Dispatch services for new trucking companies, from active authority to steady loads
Your authority is the easy part; the first loads are not. Many brokers will not touch a fresh MC, and nobody tells you which ones will. We set up your packets, start with the brokers that take new authorities, negotiate every rate and build the record that opens the better doors.
- 7% while your MC is under 6 months, then 5% automatically
- No setup fee, no contract, cancel with 30 days notice
- You confirm every load. The rate con goes straight to you.
Where is your MC today?
Pick one and the application opens with it filled in. About 2 minutes.
The ready-to-dispatch checklist
Tick what you already have. Every stop links the official page, because you file all of this yourself, directly, with your own logins. When the list is green, we can put freight behind your truck.
FMCSA has been consolidating registration into one unified filing and moving away from separate MC numbers for new applicants. Numbers issued earlier stay valid. The current process and fees are always on FMCSA's registration page; treat any site that quotes old steps as stale, including ours if this date looks old to you. Process notes checked October 2026.
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Next step: FMCSA registration · § 49 CFR 390.19T
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What each filing costs, straight from the source
No markup, no package pricing, no mystery. This is the whole list, with what the government actually charges as of October 2026:
| Step | Where it happens | Cost as published | Typical wait | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USDOT number | FMCSA registration | Free | Issued with your filing | 49 CFR 390.19T |
| Operating authority | FMCSA registration (unified filing) | $300 per authority | Typically 3-5 weeks to active, incl. the dispute window | 49 CFR part 365 |
| BOC-3 process agents | A process agent company files it | Set by the agent company | Usually same week | 49 CFR part 366 |
| Insurance filing | Your insurer files with FMCSA | No FMCSA fee (the premium is the cost) | After you bind coverage | 49 CFR part 387 |
| UCR registration | ucr.gov | Bracket fee, set yearly | Immediate | 49 U.S.C. 14504a |
| Drug & alcohol program (CDL) | A consortium/TPA + Clearinghouse | Set by the consortium | Before a CDL driver operates | 49 CFR 382.301, 382.305 |
Costs and waits shown as published in October 2026; the linked page always wins over this table. Anyone selling you an "authority package" is charging a service fee on top of these numbers. Sometimes that convenience is worth it to you; it should never be a surprise.
The four documents every broker asks for
Once the filings clear, the daily currency is your packet. Keep these four current and most broker setups take minutes instead of days:
Authority letter
Proof your operating authority is active. Brokers pull it themselves from FMCSA, but having yours ready speeds the slow ones up.
Certificate of insurance
Issued by your agent, showing limits and the broker as certificate holder when asked. The single most common reason a setup stalls is a COI that expired last week.
W-9
One page, your tax ID. Fill it once, correctly, and stop retyping it at midnight for every new broker.
Notice of assignment
Only if you factor: it tells the broker to pay your factoring company. Missing NOA means your money lands in the wrong place and takes weeks to find its way back.
Why brokers turn down new MCs, and how we work inside that
It is not personal. Brokers eat the loss when a load goes wrong, so most of them filter by things a new carrier does not have yet:
01Authority age minimums
Plenty of brokerages require 60, 90 or 180 days of active authority before they tender freight. The thresholds vary by broker, change without notice and are not published anywhere central. Part of our job is simply knowing, today, who takes a 2-week MC.
02Insurance and filing checks
Before the first tender a broker verifies your certificate of insurance, your FMCSA filings and your safety record. A packet with a stale COI dies in their inbox. We keep your packet current so the check is a formality.
03No history to score you by
Brokers score carriers on completed loads, on-time rates and claims. At zero loads you are a question mark, so early rates run below what the lane deserves. The fix is volume done clean: every on-time delivery is a door that opens.
04Fraud filters catch new carriers too
Freight fraud exploded in recent years, and new MCs fit the fraud profile through no fault of their own. Expect extra identity checks early on. Answer them fast and they disappear within a few months.
This is also why the first weeks take more phone calls than month six. We make those calls all day; you make them between fuel stops.
What a dispatch desk actually does for a 3-week-old MC
Dispatch sounds abstract until you see a day of it. Here is a plain Tuesday for one truck with a 3-week-old authority, the way it runs on our desk:
- 06:30
Boards and broker emails checked before your wheels turn. Two candidate loads for tomorrow flagged on your lane, rate floor set from what the lane has actually paid this month.
- 08:10
Broker A declines: your MC is 21 days old, their floor is 60. Logged with a date to re-send your packet the week you clear it. No time wasted arguing.
- 09:40
Broker B counters $1,650 on 310 miles. We counter back with your deadhead counted, land $1,790, and the rate con goes to your phone. You confirm it between stops. Numbers here are an example, not a promise.
- 11:00
Check call done for the load you are on, receiver confirmed for 15:00, lumper question settled before it becomes a surprise on the dock.
- 14:30
Tomorrow's reload booked before today's freight is off the truck, so the morning starts loaded instead of hopeful.
- 16:45
Detention clock passed two hours at the receiver: documented and invoiced to the broker while you drive. Friday's earnings report gets another line.
None of this is magic. It is six to eight hours of phone and paperwork a day that either you do from the driver's seat, or someone does for you while you drive. That is the whole product, and why the fee is worth it or not depending on how loaded your week already is.
