The three pricing models you will be quoted
Percentage of gross is the most common: the dispatcher earns a share of what the load pays, so their incentive is to book higher-paying freight. A flat fee per load is simpler to forecast but rewards volume over rate — a dispatcher paid the same for a $1,800 load and a $3,200 load has no financial reason to fight for the second one. A monthly retainer is rare outside larger fleets, and it bills whether your truck runs or not.
What actually moves the percentage
Equipment is the biggest single factor. A heavy haul load involves permits, escorts and route surveys, so it carries more dispatcher hours per load than a dry van running a repeat lane. Fleet size moves it the other way: the per-truck workload falls as a fleet grows, so a 20-truck account is usually quoted below a single-truck account. Lane mix matters too — a carrier running predictable dedicated freight takes less desk time than one running spot freight in a volatile market. Finally, scope: dispatch alone is not the same product as dispatch plus invoicing, collections, compliance and document management.
The charges that should make you walk away
Be specific about what is NOT billed, because that is where the real cost hides. Setup or onboarding fees, monthly minimums, per-load surcharges on top of the percentage, charges for a week your truck did not run, and commission on loads you sourced yourself are all worth questioning. Forced dispatch — where you are penalised for refusing a load — is the clearest signal that the arrangement is built around the dispatcher's interests rather than yours.
Percentage of gross, or percentage of net?
Ask explicitly. A percentage of gross is calculated on the full linehaul; a percentage taken after fuel surcharge or accessorials are stripped out is a different, usually worse, deal even at the same headline number. Get the calculation basis in writing before you sign, along with how accessorials like detention, layover, TONU and lumpers are treated.
What MSM Transit charges
A percentage of gross on booked loads only, quoted for your operation and put in writing on the first call. Accessorials such as detention, layover and TONU are not commissioned — that pay stays with you. There is no published rate card, and that is deliberate: a single reefer truck and a 30-truck flatbed fleet are not the same work, and one published number would overcharge one of them. What is fixed is the shape of the deal — no setup fee, no monthly minimum, no per-load surcharge, nothing owed for a week the truck does not run, and no commission on loads you found yourself.
Dispatch pricing models compared
| Percentage of gross | Flat fee per load | Monthly retainer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it is charged | A share of what the load pays | A fixed amount per booked load | A fixed amount per month |
| Incentive to raise your rate | Strong — they earn more when you do | None — same fee either way | None |
| Cost in a slow week | Low, if billed on booked loads only | Low | Full amount regardless |
| Easy to forecast | Less — varies with revenue | Yes | Yes |
| Best suited to | Spot freight, owner operators | Consistently high-paying freight | Larger fleets with steady volume |
Ask whether the percentage is calculated on gross linehaul or on the total invoice including accessorials — same headline number, different deal.
If you want this handled rather than researched: truck dispatch and billing & invoicing.
Worth reading next: The owner operator profit guide: what your cost per mile is really telling you.
Unfamiliar with a term used above? The trucking glossary defines the words brokers, dispatchers and auditors actually use.
Want a straight answer about your own operation? Send your last ten loads. We will tell you what we would have done differently — including "nothing, you are doing fine", when that is the honest answer. Book a free audit, or read who runs the desk first.
Sources and further reading
This site publishes no performance statistics of its own, because none could be independently verified. Where a fact is checkable, here is where to check it — primary sources, not summaries of summaries.
- FMCSA — Motor Carrier Registration — Official registration requirements, for confirming what a carrier (not a dispatcher) must hold.
- FMCSA — Broker and Freight Forwarder Registration — The distinction between broker authority and a dispatch service acting as the carrier's agent.
Regulations, fees and processing times change. Verify current requirements directly with the issuing agency rather than relying on any third-party summary, including this one.