Hey guys,

I came across the board here a few nights ago, been reading some topics etc,

First, not sure if this is the best area to post this in, so if not, I apologize in advance.

Second, I am sure there will be some negative feedback, sorry about that as well.

I am looking for any and all information about trucking, dispatching and freight. I have been looking into becoming a freight agent, and decided while that is interesting, it's not what I mainly want to do, and changed courses a bit to look into opening an independent dispatch company. I personally love the challenge of keeping trucks loaded and profitable, and the logistics of matching trucks to the right freight etc.

I personally have no experience, never drove a truck, never worked in a warehouse or broker, so I have all sorts of questions.

With that in mind, do a lot of small companies use dispatch companies, and what is considered a small trucking company?

What licenses must a dispatch company have and hold? Insurance?

I was thinking of working mainly with guys that hold their own authority and MC#, and using the load boards a lot, I do have few, like under 5, contacts that can be considered direct shippers, but I haven't approached them yet, and don't know enough to yet, I am in the info gathering stage right now.

What are the main disadvantages for a trucker or small company to use a dispatch company?

I have read things on here, that go both ways, I can understand how guys think they are unnecessary and try to cheat the drivers etc, and I have read some positive things about them,

My thinking would be to charge a points based commission, so everything on my end is based on performance, and I would handle the paperwork, and that leads to another question, what kind of paperwork is entailed?

Like I said, I have a ton of questions, and will have more, I am hoping for some good information and discussion,

I can't PM yet, but PM me if you guys can and feel like it,

Thank you in advance,

Sam

My suggestion would be to start by either getting a job as a truck driver or with a freight broker so that you can learn something about the business before starting out. At this point, a dispatch service is not required to have any sort of insurance, but when the feds smell fresh money, they will eventually get around to some sort of regulations. I own trucks and run my own authority. I have also ran a dispatch service. It is very time consuming to find decent paying loads, especially when you have an owner who only wants to run certain areas of the country. Most people who would use a dispatch service are single truck operations who don't want to spend time doing all the paperwork, looking for loads and negotiating for better rates. The advantage to these people is time. However, for them to gain time they must pay someone to do the leg work for them. Each new shipper or broker with whom a carrier or owner does business will require a new and separate contract. In my case, I would find loads, negotiate rates, read and make appropriate changes in a contract and check all rate confirmations once we have come to an agreement. All the owner has to do is drive the truck.

A carrier can have as few as one truck. Contracts can sometimes exceed 20 pages in length. You better make sure and read every word. I have known some owners who merely signed a contract as sent without even reading it. If you do that then it could cause you problems down the road. Trucking is a different animal than most other businesses. If you don't have some knowledge about how things work then you could lose your shirt as well as the carrier or owner whom you represent. That is why I suggest you actually get some seat or driving experience along with some brokerage experience before you start dispatching other drivers. There are courses around about brokering. I have no idea how good they are or what they cost. Personally, I think that hands on experience is the best teacher.

C.R England has a Freight Broker training class.It is 5 days long and cost $2500.00.It is done in Salt Lake City.Might check on that.

Thanks for the replies,

I have seen the freight broker courses, some run thousands some run $100,

I do know the owner of a carrier company here where I live, when I am closer to being ready to do this, I am gonna ask him if I can intern for a while to make 100% sure this is what I want to do.

Gman,

Do you find the load boards useful for small carriers? Meaning, are there enough well paying loads to make it worth the time and expense, or is that time and expense better used to find actual shippers?

Also, do you think guys move freight for a lower price from Point A to B if they know beforehand that they will move freight back to A from B?

Thanks

Unless you either have contacts or shippers whom you can call for loads, the loadboards are about your only option to keep your trucks moving. Even with your own contacts you may find that you can't always count on having a load lined up to get you to where you want or need to go. Most carriers, regardless of size, will use loadboards to one degree or another to keep their trucks moving.

Some shippers prefer dealing direct with carriers. Others don't want to maintain the staff to deal with many smaller carriers so they use brokers or logistics companies to find trucks. Some shippers are just lazy. They don't want to expend the energy to deal with a dozen or more carriers when they can make one or two phone calls to brokers. You can get good or poor rates from loadboards. It depends on your negotiating skills and what is going on in the area in which you have trucks and the market in general. Rates can also vary according to the time of year.

If you have a load going to an area which typically has little or no freight then you had better make sure that you get a decent enough rate going in so that you can deadhead out to a better area. On the other hand, if you know that there is plenty of freight and good rates coming out of the area in which you are headed then you can afford to take a load that pays less going in. I don't take any loads which are not profitable. I won't take a load just to cover fuel expenses without being able to make a profit from the rate. Some people disagree with my philosophy. There are those who will take anything they can get on the truck to defer some of their expenses to get to a better freight area. The good part of the second thinking is that you can cover some of your relocation costs with the cheap load. The down side is that as long as people take the cheap loads rates will NEVER go up. I know people who do both.

Gman,

Thanks for the reply,

Sounds like the load board is what you make it out to be, do you or did you use multiple boards? I know of ITS, Get Loaded, there is one up here in Canada called loadlink,

Also do you know of anywhere I can learn the "lanes" and how they flow, and how the freight moves, meaning, looking for data that would show trends of when freight moves the most in certain lanes etc, also, I am assuming that a lane is anywhere between major cities, like Chicago to New Orleans, would be a "lane" and include multiple cities etc, as Chicago to Philly would be another lane, etc.

Is there anywhere that shows or tells you what records you have to keep for a dispatcher in terms of driver's hours, maintenance, etc? Is that something that a dispatcher would do, or would the drivers be the main ones to supply those records when asked?

Thanks,

Sam

Also,

Had another question about trucks and equipment,

I know O/O's buy their own truck, that's kind of self explanatory, but how does it work with the trailers, etc? Do they rent/lease/buy the trailers? IF so, from whom?

Hypothetical, say I find a O/O who is willing to work with me, but he doesn't have a trailer, he just has the truck, I would have to find loads that already have a trailer? Or would he have to find a trailer to rent/buy/lease etc, in order to move freight?

Thanks,
Sam

Sam,
My suggestion would be to climb into a truck with a friend and stay on the road with them for awhile. See what it's really like out here, what we have to deal with, etc, etc. Continue to ask questions as you do here.
Eventually you will gain the knowledge that you seek of the trucking industry. It's not easy, whether you're a company driver or o/o, or as my fleet manager says, 'behind the desk'.
If you have further questions I can be reached at [email protected]

My fiancee and I are building our own company, slowly. It's a tedious process but we'll come out on top as winners when we're done.

There are very few people who run their authority who don't have a trailer that they either own or rent. Unless you have your own trailer you will greatly limit your ability to do business. I would not take on someone to dispatch unless they had their own trailer. There are dealers and leasing companies who sell or rent trailers. Xtra Lease is one of the larger trailer leasing companies. There are a couple of other national trailer leasing companies. They usually require good credit and a healthy bank account in order to lease one of their trailers. There are also regular equipment leasing companies who may have trailers that they will rent or lease to owners. The dealer whom I purchased my last trailer also rents trailers on a short or long term basis. In fact, they also have a lease purchase program, but they do charge a premium for the lease purchase. I am sure there are others who do the same thing. You could supply a trailer to an owner operator, but that can involve other problems. As I stated, I would not dispatch someone who did not already have their own trailer. If someone can't afford to purchase or rent a trailer then they would be better off leasing to a carrier rather than running their own authority. In fact, they would likely do as well or better leasing to a carrier if they don't own their own trailer.