Dry van dispatch service that plans past the appointment
Most dry van loads are easy to haul and hard to finish well. The appointment is at 13:30, the receiver will not let you stay, and your 14 hours do not care that the dock was slow. Our dry van dispatch service plans each load from the appointment to the place you park, and you say yes or no before anything is booked.
53 ft and 48 ft dry vans, live load or drop and hook, solo or team. One fee schedule for every truck.
5% of gross for one truck, 4% for 2+, 7% while your MC is under 6 months. No haul, no pay.
From the appointment to the night's stop
Here is the part of dry van work a load board never shows you: what happens after the receiver signs the bills. Most shippers and receivers do not let drivers stay on the property once the trailer is empty, so the day ends wherever you can legally park inside the hours you have left.
Pick an EXAMPLE lane and move the dock time. The strip shows the 14-hour window from the moment you came on duty, and whether you can reach the nearest legal stop before it closes.
EXAMPLE LANE · 340 MI
- On duty
- 05:00
- Appointment
- 12:30
- Unloaded
- 14:30
- 14 hours end
- 19:00
After delivery: a truck stop, 14 miles away, about 0h 17m of driving.
You reach it at 14:47 with 4h 03m to spare on your clock.
A slow dock is the most common reason a good dry van load turns into a bad night. Two extra hours waiting for a door can be the difference between a quiet truck stop and a ramp shoulder. That is why we ask the broker how long the receiver usually takes, plan the stop before we pitch the load, and keep a second option in mind for the days the first one is full.
A 53 ft van needs a real truck space, and those go early. Truck stops near big distribution hubs often fill by early evening, and public rest areas hold far fewer trucks than the traffic passing them. When the plan ends at a busy hub, we tell you whether reserved parking is worth paying for that night, or whether a quieter stop 30 miles back is the better call.
The clock rules are simple to state and easy to run out of: 11 hours of driving inside a 14-hour window that keeps running while you wait at the dock, and a 30-minute break once you have driven 8 hours. Our hours of service calculator works out your own day.
Try it with your own numbers in the hours of service calculator, or read our truck parking guide for the places a dry van can stop.
POSTED: eCFR, 49 CFR 395.3(a)(2) · checked Oct 2026
What a dry van dispatcher books
Dry van freight is the widest market there is, which is good news and bad news. There is always something to haul, and plenty of it does not pay. These are the kinds of loads we look for:
Retail
Store restocks and distribution center freight. Strict appointments and frequent live unloads, sometimes with a lumper. Steady volume year-round, with a rush before the holidays.
Grocery dry
Shelf-stable food and drinks into grocery warehouses. Tight windows, early appointments and lumper fees are common, so the paperwork matters as much as the miles.
Paper and packaging
Rolls, cartons and packaging from mills and plants. Heavy for its size, so we check the weight before we pitch, and often drop and hook at the shipper.
Drop and hook
You drop an empty or loaded trailer and leave with another. No waiting at a door, which can save hours on your clock. Not every lane has it, but we look first.
Lumpers, detention and the paperwork
Grocery and retail receivers often use lumpers, the crews that unload trailers for a fee. Who pays depends on the load: usually the broker or shipper covers it, but the driver may pay at the dock and get reimbursed. We confirm how the lumper is handled before you accept, and make sure the receipt goes in with your paperwork.
Detention is the same story. When a receiver keeps you past the free time, we track the hours and claim the detention pay listed on the rate con, so a slow dock at least pays something.
After delivery, a clear photo of the signed bill of lading goes to us the same day. Any shortage, damage or late note the receiver wrote on it goes in the photo too. We send the paperwork to the broker or your factoring company, and you get on with the drive instead of chasing an email from a rest area. Clean paperwork is what gets you paid on time.
Is dry van dispatch worth it for you?
