'Do you mean to tell me you've sat idle for 60 hours?!': Dispatchers tell trucker to wait for tire repair, dispatcher gets fired

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    Truck Driving I used to drive for the 5th largest trucking company in America at the time. They had all sorts of problems; trucks that always broke down, directions that were NEVER right (this is before commercial routes could be programmed on GPSs). I once had to ask a driver from another company for directions to one of my OWN company's yards. Now
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    they've got a new CEO now and I hope things have been fixed. (I always meant to send them a letter, but I never did). I arrived to pick up a trailer, hooked up, did my mandatory inspection, and found that the trailer had a flat tire. The tire was just hanging off the rim but otherwise appeared to have no damage.
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    I got on my QualComm - a satellite communication system, and I sent in one of the message templates to dispatch:MESSAGE 157: 5:01 PM FRIDAY: REPAIRS REQUIRED; FLAT TIRE. (At 5:01 PM I had the WEEKEND dispatcher). I sat around for quite some time waiting for a reply.
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    When no reply came I repeated the message. When I STILL got no reply I messaged dispatch directly asking if my messages got through and when repairs were coming. Finally, I got a reply. 159 Dispatch: We need to know the tire size.
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    While I'm a professional driver, licensed to drive in over 150 countries, I'm embarrassed to say: I never had the need to buy a tire before, and didn't know which of the many things written on the tire contained the information they needed. So in message 160 to dispatch I relayed every single thing written on the tire to them.
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    161 Dispatch: The fleet uses a universal tire size.162 Truck to Dispatch: Then why did you ask me? Several hours passed and there were no further messages and no one came to conduct repairs.
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    Finally, I called them on the phone - they said someone would be there shortly. After several more hours came and went I called again and they said to stop calling because I was tying up the line and bothering them. Ooooh that me off.
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    So I disconnected my Kenworthless 500 from the trailer, parked out of the way, and started reading a book I had. Friday night passed. Saturday passed. Sunday passed.
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    Monday morning, at Nine oh ONE A.M., when the regular 9-5 weekday dispatcher came back on duty my cellphone began ringing off the hook. "WHY haven't you rolled?! YOU'VE BEEN IDLE FOR OVER 60 HOURS!!!"
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    Oh I was ready for this. "WELL sir, if you look at message one- five-seven you'll see that I called in for a repair." I heard the beeping of the computer as he pulled up the message menu and saw the repair request.
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    "...You were supposed to send in the tire size!" "Well sir if you look at messages one-six-zero and one-six-one you'll see I DID send in the tire size, and After I did that I was told the entire fleet only uses one type of tire."
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    "...Buh-buh-buh... Buh-buh-but... Well...WHY DIDN'T ASK THEM WHAT THE HOLD UP WAS?" "Well sir if you look at messages one-six-three and one-six-four you'll see I DID ask them what the hold up was."
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    The guy was stammering and stuttering at this point."Wuh- WHY didn't you use the phone and call dispatch directly?!" "Well sir, if you check the call logs you'll see that I DID call dispatch, twice."
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    "You did?!" "Yes." "And what did they say?!" In my sweetest smart- voice I said, "They told me not to Call them anymore because I was 'bothering' them."
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    "Do YOU mean, to tell ME, you've sat IDLE, for 60 hours, because of a STINKIN' TIRE?!" Apologetically I said, "Dispatch told me to Wait sir." He was out of breath.
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    "Don't move, someone will be there, in 20 minutes." 19 minutes later a guy showed up, laughing his off when he pulled up because apparently the dispatcher had vented to him the entire trip there.
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    The repair guy had a tire and a number of pieces of equipment with him in his pickup truck. He looked at the tire, informed me that the tire had no damage, but had merely lost pressure to the point where it had come loose from the rim. All that needed to be done was for it to be put back on the rim and re-pressurized.
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    Since the tire was hanging there, a huge gap between the tire and the rim, I asked him how one could possibly reinflate it. He took out an old propane tank that had a large pipe welded to it with what looked like the triangular end of a vacuum cleaner on it. He shoved the triangular piece into the gap between the rim and the tire, and opened this large handle-valve that was on the pipe.
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    The entire contents of the tank shot into that gap all at once, the pressure popped the tire back in place, onto the rim. He then used an air compressor to finish re- inflating the tire to full pressure, had me sign something, then went on his way.
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    I used a message template to tell dispatch I was hooked up to the trailer and beginning departure. I also direct messaged dispatch saying something like thank you for getting the repairs arranged.
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    I got a direct message back that simply said, "UH HUH" That weekend dispatcher was immediately fired.
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    eltf177 You do get paid for all that sitting around I hope. 276 Reply thedavecorp OP No. It was 43 cents per mile I believe.
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    orion84gsl I used to work for a large Canadian refrigerated trucking company. I HATED the Qualcomm system. I'd get canned messages asking when I'd be empty when I still had 7 deliveries on the trailer and they're the ones that made the appointments. I almost always called instead of sending messages because I was either a) driving, b)
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    needed an answer to the message I sent yesterday. Numerous times I would send a message only to check a couple hours later and see that they didn't actually get sent and were waiting in queue. Stupid system
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    George_Parr I used to work for "Driver's Management". Anybody recognize that name? The night dispatch were either jerks or idiots, or maybe both. Weekends was the same.
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    I NEVER sent a Qualcomm message, they would simply disappear. I always called on the phone. It didn't really help.
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    tanya6k What'd you do for three days? ↑ 3 зд Reply thedavecorp OP I read my book. SHOGUN, by James Clavell I believe it was.
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    SciurDae Were you "On-Duty" or just stayed in sleeper berth the entire time? Good way to get your 34 reset in, just for the low paycheck that week.
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    I blew a steer when company sent me to pick up a broken trailer 60 miles from terminal. Was a quick fix, sat on side of interstate in Chicago for maybe two hours, had an amazing fleet manager.
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    Felt like it was ironic since I was so worried about the trailer having issues, couldn't see any on pre-trip but it was marked as needed repairs, and then having my truck itself breakdown on me instead.
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    thedavecorp OP I went off duty.

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