Cost and fees
How much does a truck dispatch service cost?
Across the industry, dispatch services charge about 5% to 10% of what the truck makes, or a flat weekly fee. Dry van is usually at the lower end and reefer a little higher, because reefer takes more work per load. We give you your price on a free 30-minute call instead of publishing one number, because the fair price for a carrier with three years of history is not the fair price for a brand-new authority.
Do you take a percentage of gross or of linehaul?
Linehaul only. Your fuel surcharge is yours and we do not touch it. This matters more than most drivers think. On a $3,000 load with a $600 fuel surcharge, 8% of gross costs you $240 and 8% of linehaul costs you $192. Ask any dispatch service this question in these exact words.
Is there a setup fee, a joining fee, or a contract?
No to all three. Setup is $0. There are no extra fees added on top of the percentage. There is no contract and no notice period. You can stop any Friday. We would rather keep drivers because leaving is easy and staying makes them money.
Who keeps detention, layover, TONU, and lumper money?
You keep 100% of it. We put detention in writing from the first hour and we chase the broker for extra pay, but we take no percentage of anything we get back for you. A dispatch service that takes a cut of your detention is getting paid twice for the same load.
When do I pay you, and what if the load does not pay?
You pay us after you get paid. If the load does not pay, we do not get paid either. We are your 1099 vendor and we invoice you directly. We never take money from a broker, a 3PL, or your factoring company, because a dispatcher paid by the other side is not really working for you.
How it works day to day
How fast can I start?
About a week from the first call to your first load. That covers the rate call, your paperwork (MC and DOT numbers, W-9, insurance certificate, signed dispatch agreement), and the broker setups. The broker setups take the longest and we do them for you.
Do I say yes to a load before you book it?
Yes, every load. We send you the load, the rate, the stops, and the pay terms. Nothing is booked until you agree. You will never wake up to a load you did not accept.
Will I get the same dispatcher every day?
Yes. You get one dispatcher by name, with a direct phone number and WhatsApp. Not a queue and not a shared inbox. They learn your lanes, your home time, and your truck. A dispatcher who has to read your file again every morning cannot plan your week.
What happens after I deliver?
We send your invoice the same day, with the BOL, the rate con, and any extra pay you earned. We keep every document, so if a broker argues about a load nine months later you have the paper in two minutes. If a broker pays you short, we chase it in writing. Booking the load is the easy part. Most of the money drivers lose is lost after the truck is empty.
Do you use load boards I could use myself?
Yes. DAT, Truckstop, and the same broker lists you can see. We are not going to pretend we have secret loads nobody else can find. Anyone who tells you that is selling you something. What we have is the time to call four times on one posted rate, the market knowledge to find your load back before we take the load out, and the willingness to tell you when a load will lose you money.
What reports do I get?
A weekly report for each truck: loads booked, rates, revenue per mile, empty miles, and what we turned down and why. If you have several trucks you also get one page for the whole fleet, so you can see which truck earns the most and which one is quietly losing money.
Equipment, lanes, and fit
What equipment do you dispatch?
Reefer and dry van only. No flatbed, no step deck, no hotshot, no power only. A dispatch service that covers six kinds of trailer is guessing on five of them. Reefer and dry van are different enough from each other that two is already the honest limit.
What areas do you cover?
We book loads in all 48 states. Most of our drivers are based in two places: Ohio, on the I-70 and I-71 roads through Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and the Minneapolis and St. Paul area in Minnesota. Our regular lanes reach Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, and Alabama. We work from phones and computers, not from an office you visit.
Do you work with brand-new authorities?
Yes, and we charge them more, and we say why up front. Under twelve months old, your authority costs us three to five times more work: most brokers will not set you up without a fight, new MC numbers get offered less money on purpose, and every broker packet has to be built from nothing. The rate goes back to normal once you no longer need the extra work.
Is a dispatch service worth it for one truck?
Only if it makes you more than it costs, and that is a real question. One driver cannot make forty broker calls and drive eleven hours in the same day, so a solo driver usually takes the first acceptable load instead of the best one. But if your lanes are already tight and your rates are already strong, we will tell you on the call that you do not need us.
What if I already have a dispatcher?
Bring their numbers to the call. Average load, revenue per mile, percentage of empty miles, and days sitting empty. Those four numbers settle it. If they are beating what we would have booked, stay where you are.