Trucking42 School
Self dispatch
Let's compare: Self Dispatch or Dispatch Service? From the Owner’s Operator Perspective
Dispatch services
Owner Operators have asked this question forever! Should I Self-Dispatch or hire a dispatcher?
Well this is exactly what we will discuss in this video!
My name is Elena from Trucking 42, and we are here to help you make the right decision for your business, so you don’t end up failing like a big percentage of beginner owner operators!
Well this is exactly what we will discuss in this video!
My name is Elena from Trucking 42, and we are here to help you make the right decision for your business, so you don’t end up failing like a big percentage of beginner owner operators!
The first subject I want to touch on is: What kind of services does a dispatcher provide?
Because these are the exact things that you will have to handle yourself, if you Self-Dispatch!
Which is not a bad thing…A lot of owner operators choose to do this now, in order to save more money!
So, a dispatcher can provide the following services:
Because these are the exact things that you will have to handle yourself, if you Self-Dispatch!
Which is not a bad thing…A lot of owner operators choose to do this now, in order to save more money!
So, a dispatcher can provide the following services:
- Finding Loads. This is the most important service they provide, especially for beginner owner operators that don’t have a very good Market knowledge yet.
- Assigning Loads and Managing Drivers: A dispatcher should be familiar with all of the driver’s preferences, routes, how long does he want to stay home, and more. In order to find the most suitable routes for his trucker.
- Managing weather delays/ handling issues: A good dispatcher can help you plan for and deal with weather delays, traffic congestion, and other issues that might come up on the road.
- Providing Customer Care: A dispatcher can help you manage relationships with shippers, address issues that arise, and set proper service expectations.
- Negotiate with Brokers: This is a very important skill that any dispatcher learns along the way. And it can be very hard for a Owner Operator to start to deal with it.
- Handling billing Paperwork and Collections: A good dispatch service can also handle the paperwork associated with delivering and billing for a load. Like: invoice submissions, collections follow-ups, and payment processing
If closing this chapter I can only add that an owner operator can do all those things alone, but he will at least not e able to drive those many miles that he could, and he will not be able to take the loads that are really tight in time for the pickup and delivery, also he might be able to do it for himself only. So in a way the owner operator that is doing self dispatch is still losing money in a way by not taking those loads because of doing a lot of paperwork and is always in need of time to search for loads.
The “right” Dispatcher can be helpful. Especially for a beginner driver who just transitioned from a “company driver” to an owner-operator.
One of the major reasons that owner-operators fail in their first year is their inability to find loads and manage the back-office tasks while running a trucking company.
But No…This is not that kind of topic, where I try to push an option down your throat. This is a topic that will examine both sides and help you make a decision for yourself.
Keep in mind that only the right dispatch service can actually help you by providing the services that I mentioned before.
The wrong one, could put you out of business in a heartbeat.
As a bonus, we will make sure to Help You Choose the right Dispatch Service by following 3 main steps, at the end of our video. So, stick with us till the end, and don’t forget to like this video, so more owner operators can choose the best option for their business.
Clearly, there are both pros and cons to using a truck dispatch business:
We can even show you a Pro/Con table for this!
One of the major reasons that owner-operators fail in their first year is their inability to find loads and manage the back-office tasks while running a trucking company.
But No…This is not that kind of topic, where I try to push an option down your throat. This is a topic that will examine both sides and help you make a decision for yourself.
Keep in mind that only the right dispatch service can actually help you by providing the services that I mentioned before.
The wrong one, could put you out of business in a heartbeat.
As a bonus, we will make sure to Help You Choose the right Dispatch Service by following 3 main steps, at the end of our video. So, stick with us till the end, and don’t forget to like this video, so more owner operators can choose the best option for their business.
Clearly, there are both pros and cons to using a truck dispatch business:
We can even show you a Pro/Con table for this!
CONS
- The cost. It might be hard to accept giving someone a significant part of your income.
- Plus, You can do it yourself, if you just pass some dispatch courses.
- It might take time to find a truly professional dispatcher
PROS
- You don't have to worry about finding loads or managing any back office activities - which leaves you more time for driving, which can lead to better earning.
- A dispatcher can get you better deals for the loads, because of their negotiation skills, plus knowledge of the market and connections and being much more time on the load board, knowing better the market area ranges
- You will still have to learn and examine a lot of material, on how to do the billing, paperwork stuff
- If there is a claim issue - the broker or factoring is holding your money, You will spend a lot of time to get those issues resolved, and if you never solved those type of issues, there is a huge probability that you will still need to hire someone to solve it
In short, if you’re willing to give up some of your earnings on each load you deliver, using a dispatch service can be a good idea. If you’d rather keep your full earnings and plan to have a deep understanding of the trucking business, self-dispatching is probably a better choice for you.
