[Musicman]

Funny, none of the dispatch folks advertising above have mentioned what their fees are.

[firebird_1252]

personally i think with an internet air card, laptop and a smart phone, i say do it yourself. when they say they're getting you the "Best rate" how do you know? just the way i look at it anyway.

[GMAN]

When you use a dispatch service you need to have a certain level of trust. If you don't think you are getting the best rates with your dispatch service, then find another or do it yourself. When I was dispatching, I asked the owner operator what he wanted as his minimum haul rate. I would not bother him with anything less. A dispatch service should be able to negotiate the best rate possible. Rates are down right now. Most brokers are not willing to do much negotiating due to having an over capacity situation. When we have more trucks than freight, rates are going to be lower. Hopefully, the economy will improve before long and rates will rise.

[Musicman]

Originally Posted by firebird_1252

personally i think with an internet air card, laptop and a smart phone, i say do it yourself. when they say they're getting you the "Best rate" how do you know? just the way i look at it anyway.

I agree, firebird, but luckily I haven't been in that situation yet. I trained my wife to dispatch two years ago and she has probably gotten better at negotiating rates than I am. I'm better at planning when and where to run and predicting what rates we should be able get in a particular area, but I believe day in and day out she is able to talk a broker into coming up on a rate far more often and for a greater amount than I am. That being said, I know I could (and occasionally do) find loads from the cab of my truck; but what I can't do (safely) is watch the load boards all day while driving down the road. I COULD do it, but we set our standards so high that we often have to call on as many as fifty loads to get the rate we require. I just can't see driving down I-81 in VA and trying to call on load after load. Or worse yet, be somewhere out west where the cell signal is suspect at best and be in a situation where I REALLY needed to book a load to keep me moving over the weekend.

There may be a valid argument for a dispatching service in some situations, but like GMAN said, I'd have to have a huge amount of trust in the dispatcher. Not just trust that the dispatcher is getting me an overall better deal than I could on my own, but also that the dispatcher is representing me to brokers in a manner that I approve of. Over the years, in all areas of trucking, I've found that more people than not are incompetent in their jobs. Right now, the 100+ brokers we work with, without exception, all find every aspect of our operations to be professional and of uncompromised integrity. All it would take to ruin that hard earned reputation is have some idiot calling brokers on my behalf who can't communicate in a professional manner, or who makes promises I can't deliver on. I hope I never have to rely on someone other than my wife to dispatch me. Hopefully if that day ever does come, I'll be in a position where I no longer need to turn the miles I currently do, and I will be still be able to handle everything myself.

[Scottt]

Welcome to SummersAgency.com!

7% includes payment as soon as he receives your BOL's

[Musicman]

Originally Posted by Scottt

Welcome to SummersAgency.com!

7% includes payment as soon as he receives your BOL's

Right, but that brings me right back to that issue of trust both I and GMAN have already mentioned. How do I trust Summers Agency? And what if I don't want to factor?

[Scottt]

Originally Posted by Musicman

Right, but that brings me right back to that issue of trust both I and GMAN have already mentioned. How do I trust Summers Agency? And what if I don't want to factor?

I have been using him for 3 years and couldn't be any happier. Most honest guy you will find. If you need a advance for repairs or fuel he is always there willing to help in anyway he can.

Scott Krissel who originally started this thread put 3 trucks on the next week with Summers Agency and he is still using them. He doesn't factor with them. He does his own factoring through his fuel card somehow.

I think it is 5% commission if you don't factor with him.

He is looking for 3 more trucks to dispatch, preferably reefers but he will take a dry van on occasion.

Give Donny a call if interested and in 30 seconds you will realize he is all business and a straight shooter.

[freightontime4u]

I charge 5% of what the trucks makes. I would like to get about 4 more drivers any one interested and willing to give me a shot at it give me a call 8126269181

[Musicman]

Five percent seems reasonable, but if I had three trucks that grossed 250k a year like I do now with my one truck, wouldn't it make more sense for me to take that $37,500 a year and hire somebody full time to work out of my own office and do so exclusively for me? The more trucks a person has, the less sense it makes to use a dispatching service. I can see the argument being a good one for the single truck carrier, but that's about it. Of course I have a little different philosophy than a lot of people. I generally don't pay somebody to do something that I can easily do myself. If I ever lose my office girl, I might try a dispatching service for a short time. If the service could increase my gross (on same miles) by more than what its fees were, then it would be a worthwhile proposition.

[Scottt]

Do you think you could get someone who would do a good job and stay in your $37,500 budget? Don't forget you get to pay SSI and Workmens Comp and unemployment out of your $37,500.