Dispatch Planning interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your background and your path into dispatch + planning.
2. Tell me about a dispatch board or planning operation you've owned end-to-end.
3. Why dispatch + planning vs broader fleet ops, customer service, or brokerage?
4. Why this role type - dispatcher vs driver manager vs load planner vs OCC controller?
5. Why the firm?
6. What's your read on our dispatch model + operating model + customer mix?
7. Tell me what you understand about our TMS, optimisation, and dispatch technology stack.
8. Walk me through how you build a daily plan for 30-50 drivers under HOS constraints.

Technical concepts to master

• HOS-aware load-driver matching

  PTA (Projected Time Available) · Available drive time + duty window · Sleeper-berth split + 34-hr restart planning · Home time + reset planning · Customer window respect

• Dispatch board mechanics + macros + status codes

  Macros + status codes · Dispatch board archetypes · Driver manager vs load planner split · TMS + optimisation engine · Board hygiene + plan freshness

• Customer + accessorial economics

  Detention pay · Layover + stop-off + tarp + driver-assist · Drop-and-hook vs live-load · Customer scorecards + reload pressure · Brokered backhaul economics

• IROPS + OCC decision rhythm

  Triage priority order · WX + ATC-equivalent disruption · Breakdown + roadside repair · Customer refusal + reconsignment · OCC / NOC escalation

Practical drills

• Driver A's PTA is Monday 06:00 in Memphis with a full 11-hr drive + 14-hr duty clock and 65 hrs available on the 70-hr rolling. You have three loads to assign: (1) Memphis -> Dallas, 450 mi, deliver Mon 18:00; (2) Memphis -> Atlanta, 380 mi, deliver Tue 06:00 drop-and-hook; (3) Memphis -> Indianapolis, 470 mi, deliver Mon 22:00 live-unload (avg 3-hr dwell). Driver has requested home time Thursday in Dallas. Which load matches best? Walk through the HOS math + driver-fit reasoning.
• You inherit a 100-truck OTR fleet running deadhead at 15% (target 10%). RPM averages $2.20, drivers average 2,200 miles per week. Walk through how you'd diagnose + propose a plan with quantified targets + economics.
• Friday 14:00. A winter storm closes I-40 east of Oklahoma City. You have 18 drivers on or near the closure - 6 inbound to OKC, 8 transiting east, 4 staging for Saturday loads. Simultaneously, one of your drivers (eastbound) has a tractor breakdown 40 mi west of the closure with a high-value reefer load - delivery is Sunday 06:00 in Memphis. The Memphis customer just called Sales demanding ETA. Walk through your first 60-90 minutes of triage and the next 24 hours of recovery.

Smart-question anchors

• Dispatch board structure - geographic / customer / lane, DM + planner split, span of control
• Technology stack - TMS, ELD platform, optimisation engine, dispatch UI, OCC integration
• Customer + vertical mix - dedicated accounts, drop-and-hook coverage, accessorial discipline
• Driver-managing rhythm - PTA discipline, home-time policy, dispatcher-driver tenure
• IROPS + OCC posture - 24/7 staffing, escalation tree, recent recovery events

Sourced from

FMCSA - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration - 49 CFR Part 395 Hours of Service + ELD documentation · ATA - American Trucking Associations - Standard Trucking and Transportation Statistics · ATRI - American Transportation Research Institute - Operational Costs of Trucking + Detention research · DAT + Truckstop load-board market data + spot vs contract analytics · Transport Topics + FreightWaves + CCJ (Commercial Carrier Journal) + Overdrive trade press