Freight, dispatch and load boards

The players

• Shipper: the company with freight to move, such as a manufacturer or distributor.
• Consignee (receiver): where the freight is going.
• Carrier: the trucking company that actually moves it, from a one-truck owner-operator to a large fleet.
• Freight broker: a licensed middleman who matches shippers with carriers and earns the difference between what the shipper pays and what the carrier is paid. Brokers need their own FMCSA broker authority.
• Dispatcher: works for or with the carrier, finding and booking loads, planning routes and communicating with drivers.
• Third-party logistics (3PL): a broader logistics company that may broker, warehouse and manage freight.

Freight types

• Full truckload (FTL): one shipper fills a trailer. Usually one pickup and one delivery.
• Less than truckload (LTL): many smaller shipments share a trailer and move through terminals.
• Partial: a load that uses part of a trailer and may be combined with another.
• Dedicated: a carrier commits trucks to one customer's freight on regular lanes.
• Spot vs contract: contract freight runs at agreed rates over months; the spot market is load-by-load at current prices.

What load boards are

A load board is an online marketplace where brokers and shippers post available loads and carriers search them. A typical posting shows:

• Origin and destination
• Pickup date and time window
• Equipment (van, reefer, flatbed and so on)
• Weight and length
• Offered rate, or a phone number to call and negotiate
• The broker's credit score and days-to-pay on many boards

Carriers can also post their available trucks. Boards are especially important to small carriers and owner-operators running on the spot market.

From posting to payment

1. Find a load on a board or through a broker relationship.
2. Negotiate the rate, considering miles, deadhead (empty miles to the pickup), fuel, tolls and the market. See rates per mile.
3. Receive a rate confirmation (rate con): the contract with pickup and delivery details, rate and terms. Read it closely for detention, layover and fines.
4. Pick up: sign the bill of lading (BOL), note the seal number and any issues.
5. Deliver: get the BOL signed as the proof of delivery (POD), noting shortages or damage.
6. Invoice: send the rate con, BOL/POD and invoice to the broker or shipper.
7. Get paid: standard terms may be 30 days or more. Many small carriers use factoring, selling the invoice to a factoring company for a fee to get paid within a day or two.

The dispatcher's job

Good dispatching is more than finding the highest rate. A dispatcher also:

• Plans loads so the truck ends up in a strong freight market, not stranded.
• Fits loads into the driver's hours of service.
• Handles appointment changes and problems at shippers.
• Keeps deadhead miles low.

Some owner-operators hire independent dispatch services that take a percentage of the load revenue.

Key documents at a glance