Pay a company to handle dispatching and invoicing?

Be Careful the liability of not doing it the right way will end up costing you a lot. stay a way from IFTA if U can unless you have a lot of money to waste on legal mombo jumbo

 

I have been an independent freight coordinator/dispatcher for quite a few carriers over the years and it is a service that a lot of my guys appreciate. I have never been an OTR driver, but my husband has been for 27 years. The freight I get for my carriers is specific to their needs, dedicated headhauls/backhauls.. you name it, but what my guys really like is that I seek out the companies that will load them directly whereby minimizing the use of brokers.

There is a need for quality dispatchers in this industry.. but please, don't jump into this if you think there is easy money to be made. Nothing in the transportation industry is easy, or a sure thing. When I started, I was on the phone from 7AM to 7PM for a month straight just making contacts and getting my name out there with shippers and brokers.. And just to forewarn you, there are plenty of headaches and crisis that occur on a daily basis to make a person want to scream, but you can't.. you have to maintain composure and be a problem solver and multi tasker with the best of them!!

I do some invoicing for my carriers, others use their factoring companies or they take care of it on their own. What I do is all the freight coordination, negotiating rates and lanes, all the paperwork and rate cons etc.. help my guys who are in need of assistance whenever possible, remind them of their wives birthdays and anniversaries.. LOL! I watch for severe weather, traffic accidents and construction wherever they are on the road.. I help them find repair shops, truck stops, Walmarts and anything else they might need. Basically I work for them as if I were in their office back home and it works out really well.

Soooo OP, good luck to you and you can PM me with any questions you have about doing this.. and guys.. independent dispatching is NOT brokering. I do NOT need a broker's authority to do what I do. Everything is run under the carrier's authority and insurance, I work for them.. whether I am doing it out of my house or their office.. same thing.

 

IMO you aren't getting paid enough for those loads that are less than 500 miles... one of my guys runs shorties all the time and granted he is in the heart of the southern chicken industry, he is getting over $3. a mile MINIMUM. Any of the 250-400 mile runs he does are never ever under $3. pm. Where do you run?

 

I run Midwest. but you need to compare apples to apples . I have a dry van. don't think I can haul chickens inthat thing but i am open to new ideas including getting a reefer.

 

Okay.. that makes sense if you have a dry van... but even in the Midwest pulling dry freight you should be able to get more than $2.30 PM.. unless that is your average. Most of the freight I handle is reefer freight, so yes, the rates are higher. But seriously, those short runs can even get up to $6-$10 a mile.. it is craziness. I can get loads from a certain chicken plant direct to some my carriers but those are all down south (some into Chicago actually) and are mostly under 500 miles.. some as short as 90. Those all pay really, really well. Funny thing is, you haul chicken in and haul chicken out. Kind of like when my hubby would haul potatoes from MN to ID and haul potatoes back..

 

My son is a broker. He tried doing this for a few guys that run for him all the time because they asked him to but gave it up. He was spending to much time debating with the drivers and getting them to work when there was freight to be hauled. I guess you could say he was tired of babysitting them all hours of the day. He didn't charge a lot, around 10%, but said it wasn't worth the effort.
Most of the drivers that ran for him still do but only as a broker. They beg him to run the trucks but he has no interest at all. He runs mine.....because I started this whole thing....LOL....and I know his Mama...

 

LOL!! That is funny! I tend to shy away from the super high maintenance drivers (the driving divas).. they will suck the life blood out of you in a hurry!

 

Hey GyspsyKowgirl, What percentage do you charge for your service?

 

From the Independents i have been talking with,THEY would say you are LAZY and CRAZY...

IFTA takes about an hour a quarter,to do it yourself...

Finding loads,anyone can do that...

This may be a case of LAZY...