At times, I have worked at companies that I would not have recommended to other drivers, but I absolutely loved working there! I really had it made! And then at other times, some of the best trucking companies I have ever worked for were just a nightmare for a small percentage of the other drivers.

 

Why? There are a number of reasons for this.

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Competition Within The Company

Most drivers get paid by the mile. So the more miles you run, the more money you make. Oftentimes, dispatchers and load planners may get paid bonuses or commissions based on the number of miles their drivers are getting, or at least the efficiency at which their drivers are executing their loads. Things like on-time service and deadhead (empty) miles factor heavily into their final rating. So everyone is looking to make all the money they can make by generating the best statistics for themselves.

 

Well, this naturally breeds competition within a company. Dispatchers are jockeying for the best loads for their drivers, and the load planners are trying to run things as efficiently as possible. In the meantime, drivers are pushing their dispatchers for the best loads they can get. Well, there are only so many "desirable" loads to go around - so who gets the best ones?

 

It depends on a number of factors:

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• Efficiency - the load planners want to keep the deadhead miles to a minimum

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• Reliability - dispatchers and load planners want to make sure the hardest running, safest, and most efficient drivers get assigned the most important or most difficult freight so that the chances of on-time, safe service are as good as they can be.

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• Individual Driver Circumstances - They have to take into account how many hours a driver has available, how the driver is feeling, what types of loads the driver has been getting recently, and whether or not the driver is due for home time soon, among other factors

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• Politics - unfortunately this is one of the realities of truck driving - or life in any company. Whether or not the driver gets along with the dispatcher , and whether or not the dispatcher gets along with the load planners will be a factor in determining who gets what loads. Should this be a factor? Ideally, no. But it is. That's the reality - and an important one. If you refuse to accept this reality based upon your ideals, then you'll soon find out the hard way just where your ideals end and the realities of the job take over.

 

So as you can see from these few examples, competition, cooperation, and politics can play heavily into your success and happiness as a truck driver in any company.