Dry van dispatch service for the truck that never gets a day off
The van is the market's default truck, which means the most freight and the most competition on earth. Winning with one is not about finding loads; it is about clearing broker setups fast, arguing every rate, and never running the back half empty. That is a desk job. Ours.
What brokers ask a dry van carrier for, new versus established
Every broker setup is a quiet exam. The questions are standard; the passing grades move with your authority age. All of it varies by broker, so treat this card as the pattern, not a rulebook:
| The ask | New MC | Established | How the desk helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authority age | The wall: many decline under 60-180 days outright | A formality after year one | We keep the running list of who takes young MCs, so packets only go where they can pass. |
| Insurance limits | Commonly $1M auto liability and $100k cargo requested; scrutinized line by line | Same limits, glanced at | Your COI goes out current, correctly named, with the broker as holder when required. Setups stop dying in accounting. |
| Safety record | Nothing to show yet, which reads as risk | Inspections and CSA history speak | We build the record deliberately: clean, on-time loads first, score-sensitive freight later. |
| References and history | None, and some brokers ask anyway | Three brokers who answer the phone | Early loads are chosen partly for brokers who will take the reference call next quarter. |
| Paperwork turnaround | Tested on load one: rate con signed, POD submitted fast | Assumed | The desk runs the paperwork same-day, because slow PODs quietly end broker relationships. |
Marked plainly: every threshold above varies by broker and changes without notice. The point of a desk is that somebody tracks the variations for a living. If your MC is young, the new authority page maps this stage month by month.
The dry van freight we actually book
01Retail and consumer goods
The spine of van freight: DCs, big-box replenishment, appointment discipline. Steady, relationship-driven, rewards on-time percentages.
02Grocery dry and food-adjacent
Shelf-stable food, packaging, beverage. High volume, lumper-heavy receivers; we make sure lumper and detention terms are in writing before the truck rolls.
03Paper, plastics and industrials
Heavy, dense, forgiving freight that loads fast and rides quiet. Good floor-builder lanes when retail is soft.
04Drop and hook
Where vans earn without waiting. Access usually requires broker trust or a trailer pool; we pitch you into those programs as your record earns it, honestly, not on day two.
Every load reaches you with full numbers, the rate con goes from the broker directly to you, and you can simply say no. We just go find the next one.
The van paradox: the most freight, the thinnest margins
Everything ships in a van, so everyone buys a van, so the posted rate on any open lane gets hammered flat. That is the paradox a dry van carrier lives inside, and it is why van money is made in the gaps the average operator skips: the counter-offer actually argued instead of accepted, the reload booked before the first delivery instead of after, the broker mix tilted toward relationships instead of whoever posted last. None of those gaps care how new your truck is; all of them care whether someone has six hours a day to work them. Our answer to the paradox is boring and effective: floor discipline on every load, same-day paperwork so brokers call back, and reload density over hero rates. A van that never runs empty at $2.00 beats a van that runs half empty chasing $2.60.
What a worked van month looks like
EXAMPLE, for illustrationTwo retail DC lanes anchor the calendar as repeat appointments; industrial and paper freight fills the soft days at honest rates; one drop-and-hook relationship carries the week the market dips. The numbers change by region and season, and the anchors-plus-filler structure is what the desk is actually building while it books your Tuesday.
Lumpers, detention and the other quiet taxes
Lumper fees
Confirmed reimbursable in writing before booking; receipts filed with the POD the same day so the refund actually happens.
Detention
Clock documented from on-time arrival; invoiced with proof attached. Money for waiting exists only when somebody writes the waiting down.
TONU
A load cancelled after you rolled gets a truck-ordered-not-used claim filed, not a shrug.
After-hours surprises
Receiver closed, repower needed, reschedule demanded: the desk answers at night, because that is when these happen.
None of these are rate negotiations; they are paperwork races. Losing them slowly is how a decent gross becomes a thin net.
The fee on a dry van week
Same tiers as every truck we dispatch, because equipment never changes the deal here. An example standard-rate week, labeled as exactly that:
An MC under 6 months runs 7% and drops to 5% automatically; fleets of 2 or more run 4% per truck. No setup fee, no minimums, month to month with 30 days notice, no haul no pay. Full list on the fees page; insurance expectations are unpacked in the insurance requirements guide.
- 1Gross for the week$6,200
- 2Fee rate (standard)5%
- 3Dispatch fee$310
- 4You keep$5,890
Q-01How much does dry van dispatch cost?
5% of gross for one van with 6+ months of authority; 7% while your MC is under 6 months, dropping to 5% automatically; 4% per truck for fleets of 2 or more. No setup fee, no minimums, no contract, and the fee applies only to loads you haul.
Q-02Do brokers work with new dry van carriers?
Some do, many filter by authority age first. The practical answer is sequencing: start with the brokers that accept young MCs, run their freight clean, and re-apply to the stricter ones as you pass 60, 90 and 180 days. That sequencing is a standing part of our desk work.
Q-03What insurance do dry van brokers require?
The common ask is $1M auto liability and $100k cargo, with your FMCSA filing active and the COI current; exact limits vary by broker and commodity. The real killers are stale certificates and name mismatches, not limits. Our insurance requirements guide walks the details with sources.
Q-04Can you find drop and hook loads?
Yes, with honesty about access: drop and hook usually lives inside broker programs and trailer pools that want history first. We get you into that freight as your record qualifies, and we will not pretend a two-week-old authority starts there.
Q-05Who pays lumper fees?
Typically the broker or shipper reimburses lumpers, but only when the receipt and the terms are handled correctly. We confirm lumper terms before booking, keep receipts moving with the POD, and chase the reimbursement so it does not quietly become your cost.
The market's favorite truck deserves a desk behind it.
Setups cleared, rates argued, reloads planned, and the quiet taxes chased in writing. 5% standard, 7% while an MC is young, no contract, and every load is still your call. The application takes about 2 minutes.