Link 01For one-truck carriers
Dispatch service for owner operators who are done chasing brokers
You bought a truck to drive it, not to spend half the day on a load board and the other half on hold with a broker's accounting department. Our dispatch service for owner operators takes the phone work. You keep the decisions: every load is your call, and every rate con comes to you.
A self-dispatch day
EXAMPLE- 5:40 Scroll the board before the good loads go
- 6:15 Three calls, two voicemails, one “already covered”
- 7:00 Fill out a setup packet for a broker you've never heard of
- 11:30 Broker calls for a check call while you're backing in
- 16:00 Email accounting about an invoice from three weeks ago
- 20:30 Start looking for tomorrow's reload
Link 02Same lane, three brokers
The rate is half the story. The terms decide what you keep
Three brokers can offer the same lane with three different rate cons. One pays more but takes 45 days. One pays less but pays in two weeks. One leaves TONU off and charges a fine for a missed check call. Owner operator dispatch services earn their fee by reading those lines before you commit. Pick the offer you'd take, then change what happens on the load.
Dallas, TX to Atlanta, GA, 781 mi, dry van
EXAMPLE OFFERSBroker A
$2,150
- Pays
- net 30, QP 3%
- Detention
- $50/h after 2h
- TONU
- $150
- Fines
- none
- dispatch fee (5%) $107.50
You keep $2,042.50
Paid about day 30 after POD
Broker B
$2,250
- Pays
- net 45, QP 5%
- Detention
- $40/h after 3h, max $200
- TONU
- not stated
- Fines
- $250 per missed check call
- dispatch fee (5%) $112.50
You keep $2,137.50
Paid about day 45 after POD
Broker C
$2,100
- Pays
- net 15, QP 2%
- Detention
- $50/h after 2h
- TONU
- $250
- Fines
- none
- dispatch fee (5%) $105.00
You keep $1,995.00
Paid about day 15 after POD
Pick the offer you'd take. Then change what happens on the load and see if you'd still take it.
Payment terms
Net 15 and net 45 on the same rate are not the same money. Waiting a month costs you fuel credit, interest or a quick pay fee.
Detention and TONU
If it isn't on the rate con, you're asking for a favor instead of a payment. We get both in writing before you confirm.
Fines and chargebacks
A fine for a late check call can wipe out the extra $100 that made an offer look better. We push to strike them.
How we line up offers for you
When two or three brokers want the same truck, we don't just forward the highest number. We send you the offers side by side with the all-in rate per mile including deadhead, the payment terms, whether detention and TONU are written in, and any fines or unusual clauses. If one broker has paid you late before, we say so. If a lower rate sets up a much better reload, we say that too. Then you pick, and we call the broker back to lock it in. The rate con follows from the broker to you within minutes.
Link 03What we take off your plate
Everything between the truck and the broker's accounting office
Dispatch companies for owner operators vary a lot in what they actually do. Some find a load and disappear until the next one. Here's the full list of what our desk handles for a one-truck carrier, every week.
The list is long on purpose. Finding a load is the visible part. The hours go into the follow-up: the check calls, the missing POD, the detention nobody wants to pay, the invoice that slipped past its terms. Those are the tasks that eat an owner's evenings, so those are the tasks we took on.
- Searching the major load boards and our broker contacts for loads that fit your rules
- Checking each broker's public record, phone number and email domain before you see the offer
- Countering the rate and asking for detention, TONU and payment terms in writing
- Sending your carrier packet only to brokers who pass the check
- Sending pickup details and appointments to your phone
- Check calls and delivery updates, so brokers stop calling you mid-shift
- Planning the reload before you're empty, with deadhead counted
- Detention, layover and TONU requests with your timestamps
- Matching invoices and PODs and reminding late payers in writing
- A weekly report with every load, every fee and every open item
Link 04Your rules
Your truck, your rules, your signature
On the first call you tell us your floor rate per mile, the lanes you like and the ones you won't touch, when you want to be home, and which brokers you trust or refuse. Those rules travel with every search.
When we find a load that fits, it comes to you as an offer: lane, rate, miles, deadhead, pickup window and the broker terms that matter. You confirm or you say no. Saying no costs nothing, and we don't book on silence.
