Yup, everyone I talked to is 5% at the most. You can check out these peoples web page for ideas and forms to fill out. I contacted 4 of these places and they all failed right off the bat.


http://www.personaldispatcher.com/

I have dealt with one dispatcher up in Canada who seems pretty good.

He books me a good load for a fee then won't tell me how to pay him.

Dr. Rankinstein Dispatch Service or something like that. I think he dispatches one truck successfully then celebrates by getting totally sheeet faced on Molson, watches Terrance and Philip re-runs then forgets who the driver was.

I don't think it would be profitable at 2%. That would only be $40 for $3,000 of freight booked. Perhaps that is why some of these people aren't doing a very good job. Either they are not charging enough to do a good job or must have too many owners in order to make it profitable for them, but at that rate they are unable to do a good job. In order to provide a quality service the provider must charge enough to make a fair profit for his time. On the other hand, the buyer or user of the service must feel that they are receiving a good value for what is charged. The Atlanta outfit has little incentive to produce if you are paying him $500/month regardless of his productivity. That is why I think percentage is better. If the dispatcher produces he makes money. If not the owner doesn't pay anything.


Thanks for the website, Steve. I will check it out.

Several of you mentioned that some of these dispatch services failed. I am curious as to how they failed? What do you think they did wrong? What could be improved to make it better for you? What would you like to see in a dispatch service? Is there something you could have done to help the dispatch service do a good job for you? I am just trying to see what some of these other services may have done wrong or what could have been done to make it work. I really appreciate all of your input.

GMAN, it would be $60.

Here is my feedback: The ones I was looking at using could not find higher rates than what I could find myself and they could not find loads in the lanes I wanted to stay in. Another pet peeve was that they would call me on short notice when I had already booked the entire week by myself and at a higher rate than what they found. For example,I had already booked a load to SC for 1.50 a mile and booked another load 40 miles away in SC coming right back to TX for 1.75 a mile. I also found another load going to Mi and coming back next week for 1.60 and 1.72 a mile.THEY had found a load going from TX to Denver,Co. for 1.54 a mile and another one coming back to San Antonio for 1.42. :roll: IF I am going to pay for their service I would expect them to be ahead of me and finding rates HIGHER than what I can find myself. So far my main difficulty is getting freight out of TX when I want to leave home. I could find loads from TX to Denver for 1.60 a mile all day long. :lol:

Imagine that, a cheap service doing a cheap job :shock: I don't know how you can say GMAN is too expensive when what you're comparing him to admittedly sucks. Anyone can find a cheap deal, few can recognize the valuable deal. What if GMAN dispatched you for 10% and at the end of the day, your take-home wasn't any better than you could have done yourself...bad deal?

Oops. :oops: Thanks for catching that, Allan. I was in a hurry when I did those calculations.

I'm going to guess you have a hell of a lot of contacts, correct?

Mostly for flat/stepdeck?

Do you have any good Canadian contacts? I wouldn't be able to haul point to point in the states. But I love hauling international freight.

It would have to be ABOVE my take-home net. I would give 20-30% and just lease my truck onto Gman if he had consistent 3.00 or 4.00 a mile freight :D .I wasn't comparing Gman to anything. I was merely stating my experience with the previous dispatch services that I have tried to use and giving people a heads-up on which dispatch services to stay away from.

G-man...something I am sure you have considered...having a handfull of trucks that you provide dispatch services for...increases the size of available deckspace you can offer to a potential "new" customer.

Gives you a leg up on getting those orders you would otherwise not be eligible for!

Why? If you could pay someone to do all the legwork and still take home the same money, isn't that a better deal? Less work, same pay. Seems like a no-brainer. But you made my point.

Allan, I do have some contacts. Most I keep for flats or steps but quite a few of them have other types of freight. I have turned down quite a bit of van freight because I don't own any vans. About a year ago I thought about getting a van. I received a call from some people who had a dedicated run that paid pretty well. I think it was $2/mile with no deadhead. The truck would load and unload at the same place on each end. If I had a driver to do the run I would have bought a van.

I don't have a lot of contacts in Canada. I used to run up there but just got tired of the border hassle. If it weren't for that I would probably still haul up there. I always like running up there once I got past the border. I still have a company up there that still calls me from time to time. One problem we have in the lower 48 in doing business in Canada is the delay in receiving payment.

It just takes time and some initiative to establish contacts. I don't haul for anyone without first checking them out. That takes a little time, but is worth the effort. I don't want to haul anything unless I have some strong assurances that I will receive my money.

I have considered that, Orangetxguy. Sometimes you can get into an account or better rates when you have additional capacity. I have had a few instances where I could have gotten in the door of a shipper if I could have handled additional capacity. Some are reluctant to commit to a one or two truck operation. You cannot guarantee that you can meet their needs. That is one reason that a lot of shippers deal with brokers. They can provide the capacity or trucks.

