ENTRY 01 / TRUCK DISPATCH FOR OWNERS
BuddyLoads is a truck dispatch service for owner-operators and small fleets with their own authority. We find the loads, negotiate every rate, take the broker calls, handle the paperwork and plan your home time. You keep the truck, the calendar and the final say on every load.
YOUR INBOX · 1 NEW
EXAMPLE FLOOR
RATE CONFIRMATION · EXAMPLE
Joliet, IL to Columbus, OH
TO: YOUR COMPANY · DRY VAN
ABOVE YOUR FLOOR
EXAMPLE LOADS. SET MY TRUCK TO COMPARE THEM WITH YOUR OWN FLOOR RATE.
ENTRY 02 / YOU SIGN, WE DON'T
Some dispatch agreements let the dispatcher sign rate confirmations on the carrier's behalf. Ours doesn't. The load is offered to you, in writing, with the rate, the miles and the terms on one page. If it doesn't work for your truck or your week, you say no and nothing is owed.
Read the rate con the way you would read any contract: pickup and delivery windows, the line-haul rate, fuel surcharge if any, detention terms, lumper handling, TONU and who to call. If a term is missing, we get it added before you sign, not argued about after delivery.
STEP 01
We find it and fight for the rate
Your floor rate, lanes and home days decide what we chase. We counter before anything is written.
STEP 02
The rate con comes to your inbox
The broker sends it to your email, made out to your company, with every term on the page.
STEP 03
You sign it or say no
Your signature books the load. No signature, no booking, no fee, no hard feelings.
ENTRY 03 / GROSS IS NOT THE GOAL
Tick the deductions off the ribbon and watch what is left. That last line is the one we plan around. A desk changes it in three places: the rate per mile we get before you sign, the empty miles we cut between loads, and the detention and layover money we claim instead of letting it slide.
Our fee sits on the ribbon too, as one line, so you can see it against everything else the truck costs. Run it with your own numbers in the take-home pay calculator.
ENTRY 04 / WHO WE DISPATCH
Owner-operators either run their own authority, lease on to a motor carrier, or sit in a lease-purchase program. Only the first one hires an outside dispatcher. Two taps tell you where you stand and what to read next.
If you are leased on today, nothing here is a sales pitch for you yet. Learn your cost per mile, read your lease against the federal truth-in-leasing rules, and decide if your own MC would pay better. When it would, you know where to find us.
WHOSE MC IS ON YOUR DOOR?
Own authority: this desk is built for you.
One truck or a few, we book to your floor rate and you sign every rate con.
New authority: start before your first load.
We set up packets early and plan around brokers that book new MCs.
Leased on: your carrier dispatches you.
Read your lease, know your numbers, and plan the move to your own MC if it pays.
Lease-purchase: read the lease before anything else.
Most programs keep you on the carrier's authority. Outside dispatch only fits if you hold your own MC.
ENTRY 05 / EVERY RIG, SAME DESK
The same dispatchers, the same rules and the same rate for every truck. Box trucks start at 26 ft. We do not dispatch cargo vans or sprinters.
The fee doesn't change with the trailer, but the work does. A reefer load gets its setpoint and appointment checked before it reaches you. A flatbed load gets tarp pay written into the rate con. A hotshot gets its reload planned before the first delivery, because empty miles on sparse lanes eat the margin. A 26 ft box truck gets liftgate and dock details confirmed. Whatever you run, the rate con you receive already answers the questions you would have asked.
ENTRY 06 / WHAT THE DESK DOES
Running your own authority means two jobs. One is driving. The other is the office: posting the truck, calling brokers back, arguing a rate up by 20 cents, chasing a signed BOL, and lining up a reload in a town you have never been to. Most owners do that second job at night in the sleeper, tired, and it shows in the rates they accept.
Here is the office work our dispatchers take off your plate, on every load, for every truck type:
Load sourcing
Every major load board plus direct broker and shipper contacts.
Rate negotiation
On every load, before the rate con is written.
Broker calls and check calls
We take the calls so you can drive.
Deadhead planning
The next load is lined up before you deliver.
Detention and layover claims
Filed with the paperwork, not forgotten.
Weekly earnings report
Loads, miles, gross and the fee, line by line.
Carrier packet setup
W-9, COI and authority on file with the brokers we book.
Nights and weekends
The desk is staffed when trucks are moving.
ENTRY 07 / THE FEE
5% of gross with one truck and an MC past 6 months. 7% while the MC is newer, 4% for two or more trucks. Many dispatch services charge 8-12%. Slide your weekly gross and see the gap over a working year.
Full terms are on the dispatch pricing page, and the dispatch ROI calculator shows whether a desk pays for itself on your lanes.
Estimate from your inputs. Fee is charged only on loads you accept and haul. No setup fee, no contract.
ENTRY 08 / HOW STARTING WORKS
Have these ready for the call: your MC and DOT number, a W-9, your certificate of insurance, truck and trailer details, and your notice of assignment if you already factor.
Tell us your rules: the lowest rate per mile you will run, how far you will deadhead, which days you want home, and any states or brokers you will not haul for.
Timing depends on how fast brokers approve your packet. The full walkthrough is on how truck dispatch works.
ENTRY 09 / NEW AUTHORITY?
The first months are when brokers say no the most. We plan around the ones that book new carriers and get your packets moving early. Start with dispatch for new authorities, or read how to get your own authority if you haven't filed yet.
ENTRY 10 / GET PAID FASTER
Freight factoring pays you on your invoices in days instead of weeks. We refer carriers to our factoring partner and may be paid for referrals, which never changes your rate. See how it works on our freight factoring page.
ENTRY 11 / FREE OWNER-OPERATOR TOOLS
ENTRY 12 / STRAIGHT ANSWERS
5% of the gross on each load you haul with one truck and an MC older than 6 months. 7% while your MC is under 6 months, then 5% automatically. 4% for two or more trucks on one MC, a limited-time rate. The fee is the same for every equipment type, with no setup fee and no monthly minimum.
Yes. We dispatch carriers running under their own MC and DOT number, or owners who are getting one now. If your MC is still pending, apply anyway: we can set up your carrier packets so you are ready to book the day it goes active.
No. When you are leased on, you run under that motor carrier's authority, and the carrier dispatches you under your lease. Outside dispatch becomes an option when you hold your own MC. Our guides cover what changes when you make that move.
You do. We find the load and negotiate it, then the broker sends the rate confirmation to your email in your company name. You read it and sign it, or you say no. We never accept a load for you, and nothing is booked until you sign.
There is no setup fee and no long contract. Service runs month to month, and either side can end it with 30 days notice. If your truck sits for a week, you owe nothing for that week, because the fee only comes from loads you haul.
From your numbers first. We start with your cost per mile and the floor rate you will not go under, then your lanes, home days and the brokers you refuse to work with. Loads that fail your floor after deadhead never reach your inbox.
Yes. New authorities pay 7% for the first 6 months while we build broker approvals for your MC, then drop to 5% on their own. Some brokers want more time in business, so we plan around the ones that book new carriers.
No. Our smallest truck is a 26 ft box truck. We dispatch 26 ft box trucks, hotshots, dry vans, reefers, flatbeds, step decks, power only, car haulers, dump trucks, oversize and hazmat or tanker loads.
Apply in about a minute. A dispatcher calls you, learns your numbers, and the first rate con lands in your inbox for you to sign or refuse.
RATE CONFIRMATION · TO: YOUR COMPANY
YOUR LANES · YOUR FLOOR RATE · YOUR CALL
SIGNATURE: ____________________ (yours, never ours)