Truck Dispatcher Training
Find out the difference between a freight broker and a truck dispatcher. Discover who should attend truck dispatcher training.
Is Truck Dispatcher Training Right for You?
Before you can decide if truck dispatcher training is right for you, you’ll need to ask yourself these two questions:
Do I want to book loads for only one trucking company?
OR
Do I want to book loads for multiple trucking companies?
If you answered “Yes” to wanting to book loads for multiple trucking companies, then truck dispatcher training is not actually what you need.
What is a Truck Dispatcher?
A truck dispatcher works for a single carrier, either as an employee or as a “bona fide agent” of the carrier company. The truck dispatcher’s primary duties are to:
- find available loads for the empty (or soon to be empty) trucks owned by or leased to your trucking company
- negotiate load rates with freight brokers or agents
- review/signs carrier contracts, reviews/signs rate and/or load confirmations, and send your carrier packets to brokers or agents
- dispatch the drivers of your empty trucks to pick-up the loads you’ve booked
- track your loaded trucks through delivery
Freight Brokering versus Truck Dispatching
Freight brokers and freight agents do perform activities similar to those listed above as a part of their daily duties. But, one of the biggest differences, and the most important point here, is that freight brokers and freight agents work with multiple carrier companies. Freight brokers, and the freight agents working under freight brokers, are authorized by the FMCSA to contract with ALL of the registered carriers in the United States.
Any third party who makes arrangements for freight to be moved within the United States is defined by the FMCSA as a Property Broker (Freight Broker). If you want to book loads for, or assign loads to, more than ONE carrier company, you would no longer be an employee or a “bona fide agent” of the carrier company. Instead, you would be considered a third party agency. Which means that you would need to be registered with the FMCSA and have an active US DOT number as a Property Broker (Freight Broker). Or, you would need to be a freight agent working under the license of a registered freight broker. The MAP-21 law and 49 CFR, specifically parts 371 and 390, defines these activities and entities.
So, what about all these truck dispatching services you keep hearing about? How is it that they exist? To put it very plainly, those dispatching services are in violation of the 49 CFR regulations. And, they are not authorized by the FMCSA to perform those activities. Before MAP-21, enacted in 2012, those dispatching services wouldn’t have been considered a violation. But, MAP-21 brought many changes to the rules and regulations of the transportation industry. And, this is one of them.
Freight Movers School doesn’t have a standalone truck dispatcher training class. However, the reason why we don’t have separate truck dispatcher training is because most of our prospective students are actually wanting to book loads for more than one trucking company. Since most of our students have no intention of working with only one trucking company, they really need freight broker training and not truck dispatcher training. All of our freight broker training classes include dispatching as a part of the curriculum. Also, all of our freight broker classes are written and taught for both freight brokers and freight agents.
If you want to work with more than one trucking company, you need our freight broker training. We will teach you how to become a freight broker and get your freight broker license. And, we’ll teach you how to perform the job of a freight broker. Plus, for those students who would prefer to start out as a freight agent, we guarantee freight agent placement after graduation.
If you've decided that you are only going to work with one trucking company, then we recommend taking a look at our Dispatcher Training Manual. It can help to get you started as a truck dispatcher.
