OWNER-OPERATORS · ONE TRUCK · YOUR RULES
Dispatch service for owner operators who turn their own wrenches
You already have two full-time jobs: driving the truck and keeping it running. The third one, sitting on load boards and phones, is the job we take. Our dispatch service for owner operators finds the freight, negotiates every rate and makes the broker calls. You keep the final say on every load, the rate confirmation comes to you, and the plan works around your service days.
We dispatch single trucks across 11 equipment types, from 26 ft box trucks to reefers, flatbeds, tankers and heavy haul. The fee is 5% of gross for one truck with authority older than six months, with no setup fee and no long contract.
02 · BAY VS BOARD
Owner operator dispatch services and the hours they buy back
Ask a self-dispatching owner-operator where the week goes and the answer is rarely the road. It is the hour on the board before the first coffee, the broker who already gave the load away, the rate that took four calls to get, the packet that needed filling out again, and the check call that came in during a 30-minute break.
Add those up and many owners spend the hours of a part-time job at a desk. Those are the same hours that could go into a proper pre-trip, an oil change in your own driveway, or sleep. The tool on this page puts EXAMPLE numbers on that trade. Move the sliders to match your week and see what the fee costs per hour you get back.
The point is not that dispatching yourself is wrong. Plenty of carriers do it well. The point is to know what it costs you, then decide. If the hours are small and your rates are strong, keep doing it. If the board is eating your evenings, the math probably favors handing it off.
EXAMPLE week. Move the sliders to match yours.
| SELF-DISPATCHED | DISPATCHED | |
|---|---|---|
| Desk hours per week | 21 h | Approving loads only |
| Hours back for driving, rest or the bay | 0 h | 21 h |
| Dispatch fee at 5% | $0 | $300 |
| Fee per hour you get back | n/a | $14/h |
03 · YOUR CALL
What you keep control of
The fear most owner-operators have about dispatchers is losing control of their own truck. So here is exactly what stays with you, written down before we bring you a single load.
- Every load. We bring it with the lane, times and rate. You say yes, counter or no. Nothing is confirmed until you approve it.
- The rate confirmation. The broker emails it straight to you. You read it and sign it. We never sign for a carrier.
- Your lanes. Where you like to run, where you won't go, and how far you will deadhead for the right load.
- Your home time. How many nights a week, which weekends, and when you are taking a week off.
- Your floor rate. The lowest rate per mile you will take. We negotiate above it, not around it.
- Your service days. PM, tires, brakes and the annual inspection go on the calendar first.
Try the EXAMPLE load offer next to this list. Saying no costs nothing, and a no today does not change how we work for you tomorrow.
EXAMPLE load offer
- 1. Offer
- 2. Your call
- 3. Rate con to you
- 4. Check calls
Dallas, TX to Atlanta, GA · 780 mi · $2.35/mi · pickup Tue 8:00
We found it and negotiated it. Nothing is booked until you say so.
- Every load is your yes or no.
- The rate confirmation comes straight to you. You sign it.
- No setup fee. No contract. 30 days notice.
Why cheap freight costs more than it pays
A load is only good if it covers what the truck costs to run, and that number is bigger than most rate checks assume. Fuel is the obvious line. Behind it sit tires, the maintenance reserve, insurance, the truck payment, permits and your own pay. Leave any of those out and a rate that looks fine on the board quietly loses money.
Here is an EXAMPLE. A load pays $2.10 a mile for 500 loaded miles, which looks acceptable. To get it, the truck deadheads 150 miles, and the drop is in a market where the best reload pays $1.70. Spread across all 650 miles, the outbound load pays about $1.62 per mile driven, before the weak reload. A $2.40 load with a 40-mile deadhead and a known reload is usually the better week, even if it means waiting half a day.
That is the work most self-dispatching owners skip, not because they don't know it, but because there is no time. Our job is to run that math on every option before it reaches you, and to say so when a load that looks good is not.
How we choose the loads we bring you
- Your floor first. Anything under your floor rate per mile, counting deadhead, does not reach you.
- The whole trip. We look at where the truck lands and what moves out of that market before we pitch the outbound load.
- Your rules. Home time, avoided states, weekends and service days filter the list before price does.
- Negotiation. We counter on rate, detention and accessorials, then bring you the final numbers.
- Your answer. Yes, counter again, or no. Your call, every time.
If you find a load on your own, send it over. We will check the trip math, negotiate it if there is room, and handle the calls like any other load.
Dispatch companies for owner operators: what we actually do
Before the load
- Search the major load boards and our direct broker and shipper contacts all day, not once in the morning.
- Negotiate the rate, detention terms, layover and other accessorials.
- Plan the reload, so the outbound load is judged with the trip home attached.
- Set up and maintain your carrier packets with the brokers we use.
After you say yes
- Confirm the load with the broker. The rate confirmation goes to you to sign.
- Take the check calls and send delivery confirmations.
- Track detention from the moment you check in, and file the claim.
