Deciding Between Automotive Careers? 4 Signs You Would Make a Great Dispatcher
If you want a career in the trucking industry, but don’t want to be behind the wheel, dispatching might be right for you. Trucking carries with it a number of opportunities that don’t necessarily involve driving—and dispatching can be one of the most rewarding if you have the right qualities for it.
While a dispatching career is best for those who thrive in roles managing operations in the background, there are many other ways it can be a success for anyone hoping to enter the industry. Here are four signs a dispatcher career is right for you.
1. You Enjoy Environments Where You Work Behind the Scenes
Dispatchers can be described as the foundation of the trucking industry as a whole. Essentially, they are the ones scheduling truck drivers’ deliveries and making sure they not only get to their destination safely and on time, but have all the correct and necessary cargo onboard to be delivered. Dispatchers are essential for ensuring deliveries are successful and customers and vendors are kept happy, despite the fact that they are much less visible than the actual truck drivers. So, if you’re somebody who is fascinated by how things work behind the scenes, then a career as a dispatcher may be for you.
2. You Have Excellent Communication and Language Skills
As a dispatcher, you’ll need to be in constant contact with drivers, and be able to give directions and instructions clearly and in ways that are easily understood. If you have strong communication and interpersonal skills—and a good command of the English language—then you may shine in a career in dispatching. Without good communication skills, deliveries can easily be missed or instructions may be unclear. Even better, if you know a second language, that can give you more of an edge as a candidate for a dispatching job.
3. You’re a Well-Organized and Detailed Person
While working after your dispatch training, there’s a lot you have to be mindful of on the job. Not only will you have to organize and prioritize the schedules of drivers, but also take care of administrative duties such as filing paperwork, monitoring driver logs, and answering phones. You can also expect to use computer programs such as GPS monitoring, and you may have to negotiate with customers and vendors. These tasks all require you to be organized, analytical, and detail-oriented.
4. You Thrive in Automotive Careers Where You Are Never Bored
Another major component to working in dispatching during automotive careers is being able to thrive in fast-paced environments where you’ll need to have great time management skills. Since trucking and dispatching can be quite busy and occasionally high-pressure in nature, you’ll have to juggle various tasks on the job. The ultimate objective is to make sure deliveries are made and loads are coordinated in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible and doing this takes concentration in pressure situations. So, if you’re someone who wants a job that is fast-paced and never boring, then you may fit right in as a dispatcher.
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