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LaneSprint

A dispatch service for owner operators who just left the company truck

For years a company dispatcher handed you loads. Now the truck is yours, and so is the hunt for freight. We take the load board, the broker calls and the paperwork. You keep the final say on every load, and the rate con comes straight to you.

  1. YouDrive, and approve or pass on every load
  2. Our deskFind, negotiate, packets, check calls, claims
  3. The brokerSends the rate con straight to you
Tier 02Quick answers

What former company drivers ask us first

These are the real questions from drivers in their first owner-operator year, and from owner-operators who are tired of a dispatcher who books what's easy instead of what pays. Owner operator dispatch services vary a lot. If you're comparing dispatch companies for owner operators, ask every one of them these same questions.

Want the bigger picture first? Read what a truck dispatcher actually does for a carrier.

How is a dispatch service different from a company dispatcher?

A company dispatcher works for the carrier and assigns you freight the carrier already sold. A dispatch service works for you. We search and negotiate loads for your truck under your authority, bring each one to you, and you decide. The broker's rate confirmation goes to you, the invoice is yours, and so is the profit.

What does a dispatcher do for an owner-operator?

The daily grind that isn't driving: searching load boards and calling brokers, countering rates, planning the next load before you deliver this one, setting up carrier packets, check calls, chasing detention pay and keeping rate cons, BOLs and PODs organized for invoicing. You keep the wheel and the final yes on every load.

How much do owner-operator dispatch services cost?

Ours is 5% of the gross on each load once your authority is 6 months old, and 7% before that. Fleets of 2 or more trucks pay 4% (a limited-time rate). No setup fee, no monthly minimum, and if you don't haul, you don't pay. The fee is the same for every trailer type.

How fast can I start?

The application takes about 2 minutes, then a dispatcher calls you. After that, speed depends on paperwork: once we have your MC/DOT, W-9, insurance certificate and notice of assignment if you factor, we start packet setup with brokers. How fast the first load comes depends on broker approvals and the market that week.

What if I want to run only certain lanes?

Then those are the lanes we search. Tell us your home base, the regions you like, the ones you won't touch and how often you need to be home. We plan backhauls inside those limits. If a lane is too thin to keep you loaded, we'll say so plainly instead of sending you somewhere you didn't agree to.

Is a dispatcher worth it for one truck?

It can be, and the math is simple to check. If calling brokers and countering rates takes 2 to 3 hours a day, that's time you can't drive or rest. On a $2,000 load, the standard fee is $100. If better negotiation adds more than that per load, or saves you an empty day, it pays for itself. Our dispatch ROI calculator runs your numbers.

Can leased-on owner-operators use a dispatcher?

If you're leased on, the carrier you're leased to usually controls which loads you haul under its authority, so an outside dispatcher can't book for you. We dispatch trucks under their own MC. If you're leased on now and getting your own authority, apply anyway and we'll plan the switch with you.

Do you work with owner-operators who factor?

Yes. Send us your notice of assignment and we include it in your carrier packets, so brokers pay your factoring company directly. If you don't factor yet and need faster cash, we can refer you to our factoring partner. We may be paid for that referral, and it doesn't change your rate.

Will you force me to take loads?

No. Forced dispatch is a common complaint about dispatch services, and our process is built against it. Every load is offered to you with the lane, rate and times. You confirm or pass. The rate confirmation comes from the broker straight to you, so nothing books behind your back.

What should I look for in the best dispatch service for owner operators?

Four things matter more than any ranking. You approve every load, with no forced dispatch. The rate confirmation comes from the broker to you, not through the dispatcher. The fee is a clear percentage with no setup charge or long contract. And a real person answers when a load goes wrong at 2 AM. Ask for the agreement in writing before you start.

Do I need my own authority to use a dispatch service for owner operators?

Yes. We book loads under your MC number, so you need active authority, insurance that brokers accept and, for CDL trucks, a drug and alcohol testing program. If you drive for a company or you're leased on, your carrier dispatches you. We don't hire drivers, so we can't offer company driving jobs.

Tier 03Company vs own truck

Your company dispatcher was never free

On a company truck you got paid per mile and never saw what the load paid. The carrier billed the shipper, then paid for fuel, the truck, insurance, the office and the dispatcher, and you got your cents per mile out of what was left. Dispatch was there all along. It was baked into the gap between the gross and your paycheck.

