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Driver manager

Run a board of trucks and the people who drive them. Three levels take you from knowing nothing about trucking, to ready for an entry-level driver manager or dispatcher job, to what the best people on the desk do differently. Each lesson is a short read and a few real situations to decide.

Level 1

Getting started

How trucking works, what the job is, and the rules every load runs under. No experience needed.

  1. How trucking works

    Shippers, brokers, carriers and drivers, the kinds of trucking and who pays whom.

    4 scenarios

  2. What a driver manager does

    The seat you're training for: who you work with, what a day looks like and what you're judged on.

    4 scenarios

  3. Hours of service

    The federal limits on how long a truck driver can drive and work, and how an ELD tracks them.

    5 scenarios

  4. Planning with the clock

    Can this driver legally make this load? Working out miles, hours and appointments.

    5 scenarios

  5. The life of a load

    From the tender to the paperwork: appointments, bills of lading, detention, lumpers and TONUs.

    5 scenarios

  6. Drivers, trucks and the DOT

    CDLs, medical cards, inspections, CSA scores and the Clearinghouse: what keeps a driver and truck legal.

    4 scenarios
Level 2

On the desk

What you do all day as a new driver manager: plan loads, pay drivers right, talk to them well and handle what goes wrong.

  1. Building a good plan

    Deadhead, preplans, fuel and relays: getting the most loaded miles out of each truck without burning out the driver.

    4 scenarios

  2. How drivers get paid

    Mileage pay, percentage, accessorial pay and settlements, and why pay mistakes make drivers quit.

    4 scenarios

  3. Talking with drivers

    Respect, straight answers, bad news delivered well and how to calm down a driver who's had enough.

    4 scenarios

  4. Getting drivers home

    Home time is the promise drivers care about most. How to plan for it and keep it.

    3 scenarios

  5. When things go wrong

    Breakdowns, accidents, late loads, refused freight and storms: a calm order of operations.

    5 scenarios

  6. Keeping drivers safe

    Fatigue, speed, telematics alerts and coaching: your part in getting every driver home in one piece.

    3 scenarios
Level 3

Top of the field

What the best driver managers do differently: run the numbers, keep drivers for years and think in networks.

  1. The numbers that matter

    Revenue per truck, miles per week, empty percentage, on-time and operating ratio, and how you move them.

    5 scenarios

  2. Keeping drivers for years

    Why drivers leave, why the first 90 days matter most, and the habits that keep a board together.

    4 scenarios

  3. Thinking in networks

    Headhaul and backhaul, strong and weak markets, spot versus contract and the seasons of freight.

    5 scenarios

  4. Running a board like the best

    Triage, routines, notes and teamwork: how top driver managers stay ahead of 50 trucks, and where the job leads.

    4 scenarios

  5. A day on the desk

    Everything together: one busy shift on a 45-truck board, one decision after another.

    7 scenarios
More info

How it works

Read the lesson, then work through the scenarios. Each one is a moment on a dispatch desk: pick what you’d do and you’ll see why the best answer is best. A wrong pick can be tried again. A lesson is done when every scenario is.

Who it’s for

Anyone thinking about a job as a driver manager, fleet manager or truck dispatcher, new hires in their first months on the desk, drivers curious about the other end of the phone, and anyone who runs a small fleet.

Questions

Which rules does it follow? The US federal rules (FMCSA, 49 CFR) as of 2026, mostly hours of service for property-carrying trucks. Rules change, and states, Canada and your own company can add stricter ones.

Where is my progress saved? In this browser, like the rest of the site. Nothing to sign up for.

General training, not legal or compliance advice. Check the current FMCSA rules and your company’s policies before acting on anything here.