Looking for help using Central Dispatch. Welcome back again to Auto Transport Intel. I'm Jay, the Car Hauling Dispatcher. Today, I'm working on booking for my driver John of Paladin Enterprises. He is located in Ohio and we're looking at going to Houston with his 3-car wedge.

I heard there are some good paying cars going to Houston, but I have no idea what it's going to be like booking him out of Houston. Because of the massive hurricane damage and flooding, I'm imagining a lot of INOPS will need to be moved, so I already asked John if his winch was working.

Let's go ahead and log into Central Dispatch - the #1 Load Board for Car Haulers. We know that we're picking up in Youngstown, Ohio and in a previous video I talked about how it can be better to begin a search 50 miles around the pickup city. For delivery, my custom is to conduct a regional search of states. In this case, that will be Texas and Louisiana, so as to get the Houston area as well as Baton Rouge. #carhaulingdispatcher #autodispatchingtips #centraldispatch

However, I'm actually going to break my normal rule on this one. Since I heard Houston is in such great need of cars, I'm going to do a 50-mile search around Houston for delivery. It is now Thursday mid-afternoon and so I'm booking for Monday pickups. (I don't want to see anything ready after Monday). Upon searching, I actually got 26 results, which when searching city-to-city long distance is truly quite rare.

In fact, just going to Houston, I'm seeing several cars listed for over 70 cents per mile. Since 50 cents per mile is the known industry average, that's really good. Because supply is up, the differentiating criteria for booking loads will come down to the height and weight of the vehicles as well as the payment terms. Since I'm booking a three-car wedge trailer, I can really only take one big truck.

I did find a 2015 crew cab short bed paying over $1,000 so I immediately called the broker. On the phone, he told me the customer sounds ready to just drive it himself so the load is no longer available. Dispatching tip: go ahead and give your phone number and information (just in case they change their mind). I also found a 1993 Land Cruiser listed for $950, so while I'm calling I check the curb weight and length just so I know the vehicle specs for sure.

I also heard that getting out of Houston is pretty dicey. It's certainly not the same as it is going in - so I need to check that out now instead of waiting. By the way, I can't believe Central Dispatch doesn't have a 'Backhaul Search' selection. Wouldn't that be so easy to create?

Well, it turns out that the 'reverse city-to-city' search results are zero, so now it's time to get creative. It's a good thing we have several days of time to figure this out because if we didn't have time we might have to rethink what we're doing. To be specific, the main reason I know we have time is that I always ask the driver, "When do you plan on picking up and when do you want to be back home?" As a dispatcher, you need to ask that - every time, right away - so you know how many days you have for your return trip. If you don't ask a driver this and you start booking and he suddenly tells you, "Oh, yeah, I've got to be back early for my anniversary," then you've got a big problem. As they say in the movies, that's what I call "a tight spot." Remember: talk to your dispatcher. Don't keep secrets from each other. It's not going to end well.

Alright, so the rates are definitely lower getting out of Houston (plus there really are a lot of INOPs). Therefore, the key to successfully booking out of Houston is to pay attention and always be checking for new loads. In the movie "Glengarry Glenross," Alec Baldwin's character writes "ABC" on the chalkboard and he says, "To be a successful salesman, 'Always Be Closing'". To me, to be a successful dispatcher you need to Always Be Checking - for new loads.

This should be common sense! When you know that you're going to be booking from a city that's going to be difficult to book out of - Always Be Checking! That doesn't mean from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. when you're at your desk. I'm talking about in the morning (right when you wake up) check the load board. At night, before you go to sleep (you have a computer) check the load board. Always be checking. Dispatch unto others as you would want dispatched unto you. Okay, you get it.

Thanks for joining me today on Auto Transport Intel. I'm the Car Hauling Dispatcher. My name is Jay. Thank you for your time and I hope my advice helps you. You have a good one out there on the road.

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