If you have a dedicated lane or direct customers, you may not need us, and we will say so. Dispatch earns its fee when most of your loads come off the boards, when you search after you park, or when your week keeps ending in the wrong city. Dry van rates move every week, and a dispatcher who watches them all day can usually do better than one driver checking at night.
New to dry van, or new to your own authority? That is when the help counts most. Broker setups, credit checks and carrier packets take time in the first months, and the loads that do not post are mostly offered to carriers brokers already know. We start that work on day one.
How we plan a dry van week
Single loads are only half the job. A good dry van week strings loads together so the empty miles stay short and the week ends where you want it. Here is the order we work in:
- Start with your home time and where the week has to end, then work backwards.
- Book the first load out of your home area early, ideally before you leave.
- Look for the reload near each delivery before you accept the load, not after you unload.
- Prefer drop and hook or early appointments when the next pickup is tight.
- Leave room on Friday. Late-week freight is often there, but the receivers close early.
None of this is magic. It is the same planning a careful driver does on a good week, done every day by someone who is not also driving.
A dry van dispatch offer, start to finish
This is how an offer from your dry van dispatcher looks. It is an EXAMPLE, not a real load. Accept or decline it to see what happens next.
LOAD OFFER · EXAMPLE
from your dispatcher
Ontario, CA to Phoenix, AZ
- Miles
- 330
- Rate
- $950
- Per mile
- $2.88
- Pickup
- Mon 21:00, live load
- Delivery
- Tue 07:00 appointment
Retail freight, 53 ft dry van, floor loaded. A 07:00 appointment means you sleep near the receiver, so we checked a truck stop 9 miles out before offering it.
Your call. Nothing is booked until you say yes.
The dry van dispatch fee
Dry vans pay the same tiers as every other truck we dispatch, and new MCs step down on their own at month 6. The full terms are on the fees and terms page.
YOUR TIER
Standard (1 truck, MC 6+ months)
5%of gross
- Weekly gross (1 truck)
- $6,000
- Dispatch fee
- $300
- You keep (before costs)
- $5,700
Month-by-month table
| MC month | Fee |
|---|---|
| 12 | 5% |
| 13 | 5% |
| 14 | 5% |
| 15 | 5% |
| 16 | 5% |
| 17 | 5% |
| 18 | 5% |
| 19 | 5% |
| 20 | 5% |
| 21 | 5% |
| 22 | 5% |
| 23 | 5% |
Same tiers for every equipment type. No setup fee, no minimums, month-to-month, cancel with 30 days notice. EXAMPLE math, not a promise of revenue.
Dry van dispatcher questions
How much does dry van dispatch cost?
7% of gross while your MC is under 6 months old, 5% for one truck once it is older, and 4% per truck when you run two or more. No setup fee, no minimum and no contract, and nothing owed in a week you do not haul. The step down at month 6 happens automatically.
Can I park at the receiver after delivery?
Sometimes, but do not count on it. Many receivers want empty trucks off the property right after unloading, and some do not allow early arrivals either. We ask the broker before we offer the load, and if the answer is no, we plan the nearest legal stop that fits your remaining hours instead.
How do you plan loads around delivery appointments?
We work backwards from the appointment. We check the drive time, your hours, the break, and how long the receiver usually takes to unload, then find a legal place to stop afterwards. If an appointment leaves no room to reach a stop, we ask for a different time or keep looking before we pitch it.
Can you find drop and hook loads?
Often, yes, but not on every lane. Drop and hook depends on the shipper having trailers in the yard and a broker who has that freight. We look for it first because it saves hours at the dock, and we tell you when a lane is live load only so you can decide with the full picture.
Who pays lumper fees?
It depends on the load. Usually the broker or shipper pays, either directly or by reimbursing you after you pay at the dock. We confirm how the lumper will be handled before you accept, and we make sure the receipt is sent with your paperwork so the money comes back to you with the load pay.
PARK BY: PLANNED WITH YOU
Book dry van loads that end well
Planned from the appointment to the place you park. No setup fee. No contract.