Of the countless things I wish for our industry, there’s one that could really make a difference. Aside from a broad application of common sense (and I don’t hold out much hope for that one), or — dare I ask? — the disappearance of carriers willing to charge less than cost to move the freight, I’d like to see one small change.

I want dispatchers to be paid at least as much as senior drivers, maybe more.

It’s not that I think drivers are worth less, rather that dispatchers are worth more than they’re usually paid. They are, after all, utterly critical to the success of any trucking operation, and not very often recognized for their contribution. I don’t really need to say this aloud because it’s so obvious, but anything less than a strong hand at the dispatch desk will inevitably create chaos to one extent or another. Can anyone argue against that?

Quite rightly, we all agree that drivers represent our public face, that they play a key role in the success any carrier has with its customers. But they’re just the face seen most often. Customers also hear a voice, of course: the dispatcher’s, and I’d venture to say that there’s potential for disaster there, too.

Maybe even more so than with drivers.

Any given driver can ruin things for you at a customer’s loading dock. Call it a dozen docks if you want. The dispatcher’s impact will be felt by many more, and not just by the disembodied voice on the phone. A dispatcher who routinely angers 100 drivers will be stacking the deck against you in a big way, possibly creating an ugly public face that didn’t have to be there.

The point is, and there’s no way to disagree with this, we acknowledge that the driver’s responsibility is sizeable. But is the dispatcher’s any smaller? I would argue that it’s much bigger and much, much more difficult to manage. Truth is, the poor dispatcher is yelled at and pushed at and generally pressured on all sides, from sales to maintenance. Not to mention the abuse they take from drivers with chips on their shoulders. It takes a pretty solid character to deal with all that without losing his cool.

So if we’re bending over backwards, and we surely are, to accommodate the driver’s every whim, shouldn’t we at least pay dispatchers in a way that recognizes their role?

I have to give credit here to the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association (APTA), which has found a way to offer formal recognition to the folks who man the phones and the keyboards and, in some cases still, the cards. In 1999, they launched an award for Dispatcher of the Year, sponsored by Cancom Tracking Solutions. Last year’s winner was Keith Webster Phillips of Fredericton’s Sunbury Transport. I congratulate him, and especially the APTA for having the sense to do this.

Dispatchers should be recognized at every association’s annual awards luncheon. But that’s not enough. These people aren’t born to the dispatch role, and not every driver on disability can be turned into an effective one, which implies that some training is in order.

There’s a big national effort to do this in the works, which we’ll hear more about soon, and there are a couple of small courses that deal with it already, but you can act right now. How? By finding a “conflict resolution” course in your area and having one of those dreaded consultants present it to your dispatch staff. There’s no shortage of programs, and while I’ve heard that sometimes they work and sometimes not, you’ll gain ground by simply acknowledging that your dispatchers are worth it.

Another idea: if you don’t already have dispatchers attend your drivers’ meetings, you should. Make it an opportunity for both sides to air their beefs in a constructive way. And see it as an opportunity for you, as an owner or manager, to understand a little better just what’s going on down in the trenches. Who knows, you might uncover some tidbit of information that shines a big light on a problem and helps resolve it.

First, though, let’s pay dispatchers in a way that matches the load they bear and the effect they have on your company’s productivity. I’d say junior people deserve to be paid at least as much as entry-level drivers, with veterans getting at least as much as your best road warriors. Why not start right now?