On your own truck, that gap is yours, and so is every cost inside it. Change the numbers below to your own: your old pay per mile on the left, your expected rate and costs on the right. Every default is an EXAMPLE, not a promise of what you'll earn.

mi
$/mi
Company driver weekExample
Miles
2,400
Pay per mile
$0.60
Fuel, truck, insurance
Carrier pays
Finding loads
Carrier's dispatcher
Your gross pay
$1,440

Before taxes and any deductions on your settlement.

mi
$/mi
mpg
$/gal
$/wk
$/mi
Your authority
Own-truck weekExample
Gross
$7,200
Fuel
−$2,356
Truck, insurance, permits
−$1,250
Repair reserve
−$360
Dispatch fee 5%
−$360
You keep
$2,874

Before income and self-employment tax. Slow weeks, deadhead and breakdowns change this fast.

What the dispatcher now does that the company used to do

Finding the freight, pricing it, talking to brokers, planning the next load and keeping paperwork clean for billing. The difference is who it works for. Your company dispatcher protected the carrier's margin. We work for yours, and we only get paid a percentage of the loads you choose to haul.

How to read the right-hand card: fuel is miles divided by your real fuel economy, times what you pay at the pump. The fixed line is everything you owe whether the wheels turn or not, like the truck note, insurance, permits and your ELD. The repair reserve is money you set aside per mile now, because tires and a turbo don't wait for a good week.

Don't know your numbers yet? That's normal in the first few months, and it's the first thing to fix. Your cost per mile tells you your floor rate, and your floor rate is what we negotiate above. The trucking cost per mile calculator gets you there in a few minutes.

Want to test whether a dispatcher pays for itself with your own rates? Run the dispatch ROI calculator. Making the switch soon? The company driver to owner-operator guide covers what to have in place before your first load.

Tier 04Your control

You keep the wheel: loads, lanes, home time and your floor rate

The fear most drivers have about a dispatch service is losing control: a dispatcher who books cheap freight to keep their own numbers up and sends you three states from home. That's the reason our process starts with your rules and ends with your yes. Set the four rules below and see the brief your dispatcher would work from.

EXAMPLE value. Your real floor depends on your cost per mile.

Home time
Regions you won't run
Weekend pickups

What your dispatcher works from

  • No loads under $2.25/mi reach you.
  • Plan around home every weekend.
  • Any region is fine.
  • No weekend pickups.
  • Every load still comes to you to confirm or pass.
Start dispatch on my rules

The rules are standing orders, not a one-time form. Change your floor rate after a fuel price jump, block a week for a family event, or tell us a broker paid late and their loads stop coming. When you do confirm a load, the broker's rate confirmation lands with you, so the price you agreed to is the price on paper.

How you like to run shapes the rules. Long runs with set home days: OTR dispatch. Home most nights: regional dispatch. Two drivers in one truck: team driver dispatch. Based in the Midwest: Midwest truck dispatch.

Tier 05What we handle

One load, from search to paid

This is everything our desk does on a single load, in order. All of it is covered by the one percentage. No setup fee, no charge for detention claims, and no monthly minimum. Month-to-month, cancel with 30 days notice.

The fee is 5% of gross once your authority is 6 months old and 7% before that. Full pricing and terms.

Waiting 30 days or more on broker payments? Read about factoring for owner-operators.

  1. Search

    We work the major load boards and our broker and shipper contacts for freight that fits your rules.

  2. Negotiate

    We counter before we ever show you a load. Deadhead and the next reload are part of the math.

  3. You decide

    The offer comes to you with lane, rate, weight and times. Confirm or pass. No penalty either way.

  4. Rate con to you

    The broker sends the rate confirmation directly to you to read and sign.

  5. Packets

    Your insurance, W-9, authority and NOA are already on file with brokers we book.

  6. Check calls

    We handle broker check calls and updates so your phone stays quiet while you drive.

  7. Delayed?

    If a shipper holds you past free time, we document it and file the detention or layover claim.

  8. Paperwork

    We collect the rate con, BOL and POD so your invoice or factoring submission is clean.

  9. Next load

    Before you deliver, we're already lining up the reload so you don't sit empty.

  10. Weekly report

    Every week you get loads, miles, gross and rate per mile in one report.

What your Monday report looks likeExample
LaneMilesRatePer mile
Joliet, IL to Columbus, OH350$1,050$3.00
Columbus, OH to Charlotte, NC430$1,250$2.91
Charlotte, NC to Atlanta, GA245$700$2.86
Atlanta, GA to Nashville, TN250$800$3.20

Made-up loads to show the format. Real reports also list deadhead, detention collected and the fee.

What we never do

  • Book a load you didn't confirm, or send freight from a broker you blocked.
  • Touch your money. Brokers pay you or your factoring company directly.
  • Ask for your bank login or charge anything up front.
  • Lock you in. Month-to-month, and 30 days notice is all it takes to leave.

Book my first loads as an owner-operator

Two minutes to apply, then a dispatcher calls. Your rules, your yes on every load, and the rate con in your inbox. No setup fee, no contract.