Drilling Deep: Getting into the business as a dispatcher

Also on the podcast: The latest diesel update

Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

There are lots of entry points into the trucking industry: driver, broker, mechanic. One that doesn’t get a lot of attention is the role of an independent dispatcher.

But that job is the focus of what Laura Weston does. She’s the head of Effective Dispatching Plus and it’s her job to take somebody who might be interested in entering the trucking business as a dispatcher and tell him or her how to prepare. As she notes on the Drilling Deep podcast with host John Kingston, it is a way to get into the business with a relatively low barrier of entry that may also allow you to perform dispatching as a second career.

Also on the podcast, Kingston discusses the latest further tightening of East Coast diesel supplies but why it isn’t showing up in some key numbers. 

More articles by John Kingston

Drilling Deep: Creating a strong relationship between LTL carrier and shipper

Drilling Deep: Cutting off cellphone use while driving

Drilling Deep: Spencer Tenney on M&A in the supply chain

Upcoming FreightWaves Events
AI

Supply Chain AI Symposium

Past the hype. Join operators, founders, and enterprise leaders figuring out how to deploy AI in supply chain.

July 15, 2026
The Old Post • Chicago, IL
Register Now
Rail

Future of Rail Symposium

Reshoring is rewriting freight demand. Join shippers, rail executives, and government officials to shape the next decade.

July 28, 2026
The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga TN
Register Now
FreightTech

F3: Future of Freight Festival

Industry-defining keynotes, rapid-fire technology demos, and industry leaders networking in experiences across Chattanooga - plus the inaugural F3 Awards Dinner featuring the FreightTech and Shipper of Choice reveals.

October 27, 2026 – October 28, 2026
The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga, TN
Register Now
AI Supply Chain AI Symposium Jul 15 • The Old Post • Chicago, IL

Past the hype. Join operators, founders, and enterprise leaders figuring out how to deploy AI in supply chain.

The Old Post • Chicago, IL Register Now
Rail Future of Rail Symposium Jul 28 • The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga TN

Reshoring is rewriting freight demand. Join shippers, rail executives, and government officials to shape the next decade.

The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga TN Register Now
FreightTech F3: Future of Freight Festival Oct 27 – Oct 28 • The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga, TN

Industry-defining keynotes, rapid-fire technology demos, and industry leaders networking in experiences across Chattanooga - plus the inaugural F3 Awards Dinner featuring the FreightTech and Shipper of Choice reveals.

The Signal at Chattanooga Choo Choo • Chattanooga, TN Register Now

John Kingston

John has an almost 40-year career covering commodities, most of the time at S&P Global Platts. He created the Dated Brent benchmark, now the world’s most important crude oil marker. He was Director of Oil, Director of News, the editor in chief of Platts Oilgram News and the “talking head” for Platts on numerous media outlets, including CNBC, Fox Business and Canada’s BNN. He covered metals before joining Platts and then spent a year running Platts’ metals business as well. He was awarded the International Association of Energy Economics Award for Excellence in Written Journalism in 2015. In 2010, he won two Corporate Achievement Awards from McGraw-Hill, an extremely rare accomplishment, one for steering coverage of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and the other for the launch of a public affairs television show, Platts Energy Week.