F/M, that got promoted into management in the school. I then got a Schneider reject that could'nt get a grip on what we were doing. I finally went into Pat Lesinski and told him "I ain't happy." We then went into a conference room, I told him the problem, and gave my 2 weeks notice. I was then offered curtainsides, and given an "excellent" F/M. Been pretty happy ever since. Lots of pre-planning. But I also call them several times a day, communicating my progress/problems with a load, and Bob is talking to the planners. Works pretty well.
Parrothead: Have YOU tried talking to them about your problems? Not just your F/M, but HIS supervisor? They'll listen, if it's a legitimate problem. Just remember:If the world did'nt suck, you'd fall off!
The more I see and read about Republicans and Democrats, the more I wish we had an Independent Party.
IMPEACH BUSH!!!!!!!!!!

Answer:
I guess I am pretty lucky, my dispatcher is friggin awesome. I am already pre-palnned for the next two loads, provided everything goes smoothly on my end.