Seven steps from the first call to the first load, and nobody skips the compliance intake.
Most carriers who have used a dispatch service before have been onboarded by text message. This is the sequence we actually run, what we need from you at each step, and how long each one takes.
What happens, in order.
Qualification call, about twenty minutes
Authority age, equipment, insurance limits, ELD, lanes you want, lanes you refuse, and what went wrong with your last desk. We are looking for whether we can do the job, not for a signature. If your operation is not a fit, we say it on this call.
Document review, one to two business days
Operating authority and MC number, certificate of insurance with limits and cancellation terms, W-9, voided check or ACH details, equipment list with VINs and annual inspection dates, driver list with CDL and medical certificate expiry. We look at your public safety record too, and we tell you what we see rather than scoring you.
Written dispatch service agreement
Scope, fee tier, weekly minimum, billing cycle, notice on either side, and what you receive if you leave. Signed before any load is dispatched. No verbal terms, no fee that appears later.
Systems setup, two to three business days
Your own isolated tenant in the TMS, so your loads, documents, and rates are not sitting in a shared workspace with other carriers. ELD and tablet provisioning if you need it, and email and file storage on your own domain if you are taking the back office.
Compliance intake, the step nobody else runs
Every expiring or recurring item in your operation gets a date and an owner: medical certificates, annual inspections, MCS-150 window based on your USDOT number, UCR, IFTA quarters, IRP renewal, Form 2290 month, random testing pool enrollment, Clearinghouse queries, driver qualification file gaps. You get the calendar back with the gaps marked in plain language before the first load moves.
Lane and rate profile
Your home base, how far out you will run, reload risk you accept, minimum rate per loaded mile, minimum gross per day, brokers you will not work with, and what you want your week to look like. This is the document that stops us from calling you with a load you would never take.
First dispatch, then the weekly rhythm
Options to you, approval from you, booking and packet from us, check calls and exception documentation in transit, then invoice within one business day of delivery. Weekly numbers on Monday, monthly owner review at month end.
What the week looks like from your side.
| Day | Us | You |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Qualification call, then the document request in writing | Twenty minutes on the phone |
| Tuesday | Document review, public record check, agreement drafted | Send documents once |
| Wednesday | Agreement countersigned, TMS tenant created, ELD ordered if needed | Sign, and confirm banking details |
| Thursday | Compliance intake interview and calendar build | Thirty minutes, and the file drawer |
| Friday | Lane and rate profile written, broker setups started | Tell us your floor and your refusals |
| Following Monday | First shortlist to you before mid morning | Approve a rate. Drive. |
Indicative schedule. Broker setup timelines, insurance certificate turnaround, and ELD shipping are outside our control and can move a day or two either way. We tell you when they do.
One document request, not five.
If you do not have some of these, that is what the compliance intake is for. Missing items are findings, not disqualifications, unless they are the kind that means the truck should not be loaded today.
What you keep, always
- ·Your authority and your safety record
- ·Your insurance and your agent
- ·Your customer and broker relationships
- ·Your bank account, and every dollar of freight revenue
- ·Your files, exported on request in a usable format
What leaving looks like
Notice per the agreement, loads in transit completed and invoiced, final fee invoice, then a full export: load files, compliance calendar, driver qualification files, maintenance history, and document archive. No exit fee. The records were always yours.
Three carriers we turn down.
The carrier who wants a guaranteed weekly number. Anyone promising one in this market is quoting you a rate they cannot hold. Dry van spot linehaul was $2.25 a mile in mid August 2026 against a $2.336 average cost per mile in 2025 (DAT, ATRI). We sell the work. You keep the upside.
The carrier who wants to run under somebody else's authority. Your authority, your insurance, your customers, your profit. Hand those to a lease program and you are an employee with a truck note.
The operation that will not fix what intake turns up. If the paperwork says the truck should not be loaded, it does not get loaded. Carriers who want that answer before a roadside inspection finds it are exactly who we want.