Why not? I have to have something to do besides just sitting and driving. :lol: So far it hasn't taken a whole lot of legwork to find reasonable freight and it gives me something to do. :lol: For the same amount of money I would rather do it myself,but that is just me. If I was going to profit higher after the dispatch fees,regardless of what they are,than I would definitely consider it. There were a few carriers charging 15% to just run under their authority without having to buy cargo and liability insurance but their rates were horrible. So far I have done better without having to rely on anyone to do anything for me. There was one carrier out in Nv. that was charging 10% to do all the dispatching for independents. When I asked them what their independents were averaging they said 1.45 a mile. :roll: That is simply not enough to average on with today's expenses and fuel prices. If Gman does indeed have a freight base to keep me moving than I have no problem with his fees,but so far I have yet to find a dispatch service that can do better than I can.

A dispatch service deals with load boards and brokers just like most of us do. They just do the leg work on setting up your loads and are probably better at negotiating than you are. That's all. To me, that would be worth it instead of trying to drive and setup my next load.

I'm sure GMAN or any other dispatch service isn't promising you big dollar loads. Their just doing all the crap that you don't have time for.

To all of you who don't have your own authority and book your own loads, it's a pain sometimes and very stressful.

Wouldn't it be nice to just drive and answer the phone from your personal dispatcher with a choice of loads?

GMAN: Hi Steve, how about a load of onions.

Steve: Bite me (hangup)

GMAN: Hi Steve, got a 58,000 pound load of lumber to the Bronx.

Steve: Ha ha ha (hangup)

GMAN: Hi Steve, how about a load of onions.

Steve: Bite me (hangup)

GMAN: Hi Steve, got a 58,000 pound load of lumber to the Bronx.

Steve: Ha ha ha (hangup



:lol: :lol: :lol:

LMAO you kill me

The two advantages I can see is that it frees up your time to drive and the dispatcher should have better negotiating skills. Some people don't like to deal with either. It is like fuel taxes. Fuel taxes aren't that difficult to do, but takes a little time. Some people would prefer to pay someone to do their fuel taxes rather than spend the extra time at the end of the quarter to do it themselves. Some people don't mind hunting loads and doing all the paperwork. They enjoy the negotiating aspect of this business. With others, it is a real chore. They would prefer hauling cheaper loads than deal with the stress of negotiating for the best rates.

Now....about those onions, Steve. :P

I would charge high because I think a lot of your customers won't have a list of brokers.
And really need your service right away.
You should cater to people who are desperate or don't have a clue
And put a premium on your service
We all know it is impossible to make truck drivers happy
and difficult to make money off a truck driver
(anyone have a shower ticket? etc)
Hit them right away because you have to assume they will be leaving sooner or later.
If I posted I was using a dispatching service
What do you think the advice would be?
Charge high.

Yup, exactly, except for the onions!!!

Dispatch Service
 

go for it.

GMAN, I'm in agreement with Sonny, charge the high rate. You have a lot of valuable info here so I'm sure that you have the money loads. Dont sell yourself cheap to start this business. Get you a fancy website, place a few ads here and there and you will be turning away business before you know it.

I spend a lot of time digging up loads that pay enough. If I could bring home the same money and let someone else do the legwork, I'd jump at it. However, you think keeping a solo in good rates is tough...you should try a team :shock:

I agree with No_Worries. If I could make the same amount (or obviously more as far as i'm going )and have more time for other things I'd jump at it.

I think what Sonny said about making truck drivers happy impossible is really a true statement for most people in general. Somehow someone is going to screw up a good thing and burn a bridge. I'll never understand it and just to simplify it I just always say that you can't rationalize the irrational. People are their own worst enemy.

Also as someone that just came off one of these dispatch serivces (Hello I'm Merrick and I am a former dispatch service user :) ) I'd say the one thing that I hated besides the low money was the fact that I felt that this guy put no effort whatsoever into what he was doing. He found me a load and that was it. It was obvious that he didn't care of the rate or anything else.

Now it may not be apparent to someone who may just call GMAN out of an ad he saw, but it's obvious to those here that he puts a lot of effort into answering and helping us here; it really shows. So I'd say even if he put half of the effort into this new business as he does helping people here he will be wildly successful.

GMAN I think your percentage idea would work because neither party is obligated to deal with the other in the future. Future dealings would be strictly related to satisfactory pay and performance, on both sides. There's no contract. Both sides have something to lose.

what is more profitable
3 people at 3%
or 1 person at 9%

same, but the 1 person is 1/3 the work.

GMAN

If you do this let me know because I'd like to be one of your customers after I get back .

Thanks for all the feedback, fellas. It is very much appreciated. I will let you know if I decide to proceed, ash_ca_la.

