Rate negotiation
The posted rate is an opening offer. Treating it as a price is the most expensive habit in trucking.
The problem
Stated without hedging.
Brokers post below what they are prepared to pay, because a meaningful share of carriers accept the posted number. That is not a scandal; it is how the market works, and it will keep working that way as long as it keeps working.
Negotiating well requires two things most drivers do not have time for mid-week: knowing where the market actually is on that lane today, and being willing to spend fifteen minutes and a couple of phone calls on a number that might move by two hundred dollars. Two hundred dollars, thirty times a quarter, is real money.
It also requires being willing to lose the load. A negotiator who cannot walk away is not negotiating, and a broker can hear the difference immediately.
What we do
Specific enough that you can hold us to it.
- We negotiate against data, not vibes
- Lane history, current market direction, and the published national averages we cite openly on this site. When we tell a broker their number is under market, we can say why.
- Accessorials get negotiated before you accept
- Detention terms, tarp pay, lumper reimbursement, layover, TONU. These are worth more than a nickel of linehaul on most loads and they are far easier to agree before you sign than to claim afterwards.
- Everything lands on the rate confirmation
- A verbal agreement with a broker is worth precisely nothing at invoicing time. If it is not on the rate con, it did not happen.
- We bill on linehaul, not on your fuel surcharge
- Fuel surcharge is reimbursement for a cost you already paid. Charging a percentage of it is charging you for spending money. Our 6% is calculated on linehaul alone.
What it costs when nobody does this
The difference between the posted rate and a negotiated rate is frequently five to ten percent of the load. Over a year that gap dwarfs any dispatch fee, in either direction — which is why a cheap dispatcher who does not negotiate is the expensive option.
Related
Where this connects to the rest of the operation.
Flatbed dispatch
Flatbed pays for labor as much as miles. If your dispatcher is not billing for the tarp, they are giving away the part of the job that hurts.
Reefer dispatch
Reefer pays better than dry van for a reason: more can go wrong, and when it does, the claim lands on you.
Dry van dispatch
Dry van is the deepest freight market in the country and the most crowded. The rate is rarely where a dry van week is won or lost — the accessorials are.
Truck dispatching
We work your lanes, plan the week as a whole, and put loads under you that make sense together.
Invoicing and collections
The load is not finished when it delivers. It is finished when the money arrives, and someone has to chase it.
What rate per mile actually means, and why the number you quote is probably wrong
Linehaul, fuel surcharge and all-in are three different numbers. Mixing them up means negotiating badly and comparing dispatchers badly.
Load boards or direct shippers: an honest comparison
Direct freight is the goal everyone talks about and few carriers reach. What each channel gives you, what it costs, and how to move between them.