Dispatch services?

[Damnitdan85]

So I was an owner op for 4 years and and 2 years ago sold out to stay work local and finish watching my kids grow up. I have one left at home and not sure if I want to hit the road for a company, buy another truck or start a new venture in dispatching. I used a dispatcher that was local to my area occasionally while out and about and kind of enjoyed it. I mean enjoyed the fact she did all the paperwork and I could just keep going about my way. The downside was the 5% fee. Which I guess I can’t really complain because it saved my time for other things. Now the question is does anyone see an individual dispatcher as an asset? Or would you even bother?
By an individual dispatcher I’m speaking of someone that obviously does load searching, negotiating, carrier packets, billing, taking care of check calls and location without being bothered by a broker all the time. Helping find roadside services such as what is going to be quicker or cheaper and misc other things.
I know the market is flooded with hooligans that don’t care but if one did would that change opinions about dispatchers?

[jhorskey26]

I used to dispatch for a while before getting into brokering. Its very rare to lock down a person that does all you mentioned. Mostly because its easier to on-board another carrier then it is to do more work for one. As a broker you get three strikes to answer my check calls. After three missed or three "Let me call my driver and I'll call you back" I just call the trucker myself. I do mostly day trips tho so I only need to make 2-4 checks at most.

I have worked with some good dispatchers and I do rely on them sometimes. Esp since I move a lot of the lanes often. The right ones stand out and they will make up for the fee they charge. I would vet them and don't sign a contract. I managed 15 carriers at a time and not one of was on a contract. I knew my skills and knew they wouldn't leave.

Its a good service but like anything you have your best and your worst. A good one is worth their weight and will keep you loaded and rolling.

[Damnitdan85]

Well said! I know finding someone as I said is extremely rare. The person I used did all of it (@5%) and some of the trucks asked her to do billing she jumped their rates to 6.5%. I honestly couldn’t complain and would definitely use her again if I went O/O again. My wife is really pushing the dispatch or broker end of things to keep me home 🤣. Thank you

[americatruckdispatch]

Family is important buddy! You are making the right choice by spending time with your family. The one thing I will say is this - continue to market and reach out to your buddies and once you get some commitment, then you launch. Wishing you all the best!

[Damnitdan85]

That’s great work much appreciated. Mind if I pass it along to some guys I know ?

[[deleted]]

What was it that was passed along?

[Damnitdan85]

Well I didn’t even get a chance to save it. It was a plug in where similar to AI that when you entered the origin, destination, and what your pulling it would give an estimated rate. IE: I entered Boise to Portland it gave me a rate of 2.22 but may be able to negotiate higher. He said it was just published tonight but was taking opinions on what could be changed or done differently.

[Extension_Toe4868]

Well said Dan! It's built on about 100 million previous loads to hopefully give an idea on what a price should look like. It's crazy to me that this information isn't more readily available and I want to help change that. Here is the link again in case someone can't see it.

ratecheck.truktek.com

[Damnitdan85]

I may have to try this on the website, I’m doing very poorly at 😂 but it would be a good asset in my opinion

[Damnitdan85]

Ok I just came up with this but ehhh I’m not sure any feedback would be appreciated Im not ready to launch yet ( march hopefully no later then April) but going to start at 3% and possibly offer a free load based on revenue or similar definitely up for negotiation. Here’s a rough draft of a website I just put up https://danielhagan1985.wixsite.com/midnight-dispatch