Flatbedding Student Owner Operator 5th day

That's over a years worth of subscription to every load board and e-fax. A Mifi with 10gb will run you $90 a month and you can do everything that dispatcher does right from the cab of your truck.


You said you know drivers who pay 15%, well I'll tell you there's even more good brokers who won't book a load thru a dispatch service, myself included. I'm not going to get into a sand kicking contest as to why but you are giving away a truck payment every month to that dispatch service. Essentially a dispatch service is double brokering. Dispatch services in my eyes are brokers who can't get bonded or have had their bond pulled or......... whatever the reason they are just brokers without bonds.

 

not every every o/o was cut out to dispatch themselves. .. I like doing it myself but for some, a good seasoned dispatcher more then pays for themselves.

 

Just a suggestion for you but why pay a dispatcher %? I could see a flat rate for booking a load but he doesn't put any more effort or cost into a $500 load or a $4700 load. If he was a broker, he's financing a bigger receivable but the dispatcher has no skin in the game. Just my 2 cents (prior to inflation and currency devaluation)

 

I have wondered this myself. Although when you're on a percentage number the dispatcher has to care as well when he books loads. If he's only getting paid $50/load he doesn't care what the rate is he's get paid the same to find a 1.00/mile load as he is a 3.00/mile load so I can see if your dispatcher is crooked why you would rather have him on a percentage makes him work a little bit harder to find good paying freight.

I can also see why using a disptacher can be beneficial. I'd rather give up 10% and get better rates (within reason). Say I've called on every load under the sun and I'm getting 1.50/mile all day long. If a dispatcher can get me 2.15/mile take the 10% and load the truck. Sometimes dispatchers have better negotiation skills than carriers if you can't negotiate rates very well it may be beneficial to use a dispatcher. Some do the invoicing for you, others handle other things for you as well. Granted this can all be solved by hiring more help at the office, sometimes that's the way to go other times dispatchers are the way to go. I can see it from both ways. I've used them in the past. Some were outstanding others I want to strangle. Just the luck of the draw I suppose.

 

The School of Hard Knocks has always offered the best degree. Good Luck to you

 

Yup. I can do my dispatching while not wearing my pannies

 

Thank you. Its good t know I'm not the only one who does that. I put my big boy ones on though when I get behind the wheel...and get out the depends when I head to the southeast where everybody's a NASCAR driver.

 

With some of the BS stories on here better have your BARN YARD HIP WADERS along as well.

 

I was calling local quarries for work when I was a 26 year old dump truck driver. There was no internet, cell phones or beepers then.

Ya gotta hustle up your own work there or your gonna be a bitter company driver next year.