Once you confirm, the broker sends the rate confirmation straight to you, made out to your company. You sign it. We never sign on your behalf, and the broker pays you or your factor directly. Our percentage is billed to you separately, once a week.
That split is the whole point. You get a dispatcher's reach without handing over your authority. The full step by step is on how we work.
Link 05Your hours
Put in your own hours and see what comes back
Every owner splits the day differently. Enter how long you spend on load boards, broker calls, paperwork and chasing payments, then switch to the dispatcher view. The hours that come back go to driving, sleep or home, your choice.
You still spend a few minutes per offer deciding yes or no. That part shouldn't move to anyone else.
3.5
hours on dispatch work
3.5 h a day on boards, calls, paperwork and follow-up.
You still confirm every load. That takes a few minutes per offer.
Real loads, booked by our desk in the last few weeks
These come straight from our load log. We removed the driver and broker names, nothing else. Each one went to the carrier as an offer first, and each rate con went from the broker to the carrier for signature.
Read them for what they are: a snapshot of real lanes and real rates, not a promise of what your truck will get. Rates move with the season, the lane, the day of the week and the equipment. A short regional run can be a smart load if it sets up a better reload, and a long one can be a poor load if it leaves you deadheading two hundred miles home.
What you can count on is the process behind them: the broker was checked, the terms were read, and the carrier said yes.
- Evanston, WY to Lockport, ILSep 18 to Sep 21$3,150
- Paulsboro, NJ to Bellefonte, PASep 24 to Sep 25$1,300
- Cornelius, OR to Redmond, WAOct 7 to Oct 8$1,150
- Kent, WA to Salem, OROct 6 to Oct 7$1,000
- Everett, WA to Tualatin, OROct 8 to Oct 9$900
- Madison, AL to Cleveland, TNSep 16 to Sep 17$850
Link 06The fee
5% once your authority has six months on it
For a single truck on an MC that's at least 6 months old, the fee is 5% of the gross rate on the rate confirmation. Newer than that, it's 7% and drops to 5% the week your authority crosses six months, without you asking. Buy a second truck and both move to 4%.
No setup fee, no minimums, no technology fee. A week the truck doesn't move is a week without a dispatch invoice. Full details on what we charge.
Rate con, Dallas to Atlanta$2,150
Dispatch fee (5%)-$107.50
Before your costs$2,042.50
To see what a load really earns after fuel, tolls and deadhead, use the load profitability calculator.
Link 07Straight answers
The three things owners tell us before they sign up
“I can do it myself.”
You can, and plenty of owners do it well. The question is whether those hours are worth more behind the wheel or at home. If you're already booking good freight with brokers who pay on time, you may not need us. If the phone is eating your nights, you probably do.
“Dispatchers book cheap freight.”
Some do, because a percentage of any load beats a percentage of none. That's why your floor rate is a rule, not a suggestion, and why every load needs your yes. We earn more when your rate is higher, so cheap freight works against us too.
“I'll lose control of my business.”
Not here. You approve each load, sign each rate con and get paid directly by the broker. Your packet, your broker relationships and your authority stay yours, and you can leave with 30 days notice.
Booking some loads yourself in the meantime? Our 10-minute broker vetting checklist is free, and the guide to building broker relationships explains what makes a broker call you back with the next load.
When an owner operator doesn't need us
If you already have a dedicated lane or two direct shippers that keep you full, a dispatcher adds little. Same if you enjoy the negotiating and the paperwork never piles up. We'd rather tell you that on the first call than take a percentage of loads you would have booked anyway. Where we help most is the carrier who drives well, hates the phone, and keeps losing money in the gaps: empty miles, unpaid detention, and invoices nobody followed up on.
Owner operator dispatch: questions
What does a dispatcher do for an owner operator?
How much do owner operator dispatch services cost?
Will you book loads below my minimum rate?
Can I keep working with brokers I already know?
Do I need my own authority?
How do I pick the best dispatch service for owner operators?
Can I cancel anytime?
Get a load plan for next week
Tell us your truck, lanes and floor rate. A dispatcher calls you back with what the week could look like. You decide from there.
- Rate con, sent to you$2,150
- Pickup, delivery, POD
- Broker pays you$2,150
- Our fee (5%)-$107.50
- You keep$2,042.50