Should You Use A Dispatch Service?

Every owner-operator should address one question: Should they utilise a dispatch service to track down loads or depend on self-dispatching? There’s no correct answer for the question because various variables can make either decision the ideal choice.

Cost is one of the essential things to consider when making your decision. Most of the time, the dispatchers get compensated a level of their income from each load they find. A few dispatchers charge a fixed rate. However, some dispatch companies in USA will charge a normal of 5-10% for each load, which can add up and become a high cost for you if you are a small firm.

• What is a dispatch service?

The job of a truck dispatch service is basically to oversee freight for the sole proprietors or transporters. A dispatcher’s occupation includes:

• Finding loads.
• Associating with agents.
• Directing negotiations, and in the end.
• Dispatching drivers and setting up their routes.

Most of the time, dispatchers will also assist with administrative centre work like checking on transporters’ logs and following their hours. The best dispatchers might go much further, assisting you with maintaining motor carrier compliance, overseeing delays, and developing good relationships with transporters, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. However, in turn, they take a part of your earnings from each load as their payment.

It’s vital to understand that freight dispatchers and brokers are different people. A freight broker is a legal entity that works as a middleman between the producers or shipper (who needs their cargo moved) and the carrier (who can move that cargo). The cargo intermediary is lawfully permitted to address both the carrier and the shipper simultaneously. However, they ought to never have an individual interest in one side. The dispatcher is directly connected with the carrier and works for them as they are not legally permitted to address shippers or manufacturers.

• How Do Dispatchers obtain Loads?

The target of a freight dispatcher is to track down top-notch loads for their customers. When you have an owner-operator dispatcher contract set up, it’s your dispatcher’s job to see what load would be the best fit, depending on your operations. A few dispatchers will utilise their connections to track down loads or utilise load sheets to track down cargo for you. Believe it or not — very much like any individual who self-dispatches, professional dispatchers likewise use load sheets to track down the suitable cargo for you.

The cargo dispatchers use precisely the same load sheets that the regular business owner would have access to. These dispatchers would use the boards the same way any business owner would do by posting the recipients trucks and letting the system find a relevant match.

For searching, they will place in the data about the truck they are attempting to fill, including the type of special feature lanes origin and destination they’re looking for.

• Should You Use a Truck Dispatch Service?

There indeed are many benefits to using a dispatch service, but there are some cons as well. One of the biggest problems with the dispatching service is its cost. You would have to give a specific part of your earning to someone else to perform a function that you can also do.

However, on the other hand, you benefit from professional service and time management. You wouldn’t have to worry about finding loads yourself. It means you can also earn more by delivering more loads and earn more than you would have if you had self-dispatched without any professional service. Also, if you hire good dispatchers, they will negotiate on your behalf. They will converse with the brokers with vast knowledge about the specific lanes and markets. It can help you get better rates for load than the ones you would have gotten had you tried to dispatch yourself. Moreover, they can help you manage relationships, navigate unexpected delays and handle back-office tasks like paperwork, billing etc.

• Conclusion:

Eventually, the decision between self-dispatching and utilising a dispatch service is an individual decision for every proprietor. The only important thing to see is what fits you best. In short, choosing to get a dispatch service or not depends on whether you want to keep your total earnings or reduce some of the burdens and get professional help.