Starting out
Finding your first loads on a new authority
Where the first loads come from, why some brokers say not yet to a new MC, what to have ready before you call, and the checks before you say yes.
Read the playbook
Learn dispatching
Learn truck dispatching, step by step
You can learn truck dispatching for free, from the words on a rate confirmation to vetting a broker, and each step below pairs what to learn with a practice task on our glossary, guides and tools. The last step is deciding your route, with an honest comparison of dispatching your own truck against hiring someone.
By Aditya Jain, Aditya EnterprisesUpdated October 22, 2026General operational guidance, not legal advice
The path
Eight steps, each with what to learn and a practice task.
- Step 1
Learn the words
What to learnDispatch has its own words: deadhead, detention, TONU, lumper, rate confirmation, carrier packet. Brokers use them on every call, and a term you do not know is a term you cannot negotiate.
PracticeRead the loads and pay terms in our glossary, then explain deadhead, detention and TONU out loud, one sentence each.
- Step 2
How a load moves
What to learnFollow one load from start to finish: a broker posts a shipper's freight, a carrier books it and gets a rate confirmation, the driver picks up against a bill of lading, delivers and gets it signed, and the carrier invoices and gets paid.
PracticeRead how truck dispatching works and our guide to who is who in a load, then write the life of one load on a single page, from the posting to the payment, naming who does each part.
- Step 3
The rules
What to learnThe rules a carrier runs under: operating authority to haul for pay, the insurance it must carry, and hours of service that limit how long a driver may drive and stay on duty. Every load you book has to fit inside them.
PracticePlan a pickup and a delivery for a made-up truck that fit inside the driver's hours, then use our compliance dates guide to find the month a sample USDOT number is due to update its FMCSA record.
- Step 4
The money
What to learnKnow what the truck costs to run for each mile before you price a load, count the empty miles to reach it, and judge the rate against your own costs, not against what other loads pay.
PracticeWork out a cost per mile with our calculator, then run one posted load through the load check, empty miles included.
- Step 5
Vetting brokers
What to learnBefore any load, confirm who the broker really is: its authority is active, its bond or trust fund is on file, its contact details match FMCSA's records, and it pays its carriers.
PracticeTake a broker from a real load posting through every check in our vetting guide, and write down what you found at each one.
- Step 6
The paperwork
What to learnThe carrier packet before the first load with a broker, the rate confirmation before every load, the bill of lading at pickup, the proof of delivery at the end, then the invoice. Know what each one says and which ones the carrier keeps.
PracticeList what goes in a carrier packet and check it against our glossary, then mark the detention, TONU, lumper and payment terms on our sample rate con before you see our marks.
- Step 7
Practice on real cases
What to learnLoads go wrong in familiar ways: a truck held at the dock, a broker who will not pay detention, a load that turns out to be stolen or double brokered. Work out what you would do before it happens on a live load.
PracticeWork through our playbooks on detention and on a stolen load, then draft a detention claim for a made-up stop with our email tool.
- Step 8
Decide your route
What to learnOnce you know the job, decide what to do with it: dispatch your own truck, keep learning on real loads, or hand the phone work to someone. The comparison below sets out the time, skills, tools, risks and cost of each way.
PracticePut your own numbers into our self-dispatch or hire calculator. It starts with no fee filled in, so you compare against a fee you were actually quoted.
This path is free general guidance, not a course: it gives no certificate and promises no job or income. Before you pay for a course, check that it covers these steps.
New to the words? Read the trucking and dispatch glossary, in plain English.
Step 8: Decide your route
Dispatch it yourself, or hire someone?
What each way really takes, compared honestly, including when a dispatcher is not worth the fee.
Time
Dispatch it yourself
Finding loads, calling brokers, carrier packets, invoices and follow-ups, around your driving. Federal rules ban hand-held phone use while driving a truck, so that work waits for stops and eats into the hours you have.
Hire a dispatcher
The searching, calling and most of the paperwork move to the dispatcher. You still answer calls and send documents from the road, so agree in writing who says yes to each load.
Skills
Dispatch it yourself
Pricing each load against your cost per mile, negotiating, reading rate confirmations, vetting brokers and planning the next load before this one delivers. All of it can be learned, and most people learn it on real loads.
Hire a dispatcher
You rely on someone else's judgment, so check it: ask how they price a load, which brokers they avoid, and what they report to you and how often.
Tools
Dispatch it yourself
A load board subscription, a broker credit tool, a phone and email you answer, and a way to track loads, invoices and payments.
Hire a dispatcher
Ask which tools the dispatcher uses and who pays for them. Your authority, insurance and documents are still yours to keep current.
Risks
Dispatch it yourself
A missed term on a rate confirmation, a broker who pays late or not at all, and scams aimed at carriers, double brokering among them. A broker check on every load is the main defense.
Hire a dispatcher
A dispatcher can book loads that suit their fee more than your truck, or agree to terms you did not read. Read the agreement, and keep your FMCSA and bank logins to yourself.
Cost
Dispatch it yourself
No fee, but your hours and the subscriptions are a real cost. Count them.
Hire a dispatcher
A fee, usually a percentage of each load's gross or a flat amount, agreed in writing. Compare it with what your hours are worth on the road.
Doing it yourself makes sense when
- You have steady direct customers or a dedicated lane, so there is little to search for.
- You like the phone work and have the hours for it.
- You are new and want to learn your costs, lanes and brokers first. It makes you a better judge of any dispatcher later.
Hiring someone makes sense when
- The phone work is eating into your driving or your rest.
- Money keeps slipping through the gaps: detention not claimed, invoices sent late, empty miles home.
- You are adding a truck and the back office is growing with it.
Adding trucks? See the fleet growth roadmap, from 1 truck to 100.
The guides
Free, step by step, in plain words.
More playbooks a dispatcher uses
Starting out
How to set up your trucking company
Nine filings in the order they must happen, what each one costs, what every broker asks for, and the one thing people get wrong: buying the truck before the insurance quote.
Read the playbook
Starting out
The compliance dates a small carrier cannot miss
MCS-150, Form 2290, UCR, IFTA, IRP and BOC-3: when each one is due, the rule that sets the date, a lookup for your MCS-150 month and a checklist to print.
Read the playbook
Getting paid
How to actually collect detention
The timestamps, the wording, and the 24-hour window most carriers miss. The email to send, and what to do when they refuse.
Read the playbook
On the road
My load was stolen. What do I tell the broker?
The first 24 hours in order, what goes in the email to the broker, what never to say, and how to keep the cargo claim alive.
Read the playbook
Run your own numbers.
All calculatorsCost per mile and break-even
Your own cost per mile, and the rate every mile has to bring in, from your miles and your costs.
Open the calculator
Is this load worth it?
The all-in rate per total mile, empty miles included, against your own break-even for that load.
Open the calculator
Detention claim email
Check-in and departure times, free time and your rate become the billable time, the amount and a claim email you copy.
Open the calculator
Self-dispatch or hire: cost and savings
Your time, idle days and empty miles a dispatcher could save you, by your own estimate, next to the fee you would pay.
Open the calculator
Deadhead cost calculator
What your empty miles cost a year, and how much more every loaded mile has to earn because of them.
Open the calculator
Let's talk about your truck
Or have us do it. You keep driving.
If you would rather leave the phone work to someone else, that is the work we do for owner-operators, small fleets and larger fleets: loads, brokers, dispatch, breakdowns, paperwork and a weekly number, with help on claims and renewal dates. Nothing here promises loads, rates or income. A short call tells us both whether it fits.