By Bert Russell 7-12 -2026 @ 3:13 PM Who the F*** Am I? Who the f*** am I? That is the question. I ask myself every single day. I excel at my job. I understand KPIs, TCU, miles, hours, capacity, timing, and the countless moving pieces that determine whether an operation succeeds or collapses. I produce results that few people can replicate. But make one mistake—just one—and suddenly that is all people notice. They forget the hundreds of routes that worked. They forget the problems I prevented before anyone else even saw them coming. They forget the drivers who made it home, the freight that arrived on time, the overtime I reduced, and the miles I saved. They remember the mistake. They call me something I am not. A dispatcher. No disrespect to dispatchers. They do a job I cannot replicate. They manage the live operation, the drivers, the interruptions, the phone calls, and the chaos unfolding in real time. But I am a route planner. True and true. I study the operation before the wheels start turning. I see distance, time, equipment, workload, delivery windows, and human limitations as one connected system. I build the path before everyone else steps onto it. Yet somehow, when the operation succeeds, the warehouse made it happen. Leadership made it happen. The drivers made it happen. And I am treated like I am just another driver. Just another name. Just another college-educated idiot sitting behind a screen. But guess what? I do not give a flying f***. Because my work is like a rip tide. Most people only see the surface. They see trucks leaving the yard. They see freight moving. They see drivers arriving at stops. They see numbers on a report. They do not see the current underneath. They do not see the planning pulling everything into position. They do not see the calculations, judgment, pressure, experience, mistakes, corrections, and constant adjustments moving beneath the surface. A rip tide is powerful because it is invisible. You can stand in the water believing everything is calm, while the current beneath you is controlling where you go.

Here's my week summed up in one GIF file. I can go two if needed