how to dispatch chicago...

every dispatcher has there own way...fortunately for me where i work there are two of us and we happen to be on the same page. this is definitely good news cause i can see the two of us getting into it because of a disagreement in how to dispatch our messengers.

ok...i pretty much seperate the city in four sections. all this dispatching has nothing to do with car work...thats a whole different story entirely. the green section is the part most cats enjoy...why? cause everything is close by and you don't have to cross any annoying bridges. all pick ups and drops in that section can all be done within 10 to 15 mins...this means you can take your time rocking out packages and dont have to hurt yourself.

the red section is annoying...there isn't much that goes out in that direction and there definitely isn't much at all that comes out from the west loop to bring you back in to the nice green section. we try our best to load up cats with enough pick ups out of the green section into the red to make the trip a bit more pleasant but lately work has been so slow that it hurts sometimes to tell a messenger to truck it way out west for just one drop or one pick up.

the blue section can be annoying also...there isn't much that goes or comes out of that direction. it does treat you better than the west loop but it can be frustrating for a messenger to double up to 740 sedgwick for only one drop or pick up to truck it back to the green section. the huge bonus of being in the blue is that you get to chill at the merchandise mart...it's a nice warm spot, especially this winter. also, we have a bunch of accounts in the mart so if the timing is right you can come out of the mart holding six with the possibilities of scooping up some hubbards before heading over the river into the green.

the yellow section can be just as fun as the green section...most cats still don't like it for some reason. anywhoo, we usually have a bunch of work coming from the hancock or 900 north michigan. the downside is that the hancock is horrible...huge freight issues. i personally enjoy this end a bit more cause i feel like it's a bit more open and you can chill on the magnificent mile and do some tourist watching on your down time.

i usually try to stack cats up in the loop/green section and have them head to one of the other zones. you know...green to red, green to yellow, or green to blue. when in a pinch you/i have to load cats up with drops at two different sections...you know, load up in green with drops in blue and yellow. when cats are up north i sometimes spread them out a bit more...pick up in blue and yellow headed back to green. now...what really sucks is the dead-heading that i spoke about a few posts back. pick up from the south end of green to drop at the north end of blue or yellow...this really sucks but when its slow sometimes this needs to be done or even when im in a pinch im forced to apologize for doing it but i do it anyways.

not sure if any of this made any sense to anyone and there are some variables that i haven't mentioned but it makes alot of sense in my head...peace.