The first 180 days, month by month
No revenue promises, because nobody honest makes them. This is the work as it actually sequences, on our side and on yours:
- Days 1-30
Our desk Packets with new-MC-friendly brokers, first booked loads, rate floors set per lane, every rate con to you to confirm.
Your side Keep insurance current, start your drug and alcohol program if you run CDL, save every BOL and receipt.
- Days 31-60
Our desk Reloads planned before delivery, detention claimed where it is owed, weekly earnings report every Friday.
Your side Watch your Clearinghouse and CSA records, keep the maintenance file growing.
- Days 61-120
Our desk Packets added at brokers whose age minimums you now clear. Better paying lanes replace the starter lanes.
Your side Prepare for the new entrant safety audit: FMCSA schedules it within your first 12 months.
- Days 121-180
Our desk Rate history now argues for you. At month six your fee drops to 5% on its own.
Your side MCS-150 current, UCR renewed on schedule, records clean.
The new entrant safety audit and the 18-month monitoring period are yours to pass, not ours to run; we remind, you keep the records. Checklist linked below. New entrant safety audit checklist, the 30-day playbook and why new authorities fail go deeper. Insurance questions start at new authority truck insurance.
What a consortium is and is not, in plain words: DOT drug testing consortium.
The calls start the day your number goes public
Every new authority gets the flood: filing 'reminders' that are invoices, fake brokers harvesting COIs, 'dispatchers' who want your FMCSA login. Three rules cover most of it:
- Nobody legitimate needs your FMCSA or load board logins. Not us, not anyone.
- Verify every broker in SAFER and check their bond before you sign a packet.
- Official mail about your authority comes from FMCSA, not from a company with 'DOT' in its name and an invoice attached.
- A 'dispatcher' who asks for money up front, a long contract or exclusive control of your truck is selling something else. Dispatch fees come out of loads hauled, after the fact.
- Slow down on anything urgent. Real filings have real deadlines you can check on the official page in two minutes; manufactured panic is the oldest tool in the box.
Keep these open in a tab: dispatch red flags and scams and the carrier packet checklist.
What the first six months cost, in actual math
7% of gross while your MC is under 6 months, any equipment. At 6 months you drop to 5% automatically, no phone call, no renegotiation. An example week:
No setup fee, no monthly minimum, no contract: month to month, cancel with 30 days notice. The fee applies to loads you haul and nothing else. No haul, no pay. Full tiers on the pricing page.
- 1Gross for the week$5,400
- 2Fee rate (MC under 6 months)7%
- 3Dispatch fee$378
- 4You keep$5,022
The cash gap is real: plan for it
Brokers commonly pay 30 to 45 days after delivery. Your first revenue can land weeks after your first fuel bill. Factoring closes that gap for a fee; for many new carriers it is the difference between taking good freight and taking fast-paying freight. We refer carriers to our factoring partner and may be paid for referrals.
Need your packet documents in order first? Start with the carrier packet builder and the authority checklist.
Q-01What do I need before you can dispatch me?
Active operating authority, insurance filed with FMCSA, a current certificate of insurance, a W-9, and your drug and alcohol program if you run CDL equipment. If you factor, your notice of assignment too. The checklist on this page is the exact list; apply even if some boxes are open and we will tell you what is left.
Q-02Do you help with the new entrant safety audit?
We remind you what FMCSA expects and link the official checklist, but the audit is yours: it reviews your records, your drug testing program and your filings. No dispatcher can take it for you, and you should hang up on anyone who says otherwise.
Q-03Do I need my own drug testing program?
If you drive a CDL vehicle under your own authority, yes: a pre-employment negative result and enrollment in a random testing pool before you operate, per 49 CFR 382.301 and 382.305. Non-CDL trucks are not under DOT testing rules. Owner-operators join a consortium rather than run their own pool.
Q-04Do you file my authority for me?
No. You file directly with FMCSA at fmcsa.dot.gov, pay only the official fees and keep your own logins. Our guides walk every step with the official links. We start working once your authority is active.
Q-05Do you help me avoid scams as a new carrier?
Yes, mostly by catching them before they reach you: we verify brokers before your packet goes out, and we never ask for logins or blank documents. The red flags guide linked on this page covers the common plays.
Q-06Why do brokers reject new MCs?
Risk scoring. New authorities have no load history, and freight fraud often hides behind fresh MC numbers, so brokers set authority-age minimums of 60 to 180 days. We start you with brokers that accept new authorities and add the stricter ones as your MC ages past their thresholds.
Q-07What is the first load like for a new authority?
More phone calls and more paperwork than it will ever take again: identity checks, insurance verification, packet setup. The rate is usually fair rather than great. We treat it as the key that starts your record, confirm it with you like every load, and build from there.
Q-08How much is dispatch for a new trucking company?
7% of gross while your MC is under 6 months, for any equipment we dispatch. It drops to 5% automatically at 6 months. No setup fee, no monthly minimum, month to month with 30 days notice, and the fee only applies to loads you haul.
Your MC will never be this new again. Put it to work.
7% now, 5% at six months, every load yours to confirm. A dispatcher calls you back, not a bot.