Overnight Intermodal Dispatcher

Job Description

Zelh is a fast-growing, passionate outsourcing company. Our mission is to be the most reliable company by offering and maintaining consistently high-quality services. We achieve the mission by fostering long-term relationships with customers, employees, and vendors. Personal attention, timely communication, and respect for all people are the basis of our business philosophy!

At Zelh, we're looking for an Intermodal Overnight Dispatcher who thrives in a fast-paced logistics environment and enjoys solving operational challenges in real time. In this role, you'll be responsible for managing a fleet of 10–15 intermodal drivers during overnight operations, ensuring freight keeps moving efficiently while providing seamless support between day and night shifts. Your success will be measured by your ability to maximize equipment utilization, minimize driver downtime, coordinate container movements, and proactively resolve issues before they impact customers. If you're highly organized, enjoy multitasking, think several steps ahead, and are passionate about transportation operations, we'd love to meet you.

Responsibilities

As an Overnight Dispatcher, you'll play a critical role in keeping daily operations running smoothly by:

• Dispatching and managing 10–15 intermodal drivers during overnight operations.
• Supporting both drivers finishing their day and those beginning their shifts.
• Coordinating driver schedules to maximize productivity and reduce idle time.
• Monitoring shipments and proactively resolving operational issues.
• Ensuring drivers receive timely load information and instructions.
• Communicating with drivers primarily through our texting and communication platforms.
• Tracking shipments, containers, and driver progress throughout the night.
• Updating shipment statuses and operational records within our TMS.
• Monitoring incoming operational emails and taking immediate action when required.
• Coordinating with customers, terminals, depots, and rail providers to ensure smooth freight movement.
• Escalating critical issues and communicating operational updates to the daytime team.

Driving Operational Efficiency

One of the most valuable parts of this role is identifying opportunities to improve operational efficiency. You'll work to minimize empty miles and maximize equipment utilization by creating reload opportunities, including:

• Unloading import containers and immediately reloading export containers.
• Coordinating lift-off and lift-on operations at the same customer facility whenever possible.
• Planning efficient hauls that reduce unnecessary driver movement.
• Helping create operational synergies that improve profitability and customer service.

These efficiencies directly contribute to our team's performance and are recognized through an additional bonus program.

Systems & Tools You'll Use

You'll work with a variety of logistics systems and customer platforms, including:

• Transportation Management: Profit Tools (TMS)
• Rail Tracking Platforms: BNSF, Union Pacific (UP), Canadian National (CN), Canadian Pacific (CPKC), Norfolk Southern (NS), CSX
• Customer Portals: BLUME, IMC, OOCL, ONE (We'll train you on each customer-specific portal.)
• Driver Communication: Intermedia texting platform, phone communication when needed
• Driver Tracking: Motive (ELD) for driver tracking, shipment visibility, sending ETA updates to customers

Other Daily Responsibilities

You'll also manage:

• Container pickup notifications
• Rail billing submissions
• Export and empty container releases
• Depot release requests
• Rail lift fee coordination
• Street turn requests
• Customer update emails
• Live Excel tracking sheets and operational reports