I am trying to start a new kind of dispatching service and would really like your thoughts.

Hey I get it! Like I said my opinion likely was to be unpopular. But, if you want all this freedom then get your own authority and do it for real.

I don’t do this for fun, I do it to make money. This is a high stress risky ### business so I’m not going to lease you on so that you can chase rainbows and butterfly’s as you see fit. Not on my authority, my insurance, my trailers, my billing department, my money, my dispatch. Not happening.

And btw man, no offense at all, this is just business.

 

No offense taken. I run under my own authority with my own equipment (tractor and trailer).
I am not going to run cheap loads because all my equipment is paid off. I guess you have to find newbies with a lot of overhead to run hard under your authority.
I get a lot of calls/texts from brokers trying to run their cheap loads all the time.

 

I also try to do all my maintenance on my equipment. So my overhead is minimal. That being said, when I accept loads I take into account tolls, ifta fuel taxes, terrain (will never run to Grand Junction unless I get double pay). And most important is my TIME. It’s not how much I make per year but how much I make per hour/mile (all miles).

 

I'm doing it to make money too, but no reason it can't be enjoyable too. I have friends who give me crap for "not working enough," they also don't seem to understand that working for break even is headed for bankruptcy.

 

It takes a special breed to run balls out all week 50 weeks a year. I know a few who do it, but they're mostly semi local with the loads pretty well locked down.

 

The whole reason for my guys being self dispatch is because they don't want someone telling them what to do or where to go. They want to be in control of what type of loads they do and when they take them. I don't think there is anything wrong with that and I have seen that there is a MUCH higher satisfaction rate. Even though they make WAY less money than a forced dispatch company driver would, they tend to stay much longer. I believe my current management agrees with your take on things and is starting to try to force my drivers into something they don't want to do and that is why I am looking into this other company that takes a hands-off approach.

 

Forced dispatch along with lease to own equipment from the same company sometimes leads to this.
Trucker Claims Amazon Contract Carrier Coerced Him to Break HOS, Then Doctored E-logs

 

Those are the kind of drivers I work with now. They can pick whichever loads they want to run and I just make sure all the paperwork is in order and am available if they need help with brokers. I think it's a really good system with a much higher satisfaction rate, but since my current company recruited all the drivers I currently work with, I have no idea how to go about finding more if I decide to move to this new position.

 

That's kinda scary and also the reason I am trying to get away from my current company. I'm not interested in forcing drivers to take freight that they don't want.

 

If your company has 1099 owners there’s no way they can force owners to run their loads. Only way they can do it if they own equipment and pay them with W-2. Don’t be a guy trying to do company’s dirty work because you don’t want to look for an attorney when sh1t hits the fan.