Dispatcher vs broker: three people call you about loads, and only one works for you
New owner-operators hear three titles in their first month: company dispatcher, truck dispatcher, freight broker. They sound alike and they sit on different sides of the same load. Here's who each one works for, who pays them, what the rules require, and how to tell which one you're talking to.
The one-line test
Ask: “Who pays you on this load?”
Shipper money: a broker. Your money: a dispatcher. Your employer's payroll: a company dispatcher.
Company dispatcher, truck dispatcher, freight broker, side by side
Where a cell states a rule, the citation sits under it. Where it describes common practice, there's no citation, because it isn't a rule.
| Company dispatcher | Independent truck dispatcher | Freight broker | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works for | The trucking company that employs them | The carrier (owner-operator or small fleet) under a written contract | The shipper or another broker that hands them freight |
| Paid by | A salary or hourly wage from the company Source: BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 43-5032 · checked Oct 2026 | The carrier only: a percentage of gross or a flat fee Source: FMCSA final guidance, Definitions of Broker and Bona Fide Agents, 88 FR 39368 (June 16, 2023), sections IV.E and IV.F · checked Oct 2026 | The spread between the shipper's price and the carrier's rate Source: 49 CFR 371.3 · checked Oct 2026 |
| Registration | None of its own; works under the employer's authority | No FMCSA broker authority when it stays on the carrier's side; some states have their own licensing | FMCSA broker authority plus a $75,000 bond or trust fund Source: 49 CFR 387.307(a) · checked Oct 2026 |
| What they do | Assign the company's freight to its drivers and track it | Search and negotiate loads from brokers, set up carrier packets, handle check calls and paperwork, offer each load to the carrier | Find a carrier for the shipper's load, set the rate, track it, pay the carrier Source: 49 CFR 371.2 · checked Oct 2026 |
| Can you say no? | Limited: refusing assigned loads has consequences at most carriers | Yes. A good one offers, you decide | Yes, you can decline any load a broker offers |
| Wants your rate to be | Profitable for the company | High: a percentage fee rises with your rate | As low as you'll accept: their margin grows when your rate shrinks |
What FMCSA says about dispatch services
Congress asked FMCSA to clarify where dispatching ends and brokering begins, and the agency published final guidance in June 2023. It doesn't create a new license. It lists signs that a dispatch service is really acting as a broker: dealing directly with shippers, taking pay from brokers or factoring companies, accepting a load before it has a truck, choosing which of several carriers gets a load, or advertising loads to the open market of carriers.
Source: FMCSA final guidance, Definitions of Broker and Bona Fide Agents, 88 FR 39368 (June 16, 2023), sections IV.E and IV.F · checked Oct 2026
Where we stand
We work on the carrier's side of every load. We have a written agreement with each carrier, book through brokers, are paid only by you, and never touch the freight money between the broker and you. We don't take a cut from brokers, and we never re-assign your load to another truck. The broker's rate con comes straight to you, and you confirm or pass.
Follow the money on one load
On a brokered load, money moves in one direction: shipper to broker, broker to your company. The broker keeps the difference. A dispatcher isn't in that chain at all; you pay the dispatcher separately, out of what you were paid. Change the EXAMPLE numbers and watch where each dollar goes.
The broker's margin isn't secret by law. Federal rules require brokers to keep a record of each transaction, including what they were paid, and give each party to the load the right to review it. Few carriers ask. Some brokers resist. It's still worth knowing the right exists.
One brokered loadExample
Both numbers are EXAMPLES. You normally see only the second one; you can ask the broker for the transaction record to see the first.
- 01Shipperpays the broker $2,400
- 02Brokerkeeps $350 (14.6%), the spread
- 03Your companyis paid $2,050, the rate on your rate con
- 04Dispatcherinvoices you $103 (5% of that rate)
- 05You keep$1,948 before fuel and costs
Why the incentives matter
Each dollar a broker saves on your rate is a dollar of margin for the broker. Each dollar a dispatcher adds to your rate raises a percentage fee a little. Neither one makes the other bad; brokers move most spot freight, and you need them. It just tells you who is pushing your number up.
Red flags in any “dispatcher”
- Wants the broker to pay them, or to collect your freight money
- Signs rate cons for you instead of sending them to you
- Charges a setup fee before you haul a load
- Can't tell you which broker a load is with until it's booked
What to read next
Before you haul for a new broker, look them up on FMCSA's public records to confirm active broker authority and a bond on file, then check their credit and days to pay. We do that on every broker before a load reaches you.
For the daily side of the job, see what a truck dispatcher does. For what we charge and what's never charged, see pricing and terms.
Dispatcher and broker questions
If you drive for a carrier today, you already have a company dispatcher, and we're not a replacement for one. We work with owner-operators and small fleets on their own authority, from a 26 ft box truck up.
Our fee: 7% of gross while your MC is under 6 months, 5% after, 4% for 2 or more trucks (limited time). No setup fee, no contract, and no fee in a week you don't haul.
What is the difference between a dispatcher and a freight broker?
Who they work for. A freight broker is hired by the shipper to find a truck, holds FMCSA broker authority and a $75,000 bond, and earns the difference between what the shipper pays and what the carrier gets. An independent truck dispatcher is hired by the carrier to find loads, usually from brokers, and is paid a fee by the carrier.
Is a company dispatcher the same as a truck dispatcher?
Same job, different seat. A company dispatcher is an employee of a trucking company who assigns that company's freight to its drivers. An independent truck dispatcher works for owner-operators and small fleets that have their own authority, under a contract with each carrier. The company dispatcher can assign you loads; an independent dispatcher can only offer them.
Does a truck dispatcher need broker authority?
Not if it stays on the carrier's side. FMCSA's 2023 guidance says a dispatch service generally doesn't need broker authority when it has a written contract with the carrier, books through brokers, is paid only by the carrier and stays out of the money between broker and carrier. Negotiating directly with shippers or deciding which of several carriers gets a load points the other way.
Who pays a truck dispatcher?
The carrier, and only the carrier. Independent dispatchers usually charge either a percentage of each load's gross or a flat weekly fee, set in the contract. Ours is 5% standard, 7% for an MC under 6 months and 4% for 2 or more trucks (limited time). A dispatcher taking money from the broker on the same load is a warning sign.
Can a dispatcher also be a broker?
A business can hold broker authority and also offer dispatch, but on any one load it can't be on both sides. If the same company arranges the load for the shipper and books it for you, its interest is in a low carrier rate, not a high one. Ask anyone you hire which side they're on, and check FMCSA's records for broker authority.
Put someone on your side of the rate
Apply in about 2 minutes. We negotiate with brokers for you, you see every rate con first, and you can pass on any load.