The first thing I want to discuss is how dispatchers get loads for their drivers, because this is exactly what an owner operator will need to do if he decides to not use a dispatch service.
Freight Dispatchers often use the exact same load boards that any individual owner-operator has access to.
The only differences between a beginner owner operator and a dispatcher, is that the dispatcher will also use some shippers or broker accounts that he has, to find good loads and the fact that they know the market better than the driver.
And of course, the obvious one is that dispatchers work only with the market, finding loads and managing them, while truckers also have to drive the truck.
Now that we've established that, let’s talk about how you can self dispatch as an owner operator.
Finding loads for yourself means following the same procedures as a dispatcher.
To accomplish this, you will need access to load boards, Like DAT or Truckstop. Because they are considered to be the most popular and useful, which means that most loads will be posted there.
With DAT you can set alerts so that you’re always notified as soon as a load matching your search criteria pops up. That way, the driver can spend more time behind the wheel, without worrying about missing loads.
You might also need some additional tools that are needed for documentation, billing and so on. But the load boards will be the most important one.
Freight Dispatchers often use the exact same load boards that any individual owner-operator has access to.
The only differences between a beginner owner operator and a dispatcher, is that the dispatcher will also use some shippers or broker accounts that he has, to find good loads and the fact that they know the market better than the driver.
And of course, the obvious one is that dispatchers work only with the market, finding loads and managing them, while truckers also have to drive the truck.
Now that we've established that, let’s talk about how you can self dispatch as an owner operator.
Finding loads for yourself means following the same procedures as a dispatcher.
To accomplish this, you will need access to load boards, Like DAT or Truckstop. Because they are considered to be the most popular and useful, which means that most loads will be posted there.
With DAT you can set alerts so that you’re always notified as soon as a load matching your search criteria pops up. That way, the driver can spend more time behind the wheel, without worrying about missing loads.
You might also need some additional tools that are needed for documentation, billing and so on. But the load boards will be the most important one.
If you are interested in self-dispatching, we have a full course that will teach you anything you need to know about this job, which will allow you to have all the necessary instruments and knowledge on hand when starting as an owner operator. The course link will be available in our description, so make sure to take a look.
The course is fully online, which allows you to literally listen to it in your headphones while driving! You can go through the course in any location and during any time of the day/night.
We also have mentors that will be with you at every step of the way.
The course is fully online, which allows you to literally listen to it in your headphones while driving! You can go through the course in any location and during any time of the day/night.
We also have mentors that will be with you at every step of the way.
But, in case you are still not sure about Self Dispatching, because you might not have the right knowledge yet, and you are considering using a Dispatch service, stay with us because we will disclose our bonus now.
How to choose the Right Dispatch service?
Here are the 4 steps you should take, if you want to find the right service!
How to choose the Right Dispatch service?
Here are the 4 steps you should take, if you want to find the right service!
Get Recommendations: Ask your owner operator colleagues which dispatch service they recommend, based on their experience and results!
Determine all the services you will need: Be detailed and include everything that might be listed as a dispatcher responsibility. And make sure that the dispatch service you are considering, meets all the requirements. If you might need help on getting that list done, or you don't really know what would the list consist of, you can contact us and a specialist will help you out
Understanding the costs - Profit VS expenses. This calculation will help both you and the dispatcher find loads that are still profitable after all expenses are made. There are tools that will help you get those estimates in front of you and I did attach the link for that in the comments section below.
Setting minimum targets before you start - Setting the targets will give you a good starting point even when negotiating the price for the dispatch service. What I mean by that is that the dispatcher and you will know exactly what expectations you have right from the beginning and everytime that target is not achieved, you will always make conclusions together on what could be done better the next time.
However, the choice between self-dispatching and using a dispatch service is individual for each owner-operator.
The most important thing is finding the right fit!
But if you end up deciding that dispatching will benefit you, at least in the beginning, we also provide Dispatcher services, for over 7 years! You can find all the needed information on the Trucking42.com website!
The main KeyTakeaways are that, if you decide to work with a dispatcher, make sure you choose the right one. If you decide to do it on your own, just try to go through a course or find yourself doing a lot of research for a better understanding of all the business processes.
Our course has all the needed instruments, so just check it out in the description.
Also, subscribe to our channel, for more informative videos about the trucking world!
The most important thing is finding the right fit!
But if you end up deciding that dispatching will benefit you, at least in the beginning, we also provide Dispatcher services, for over 7 years! You can find all the needed information on the Trucking42.com website!
The main KeyTakeaways are that, if you decide to work with a dispatcher, make sure you choose the right one. If you decide to do it on your own, just try to go through a course or find yourself doing a lot of research for a better understanding of all the business processes.
Our course has all the needed instruments, so just check it out in the description.
Also, subscribe to our channel, for more informative videos about the trucking world!
