Dispatch contract clauses to read before you sign with any dispatcher

A dispatch agreement is short compared with most business contracts, which is exactly why people sign them without reading closely. A page or two, a fee, a signature line. But a few sentences in that page decide how much you really pay, whether you can leave, who controls your loads and where your money goes. The same handful of clauses shows up in almost every agreement, worded in a dozen different ways.

This guide walks through them with an EXAMPLE agreement, marks the risky wording in red pen, and then shows our own terms clause by clause, so you have at least one honest comparison. Use it as a checklist with any dispatcher, including us.

The red-pen agreement

Below is an EXAMPLE dispatch agreement with seven clauses written the way they often are. Tap each clause to see the red-pen note: what the wording allows and the question to ask. Then tick “show our terms” to swap every clause for the version in our own agreement.

None of the example wording is illegal, and you'll find most of it in real agreements. The point isn't that every dispatcher with a minimum or a twelve-month term is acting in bad faith. It's that each of those clauses shifts risk or control toward the dispatcher, and you should know that before you sign rather than after a slow month.

Nine clauses, plain English

1. Fee and fee basis

The percentage matters less than what it's a percentage of. “Gross revenue” can mean the linehaul only, or the linehaul plus fuel surcharge, detention, TONU and lumper reimbursements, or every load your truck hauls including the ones you found yourself. Ask for the exact basis in writing and run your own numbers with the dispatcher fee calculator.

2. What's included

Some dispatchers find loads and nothing else. Others handle broker setup, check calls, detention claims, invoicing support and payment follow-up. If the agreement says “dispatch services” without a list, ask for one. Extra services billed separately should be named with their prices. Knowing the full list also tells you what you'll still be doing yourself, which matters when you compare a cheaper dispatcher that only books loads with one that also chases detention and late payments.

3. Minimums and setup fees

A weekly minimum means you pay even when the truck doesn't move. A setup or onboarding fee is paid before a single load is booked. Neither is automatically unfair, but both change the math, especially for a new authority with uneven weeks.

4. Term, renewal and termination

Look for the length of the agreement, whether it renews on its own, the notice period to cancel, any cancellation fee, and what happens to loads already booked when you leave. Month-to-month with a short notice period is the easiest to live with.

5. Power of attorney

Some agreements let the dispatcher sign rate confirmations and other documents in your company's name. That's convenient and risky: your company is bound by terms you may never have read. If you do grant signing authority, limit it in writing.

6. Who brokers pay

Brokers should pay you or your factor directly. A clause that routes payments through the dispatcher puts your freight money in someone else's account. FMCSA's guidance on dispatch services treats a dispatcher taking compensation from brokers or factors, or being part of the money flow, as a sign it may need broker authority 507297.

7. Load approval

“Dispatcher may book loads meeting Carrier's preferences” sounds harmless until a load you would have refused shows up booked. Ask for every load to require your confirmation.

8. Logins, data and records

Some dispatchers ask for your load board, ELD or factoring logins. Share only what's needed, never banking access, and ask what happens to those logins when you leave. Check who owns your carrier packet, setups and broker contacts; you built those relationships with your truck.

9. Non-solicitation and exclusivity

Some agreements forbid you from working directly with brokers the dispatcher introduced, sometimes for a year after you leave. Others require that every load goes through the dispatcher. Read these carefully; they can follow you long after the agreement ends.

A broker relationship belongs to the carrier who hauls the loads. You signed the broker's carrier agreement, your truck did the work and the broker paid your company. A clause that stops you from calling that broker after you leave a dispatcher is worth pushing back on hard. Likewise, an exclusivity clause that charges a fee on loads you book yourself means you're paying for work nobody did. If a dispatcher insists on exclusivity, ask what you get in return, and make sure it's written down.

How to negotiate a dispatch agreement

Many owners assume a dispatch agreement is take it or leave it. Often it isn't. Dispatchers want good carriers, and a reasonable request put in writing is frequently accepted, especially on clauses that cost the dispatcher little. Start with the ones that protect your control: every load needs your approval, you sign every rate con, brokers pay you directly. Those are hard to argue against, and a dispatcher who refuses them is telling you something important.

Next, the money clauses. Ask for the fee basis to be spelled out, for loads you book yourself to be excluded, and for any minimum to be dropped or limited to weeks when you're available to run. Then the exit clauses: a shorter term, no automatic renewal, a notice period you can live with, and a clear statement that your packet and broker list are yours. Ask for changes in writing, in the agreement itself, not in a reassuring phone call. A clause that “we never actually enforce” is still a clause you signed.

If a dispatcher won't change anything at all, compare the whole package with alternatives before deciding. A slightly lower percentage with a twelve-month lock-in, a minimum and signing authority can cost more, in money and in control, than a higher percentage with none of those.

Questions to ask before you sign

• On exactly which loads is the fee charged, and on which number?
• Is there any fee in a week when my truck doesn't haul?
• Will you ever sign a rate confirmation or contract for my company?
• Who do brokers pay, and does any money from brokers or factors go to you?
• Do I have to approve every load, or can you book on my preferences?
• How do I cancel, how much notice, and is there a fee?
• What happens to my packet, setups and broker contacts if I leave?
• Am I free to book loads myself, and to keep working with brokers after I leave?

Clear, written answers to those eight questions will tell you more about a dispatcher than any sales call. Vague answers, or answers that don't match the agreement, are a reason to keep looking.

A note for new authorities

New carriers are the most likely to sign a weak agreement, because the first months are stressful and a dispatcher promising loads sounds like relief. That's exactly when minimums and long terms hurt most: weeks are uneven while broker setups come through, and a fixed weekly charge can land on a week with one load. Look for an agreement whose cost moves with your revenue, with no setup fee and a short exit. And be wary of any promise of a specific number of loads or a guaranteed rate; nobody can honestly make one.

Red flags: when to walk away

Three clauses deserve a hard stop until they're rewritten. First, any dispatcher that signs rate confirmations for you without your review. Second, any arrangement where brokers pay the dispatcher instead of you or your factor. Third, a long term with automatic renewal and a fee to leave, especially paired with a minimum. Each of those removes a decision from your hands.

There's also a quieter red flag: a dispatcher who deals with shippers, sets shipper rates or offers you loads it took before having a truck. Those are activities FMCSA associates with brokering. Our guide to dispatcher vs broker explains where the line sits. And the same careful reading applies to broker contracts; see the broker-carrier agreement guide and the red flags checklist.

Before signing with any dispatcher, it's also worth checking the people behind it the same way you'd check a broker. Our guide on how to vet a freight broker covers public record checks that work for any company you're about to trust with your loads.

Our terms, side by side

Here are our own terms in the same order, so you can hold us to the same standard. They come from the same settings that power our pricing page, so they stay consistent across the site.

Full pricing details, with examples, are on what we charge. If you'd like to read the whole agreement before deciding, apply and we'll send it with no obligation. Read it the way this guide suggests, with a red pen in hand.