“I think the best policy is to always tell the drivers the truth,” Hope, Ark.-based Fikes Truck Line freight dispatcher Buddy Benson said in a January interview with The Trucker. “It may not always be what they want to hear, but the truth will always serve everybody’s best interest in the end.”
Benson was an owner-operator for nine years until 2003, when he became a recruiter for Fikes. Two years later, he made a lateral transfer to dispatching, which, according to him, is much more stressful and a lot more demanding than driving.
Benson said he, given the option, would rather be driving the big rigs than dispatching them.
“In my heart of hearts, I believe that I was put on this earth to be a driver, but circumstances are such in my personal life right now that I choose to stay right where I am,” he said.
In the early going, he worked full time as a dispatcher and part-time as a driver, which allowed him to satisfy his desire for the open road.
“I know one thing for sure,” he said. “Fikes was the best company I ever worked with as an owner-operator, and it’s the best company to work for as a dispatcher, and I’m not just saying that to try and score points with the boss.
“Sure, there have been days when I’ve wanted to come in here and tell him what he could do with this job, but you’re going to have bad days now and then on just about any job you’d care to mention,” he said.
One thing Benson said he had to overcome when he started dispatching was “trying to make others drive the way I did. I never wanted to stop, no matter what. To be honest about it, I was driven by greed back then and I didn’t let anything stop me. My first year here as a driver, I was among the top five in the company. I was so greedy that I would do whatever it took to get the job done. I thrived on the competition and I got a big thrill out of accomplishing something.”
The job of dispatching, in Benson’s opinion, is “three times more stressful” than driving. “Still, I don’t think any of us here would give up dispatching for anything else.”
Most owner-operators fall into one of three categories, according to Benson. “There are good drivers; there are good businessmen; and there are good drivers who are also good businessmen,” he said.
“Some of them would be better off if they didn’t talk themselves out of work,” he added. “Somebody once said that truck drivers have too much time to think and it’s probably true. If you’re an owner-operator it’s like being in charge of your own company. As the one in charge, it’s easy to talk yourself out of picking up a particular load for any number of reasons instead of just going ahead and doing it because it makes good business sense.”
“All of us want to make life easier for ourselves,” Benson said. “That’s understandable. It’s human nature. But as an owner-operator, you can’t always afford to do that. You can’t always take the easy way out because, in the long run, it’s going to cost you money. Bad choices can be an independent operator’s downfall and that’s the bottom line.”
He added that if an owner-operator “makes too many bad choices on the business-end of things, it can create a huge headache that you might never get over.”
Making wise business decisions and controlling spending, Benson said, will help any independent contractor achieve his or her goals. He also believes that dispatchers have a responsibility to help owner-operators be the very best they can be.
“We have to make it a point to do our best all the time for the contractors,” he said. “When those trucks are loaded and moving, everyone is happy. Dispatchers are under constant pressure to make sure that the trucks stay loaded and keep moving.”
Some dispatchers may have 20 or so drivers with whom they deal on a routine basis. Others may handle as many as 40 or 50.
“It’s whatever you’re comfortable with and capable of doing,” said Benson. “No matter how many we work with, it’s our job to make them all feel special because they are. All successful relationships are built on trust and that comes from being truthful about whatever loads are available.
“I have one guy,” Benson said, “who never second-guesses me. I have others who do, and that’s OK. We can always find a way to work things out to everyone’s satisfaction. Here at Fikes, everybody is considered a member of the family. If an owner-operator is looking for a company that will help them achieve their goals and will give us a chance, I think we can make a big difference for them.”