Most of the long‐range intracellular movements of vesicles, organelles and other cargoes are driven by microtubule (MT)‐based molecular motors. Cytoplasmic dynein, a multisubunit protein complex, with the aid of dynactin, drives transport of a wide variety of cargoes towards the minus end of MTs. In this article, I review our current understanding of the mechanisms underlying spatiotemporal regulation of dynein‐dynactin‐driven vesicular transport with a special emphasis on the many steps of directional movement along MT tracks. These include the recruitment of dynein to MT plus ends, the activation and processivity of dynein, and cargo recognition and release by the motor complex at the target membrane. Furthermore, I summarize the most recent findings about the fine control mechanisms for intracellular transport via the interaction between the dynein‐dynactin motor complex and its vesicular cargoes.