- Send you a weekly earnings report: each load, gross, fee and what you keep.
- Answer the phone at night and on weekends when something goes sideways.
What we don't do: repair trucks, sell parts, sign documents for you, or push you onto a load that doesn't fit your rules.
Built for owners who maintain their own trucks
Most dispatchers treat maintenance as your problem. We treat it as part of the plan, because a missed PM turns into a breakdown, and a breakdown on a loaded trailer costs you the repair, the load and sometimes the broker relationship.
When you start, tell us your PM intervals, the shop you trust and your next due date for oil, brakes, tires and the annual inspection. We look for freight that brings the truck home, or to that shop, when the work is due. If you do your own service, tell us how long it takes and we leave the day open. If a good load would run the truck past a due service, we tell you before you decide, and you choose.
Owners who run the numbers carefully also carry a maintenance reserve in their cost per mile. Our guide to setting a maintenance reserve per mile shows how to work one out, and we use it when we build your floor rate. A rate that does not cover the reserve is a rate that slowly wears out the truck.
Breakdowns still happen to well-kept trucks. When one does, get safe and call the desk. We make the broker calls, explain what happened and what the shop is telling you, and work through the options for that load. What is possible depends on the broker, the freight and the repair time, so you get straight answers from us rather than promises nobody can keep.
06 · AN EXAMPLE WEEK
What a week looks like on our desk
Here is an EXAMPLE week for a one-truck dry van owner with a PM due on Friday. It is not a result or a promise, just the shape of the work. Monday we send three outbound options; the owner turns down the cheapest and takes the one with a known reload. We confirm with the broker and the rate confirmation lands in the owner's email.
Tuesday and Wednesday we take the check calls and line up the reload, which the owner approves from a truck stop. Thursday the truck delivers within 90 miles of home. Friday is the PM, already on the calendar, so no load was even offered for that day. Monday the report shows three loads, the fee on each and what the owner kept.
| LOAD | GROSS | FEE | YOU KEEP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outbound | $2,300 | $115 | $2,185 |
| Reload | $1,900 | $95 | $1,805 |
| Short haul home | $850 | $43 | $808 |
07 · THE FEE
What the best dispatch service for owner operators should cost you
"Best" depends on your truck and your lanes, so judge any dispatcher on the terms, not the ad. Ours: 5% of gross for one truck with authority older than six months, 7% while your MC is under six months or if you run a single box truck or hotshot. No setup fee, no monthly minimum, month-to-month with 30 days notice, and nothing owed on loads you don't haul.
Set the meter to your truck to see the fee on an EXAMPLE week. The full fee rules list everything that is included, and the dispatch ROI calculator tells you how many extra cents per mile or saved empty miles would cover the fee.
If you factor, or want to, our partner offers factoring for owner operators. It is separate from dispatch and entirely optional.
EXAMPLE week. Change the numbers to match yours.
| GROSS | FEE | YOU KEEP |
|---|---|---|
| $6,000 | 5% = $300 | $5,700 |
Fee per loaded mile: 12.5 cents. No haul, no pay.
Other rates: 4% and 7%. No setup fee, no minimums, month-to-month.
When we are not the right dispatcher
If you run a dedicated lane for one shipper who pays well and on time, you probably do not need us. The same is true if you enjoy the board, already know which brokers pay and rarely run empty. And if your truck is shorter than 26 ft of cargo space, we cannot dispatch it; that minimum has no exceptions.
We are a good fit for owner-operators who would rather drive and wrench than haggle, who want someone working the phones before the load reaches them, and who want their maintenance schedule respected instead of argued with.
Not sure which side you are on? Try one month. There is no setup fee and no long contract, so the only cost of finding out is the percentage on loads you chose to haul. If the numbers do not work, give 30 days notice and go back to the board with a clearer picture of what your time is worth.
Equipment we dispatch, and how to start
We dispatch single trucks in every one of our 11 equipment types, with the same depth for each. The only hard rule is the floor: 26 ft of cargo space or more, on the box, deck, trailer or tank.
- Box truck
- Car hauler
- Dry van
- Dump (end/belly dump trailer)
- Flatbed
- Hazmat / tanker
- Hotshot
- Oversize / heavy haul
- Power only
- Reefer
- Step deck
Getting started takes four steps. Apply in about two minutes. Take the first call, where we write down your lanes, home time, floor rate and service days. Send your documents so we can set up carrier packets. Then wait for the first offer, and decide. The full walk-through is on our page about how dispatch works.
If your authority is under six months old, read about dispatch for new authorities first. The rate and the broker picture are a little different in those early months, and it helps to know what to expect.
Questions carriers ask
Will you plan loads around my shop days?
How do I pay the dispatcher?
Do you work with owner-operators who factor?
Do I need my own authority?
Can I choose my own loads?
What does a dispatcher do for an owner-operator?
What reports will I get?
Get your evenings back from the load board
About 2 minutes. No setup fee. No contract. Every load is your call.