Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance Career Video
Description: Schedule and dispatch workers, work crews, equipment, or service vehicles for conveyance of materials, freight, or passengers, or for normal installation, service, or emergency repairs rendered outside the place of business. Duties may include using radio, telephone, or computer to transmit assignments and compiling statistics and reports on work progress.
Video Transcript
Dispatchers keep freight, work crews, and equipment moving along the vast network of transit lines across the country and around the globe. Dispatchers send workers and service vehicles out to make installations, service calls, or emergency repairs. They set schedules for moving freight and equipment and keep in close contact with work site personnel to adjust schedules as needed. Dispatchers generally relay work orders and information to workers and field personnel using phones or 2-way radios. They track work progress, and record customer requests, expenses, charges, and inventory, and make reports as needed. They also keep work crews informed about delays caused by hazards such as road construction or poor weather conditions. Most dispatchers work in the trucking industry, taxi and limousine services, building equipment contractors, freight and rail transportation, or local messenger services. Schedules of 40 hours or more in a week are common in this field. A high school diploma or equivalent is typically required.