Red flags
- A dispatcher who is also paid by the broker on the same load.
- A dispatcher who signs rate cons or books loads without your yes.
- Anyone who asks you to haul under their authority instead of yours, without a proper lease.
Who's on your side
Dispatcher vs broker: who works for you, who works for the shipper, and who handles which paper.
Dispatcher vs broker is the first thing to get straight before you hand anyone your truck's schedule. Both talk to the same freight. Only one of them is paid to get you a better rate. The broker represents the shipper's load and earns from the spread between the shipper's price and yours. A dispatcher represents your truck and earns a fee from you. Here's how that plays out, document by document.
Who handles the paperwork: broker, carrier or dispatcher.
Every load produces the same handful of documents. Tap each one to see who prepares it, who signs it and who files or keeps it. The pattern says a lot: the broker controls the rate confirmation and the payment, the carrier signs for the freight and the agreement, and a dispatcher works between them on the carrier's behalf.
Federal rules define a broker as a person who, for compensation, arranges or offers to arrange the transportation of property by an authorized motor carrier. A carrier's own employees and agents aren't brokers when they arrange loads the carrier will haul itself. That's the line a carrier-side dispatcher stays on.
Source: 49 CFR 371.2(a), checked October 2026
One load's documents
Rate confirmation
Prepared by the broker. Signed by the carrier. With us, sent straight to you.
- Broker
- Writes it and sends it.
- Dispatcher
- Negotiates the rate and accessorial terms before it's written.
- Carrier
- Reads and signs it under its own authority.
Freight broker vs dispatcher: follow the money.
A broker earns from the gap between what the shipper pays and what the carrier receives. The lower the carrier's rate, the wider that gap. Brokering works that way by design, which says nothing bad about brokers, and plenty of them treat carriers fairly. But it means the broker on the other end of the phone isn't the one to ask whether a rate is good.
A dispatcher who charges a percentage of your load earns more when you earn more. That's the arrangement that lines up with your interest. It's why we negotiate up, ask for detention and TONU on every load, and never take a fee from a broker for putting your truck on their freight.
What a carrier-side dispatcher does
- Works only for you, paid only by you.
- Brings every load to you to accept or decline.
- Lets the broker send the rate con straight to you.
One load seen from three desks.
A made-up load, followed from the shipper to the carrier, shows who does what and who each person is working for.
- ShipperNeeds 20 pallets moved from Memphis to Dallas tomorrow. Calls a broker it uses and agrees a price for the move.
- BrokerPosts the load and calls carriers it knows. Its margin is the difference between the shipper's price and the carrier's rate.
- DispatcherSees the load for a carrier whose lane and truck fit. Calls the broker, counters the rate up, asks for free time, detention and TONU in writing.
- CarrierGets the offer from the dispatcher with every term laid out. Says yes. The broker emails the rate con straight to the carrier, who signs it.
- DeliveryThe carrier hauls it, the receiver signs the POD, the dispatcher sends the invoice with the proof. The broker pays the carrier; the carrier pays the dispatcher's fee.
Example A simplified load; real moves can involve more parties.
What about working directly with shippers?
Hauling direct for a shipper cuts the broker out, which can mean better pay per load. It also means you carry the broker's jobs yourself: finding the shipper, negotiating the contract, billing them and waiting on their payment terms. Many carriers run a mix of direct freight and brokered loads. A dispatcher can work both, as long as it's clear the dispatcher works for you, not for the shipper.
Questions to ask any dispatcher before you sign.
- Who pays you, and do you take money from brokers?
- Will the rate con come to me, and do I sign it?
- Can I decline any load without a penalty?
- What exactly is your fee charged on?
- Is there a setup fee or a long contract?
- Do you ever book under your own authority?
Our answers: you pay us and only you; yes; yes; linehaul and accessorial pay collected; no; never.
Get every answer in writing. A good dispatcher won't mind, because the agreement protects both sides.
Where freight agents fit.
Freight agents find shippers and book their freight under a licensed brokerage's authority, usually for a share of the margin. They work the broker side of the table. If you're a carrier, an agent is someone you'll negotiate with, not someone working for you.
If you came here thinking about becoming a freight agent instead of running a truck, our guide to freight agent programs explains how those programs work and how agents are paid. If you're a carrier wondering who's who on a load, our guide to carrier vs shipper (coming soon) lays out every party and what they sign.
For a fair look at dispatchers against load boards, read dispatcher vs load board. For the plain definition, what truck dispatching is.
Our fee is 5% of linehaul and accessorial pay for one truck past 6 months of authority, paid by you and only you, on loads you accepted and hauled.
Dispatcher vs broker questions
What is the difference between a dispatcher and a freight broker?
A broker arranges transportation for a shipper and is paid from the gap between what the shipper pays and what the carrier gets. A dispatcher works for the carrier: finding loads, negotiating with brokers and handling paperwork, for a fee the carrier pays. The broker's interest is a low rate; the dispatcher's is a good one.
Who pays the dispatcher?
The carrier does, usually as a percentage of the loads the dispatcher books. Ours is 5% of linehaul and accessorial pay for one truck past 6 months of authority. The broker pays the carrier for the load as usual; the dispatcher's fee is a separate bill from the carrier's dispatch service, never a cut taken out of the broker's payment.
Can a dispatcher also be a broker?
A person who arranges freight for compensation for shippers is acting as a broker under federal rules, and brokering requires broker authority. A dispatch service that works only for carriers isn't brokering. Be careful with any arrangement that blurs the two, such as a dispatcher who takes money from both sides of the same load.
What is a freight agent?
Someone who finds shippers and books their freight under a licensed brokerage's authority, usually for a share of the margin on each load. Agents work for the broker side. They aren't dispatchers, because they represent the shipper's interest in moving freight at a good price, not the carrier's interest in getting paid well for hauling it.
Who signs the rate confirmation?
The carrier and the broker. The rate confirmation is the agreement between the broker and the motor carrier for that load. With us, the broker sends it directly to you, you read it, and you sign it under your own authority. We negotiate what's on it, but we never sign it for you.
Put someone on your side of the load.
Send the application. We negotiate with brokers for you, and every rate con comes straight to you to sign.
You approve every load. No setup fee. No contract.