Employee Spotlight on Lori Jarrett

September 2, 2010

Lori Jarrett has been dispatching for Dohrn Transfer for almost 19 years and is respected by coworkers and customers throughout the Midwest as en expert in her field.

Starting her career at Dohrn after working for 2 previous carriers, her first office was a stark contrast to her modern, current office. She started with Dohrn at the Quad City Industrial Center in Rock Island. The only dispatch window looked out at a warehouse and her equipment consisted of a pencil, dispatch pad and a phone. Lori has learned and grown with Dohrn and now uses cutting edge technology to stay in contact with her drivers in real-time. Dohrn has become home to Lori where she fits in well. She prefers the non-union, hard working atmosphere.

“We are more flexible to meet the customers’ needs. Our drivers do whatever is physically possible to get the freight off of the truck. Other carriers force the customers to fit into their guidelines,” says Lori.

Her 5’3, less then 100 pound size is deceiving. She’s has big personality and knows how to get what she needs out of her drivers. Lori’s success in dispatching is a result of her talent with working with people.

“I love working with different personalities of drivers. I know which drivers I can call early in the day and lay it all on and which ones do better when given their pickups one at a time,” says Lori.

Dispatching has taught Lori to be flexible and think outside the box. She claims there are never two days alike. Lori, in turn, has taught her drivers not to give her excuses. On a snowy day, Lori gets up well before the sun to plow her quarter mile long driveway so she can make the 35 minute drive from the country into work. With a role model like that, there aren’t many excuses her drivers can come up with not to make it in on time.

“Dohrn’s most senior Dispatcher has been Rock Island’s base to build off of as we increased business and continued with growth over the years. Lori is one of our all time most dependable employees from the beginning days of helping on the dock (doing dock checks) then dispatching shortly after. She has always been willing to take on new challenges while excelling at them, “ says vice president of operations, Russ Sheffler.

When Lori isn’t dispatching at Dohrn, she enjoys spending time with her husband, 3 kids and 8 grandchildren. She is also very active with her church youth groups. It isn’t unusual to find her house full of teens from the youth group or the boys she mentors.

Her love of hard work extends beyond Dohrn Transfer. She has traveled overseas on 3 mission trips with one more in the works for next year. On those trips, she has built fences, moved a library, constructed a storage building, added a room to a church and plans to build a residence hall for a school.

We are lucky to have an employee like Lori Jarrett working for Dohrn Transfer. She exemplifies the Dohrn Transfer work ethic.