Only thing I can see that needs to be addressed, is G-man getting paid. Now...if all those prospective trucks leased into G...why then he handles all the funds directly and does not need to get anymore authority. If he handles the situation like a brokerage, and receives all the revenues, then sends out checks after his cut, then he would in fact be a broker, and need to set up that authority.

So G would need to make certain that he only signs on those whom he knows are going to send him his percentage, and trust that they will do so in a timely manner. Of course...all those Operators could trust in G, allow him to be the receivables collector, without the brokerage authority, and send them their check every week.

Ain't it fun looking at the business side of life ???

I wouldn't worry about getting paid, it's not like he's dealing with thousands of dollars here. At 5%, the most he would lose would be $100 bucks on a $2,000 load so then you don't deal with that person again. My guess is that it wouldn't take long before he had the max amount of people he could handle and if it worked out, he wouldn't have a high turnover rate with his carriers.

I'm not sure how many people one dispatcher could handle. I would imagine 3 carriers all needing a load in the same day would be one hell of a task trying to line something up for all 3 that same morning. Your talking to both the broker/shipper and the carrier at the same time for 3 people within lets say a 3 hour window from 9 to 12 in the morning. You could try to setup the loads in advance but from my experience the action takes place the day of the load.

Not sure if you have any hair on your head Mike but if you do, it won't last long.

Actually..that is the good thing about having the cpacity to commit to steady shippers. There are shippers out there, whom will pay for trucks to deadhead back to a plant, when their product is running hot and heavy. The thing about getting those shippers, is having the capacity, which is why JB, Knight, USX, Yellow, FEDEX, and so many others, have bought out, merged with, or flat out priced competition out of existance.

I don't know how many trucks G is running right now..I'm thinking 5. He knows what he can do for shippers with those trucks, and I bet he knows other shippers he could sign on with, if he had three times that many trucks. The beauty of something like this is, is the versatility that can be afforded. Say you got a group of flatbedders all working together, then G runs into a shipper that needs dry vans. Find out what the $$$$$ would look like, then rent a group of dry vans to work that particular account, with some of the flatbedders parking their skates for the necessary amount of time. If the $$$$ proved worht while, you buy dry vans, or sign on a group of dry van operators. Same theory would apply to reefers. LOL...get enough solo operators working in unison, and then you have a heck of a CO-OP.


Of course..this whole line of thought is predicated on a lot of single unit operations, like yours Steve, being willing to work together with G !!
Not so easy on the face of it.


Just my opinion there.

I may be wrong here but I don't think so. I don't think GMAN has a bunch of shippers in his back pocket. I know he works off load boards like the rest of us and I'm assuming he'll be doing the same if he goes with the dispatch service. I'm sure he has some shippers but having a truck in the same area as a shipper that has a load is pretty slim unless he has 2 shippers he can run back and forth with. And, if that were the case, he would be doing it himself instead of roaming around like the rest of us.

I'm playing Devils Advocate here but I think all the Mike is offering is to do the same thing that I do every week with the exception of doing it better than I do. Better negotiation and a lot less stress. He's not coming to the table offering shippers with $3.00 per mile loads.

What would I expect from GMAN??

I would expect to get maybe $.10 cents per mile more than I could have got. No stress in finding a load and a quicker turn around. AND...Once in a while, a big bonus as in I'm in an area that he has a shipper and I get the big dollar load.

Oh, and a blue mask.

Id sign up in a heart-beat :p this suxs waiting here calling brokers for my next load n getting treated like dirt :-p

Well, then sign up with the people below until Mike gets rolling. You have NOTHING to lose. Fill out the paper work and fax it in, or, sit there and bitch.

www.personaldispatcher.com

Hmmm rather sit at this truck stop n bitch he-he
Well really tho thks Steve.....added them to my favorites list n wont hurt to call there 888# in the morning eh?

I didn't say bitch to be mean, just talking to you like one of the guys.

If you have a fax in your truck then print out their form NOW, fax it in NOW, then call in the morning.

OMG I missed that remark....it was so funny...if I sign up i want a courtesy mask too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All that discussion about Gman getting paid -. Sheez, he said you cough up the credit card then you get the load.

This is one thing that I am trying to work out. If I do this, I don't want to get into a long billing cycle. I would prefer to book a load and get paid at the same time. If I start billing then that would require additional bookkeeping and time. This is a major area which will determine whether I will do this. Unfortunately, one reason so many owners and drivers have poor credit is that they aren't home to get their bills. If they don't get their bills and/or get home in a timely fashion, then they could be late paying things. For the amount of money I think it would be cleaner to just book and pay for the dispatch services at the same time. Right now I could take Comcheck, T-Check, TCH, etc., but am looking at credit or debit cards as an alternative. Right now, there are several details to consider before making a final decision.