ENTRY 01 / DRY VAN DISPATCH
Dry van has the biggest pool of freight in trucking, and the most cheap offers, slow docks and loads that strand you in the wrong market. Our dry van dispatch service checks every load against your floor, the dock, the reload and the paperwork before it reaches your inbox. You still sign every rate con.
53 ft and 48 ft vans, one truck or a small fleet. National dry van average in August 2026: about $2.89 a mile all-in (DAT).
More freight doesn't mean easier freight. Van owners compete with more trucks for every posting, and the problems are the same week after week.
Hundreds of van loads post every hour. Finding the few that clear your floor after deadhead takes hours you don't have while driving.
Live loads at busy distribution centers can eat half a day. Without detention terms on the rate con, that time is free for the shipper and expensive for you.
A good rate into a market with nothing coming back costs you the next day in empty miles.
Paying at the dock and chasing reimbursement for weeks is cash you needed for fuel.
ENTRY 02 / RATE CON TRIAGE
Sort each EXAMPLE load: sign it, say no, or ask for more. Then read the desk's note on it. This is the call a dry van dispatcher makes dozens of times a day, and it decides your week more than the rate on any single load.
YOUR INBOX · 3 NEW
EXAMPLE FLOOR
RATE CONFIRMATION · EXAMPLE
Joliet, IL to Columbus, OH
TO: YOUR COMPANY · DRY VAN
ABOVE YOUR FLOOR
RATE CONFIRMATION · EXAMPLE
Memphis, TN to Atlanta, GA
TO: YOUR COMPANY · DRY VAN
ABOVE YOUR FLOOR
RATE CONFIRMATION · EXAMPLE
Laredo, TX to Dallas, TX
TO: YOUR COMPANY · DRY VAN
BELOW YOUR FLOOR BY $0.63/MI
The rate isn't the whole load. A high rate into a DC with four-hour holds can pay less per hour than a lower drop and hook.
Deadhead counts. 85 empty miles to the pickup can drag a fair rate under your floor. We count every mile, loaded or empty.
Where it leaves you matters. A load that ends near freight going your way is worth more than its rate shows.
ENTRY 03 / FREIGHT WE BOOK
Distribution center to store or DC to DC. Appointments matter; on-time history with a broker opens repeat loads.
Canned, boxed and packaged food to grocery DCs. Lumpers are common at delivery; the terms go on the rate con.
Heavy, dense loads from mills and converters. Watch your scale weights and axle settings.
Some of the heaviest van freight. Check the weight before you sign and plan fuel around it.
Boxed materials that fit in a van, often from plants with set shipping windows.
Preloaded trailers swapped at the yard. Fewer hours at the dock, sometimes a little less per mile.
Dry van rates move with the season: produce season pulls trucks into reefer and tightens van capacity in some regions, and retail peaks lift volume before holidays. We plan lanes around those swings instead of chasing whatever posted last. For the rate side of the picture, see owner-operator trucking rates per mile.
ENTRY 04 / DETENTION AND LUMPERS
Dock time is where dry van money disappears. A rate that looks good becomes a bad day if the truck sits five hours unpaid, or if you pay a lumper and can't get it back. So before a load reaches you, we pin down the terms that decide what the load is really worth.
When the truck does sit, the desk tracks the clock from your check-in and sends the claim with the delivery paperwork, while it is still easy to prove. Detention we claim goes on the rate con and into your gross, so it shows up on your weekly report line by line.
ENTRY 05 / HOME TIME LOOPS
Dry van freight runs in loops: out of a home market, through two or three freight hubs, and back. Tell us your home base and home days, and we plan the loop backward from Friday instead of hoping the last load lands close. Tap days on the strip to set home days and watch the EXAMPLE week re-plan.
Regional, over-the-road or a mix: the loop changes, the method doesn't. You approve every leg as a rate con before it is booked.
2 HOME DAYS · 1,956 MIGROSS $5,500
A regional van that sleeps at home most nights runs more, shorter loads, so dock time and reload distance matter more than the rate on any single load. An over-the-road van runs fewer, longer loads, so the lane it ends on and the timing of the reload matter most. We plan to whichever you run, and to the mix if it changes with the season.
Regional: tighter radius, more stops per week, more emphasis on drop and hook and quick unloads.
Over the road: longer hauls, freight hubs on the way home, reloads booked before delivery.
Either way: every load still comes to you as a rate con to sign or refuse, with the free time, detention and lumper terms on it.
ENTRY 06 / THE FEE
On the EXAMPLE loop above, five loads gross $5,500. At the standard 5% the fee is $275, one line on the weekly report. With a new MC it would be $385 at 7% until month 7; with two or more trucks, $220 at 4%.
No setup fee, no minimums, nothing on a load you decline, and month-to-month terms you can end with 30 days notice. Compare every number on the dispatch pricing page.
The national dry van average was about $2.89 a mile all-in in August 2026, but your floor comes from your costs, not the market. Work it out with the break-even rate calculator, then add what you need to take home. That number is what we dispatch to.
SOURCE: DAT NATIONAL AVERAGES, AUGUST 2026, PUBLISHED SEPT 15, 2026
Your MC and DOT number, a certificate of insurance with auto liability and cargo, a signed W-9, your trailer length and door type (swing or roll-up), your ELD provider, and your notice of assignment if you factor. If you drive the van with a CDL under your own authority, your drug and alcohol testing program needs to be in place too.
Then one call about your floor rate, lanes, home days and the brokers you won't haul for. That is the whole setup, and the first van rate con can follow as soon as broker packets clear.
ENTRY 07 / DRY VAN QUESTIONS
5% of the gross on loads you haul with one truck and an MC older than 6 months. 7% while your MC is under 6 months, 4% for two or more trucks. The same rates apply to every equipment type. No setup fee, no monthly minimum, month to month.
Mostly palletized and boxed freight that doesn't need temperature control: retail and consumer goods, grocery dry goods, paper and packaging, beverages, building products that fit in a van, and auto parts. Some of it is live load and unload at distribution centers; some is drop and hook.
Yes, when they exist on your lanes. Drop and hook loads are popular with carriers because they save hours at the dock, so they often pay a little less. We weigh the rate against the time saved and offer you the load that makes the week work.
Usually the shipper or receiver through the broker, but the carrier often pays at the dock and gets reimbursed. The terms belong on the rate con before you sign: who pays, how, and what receipt is needed. We get that written in so you are not out of pocket.
Yes, though the first months have fewer brokers. Dry van has the largest pool of freight, which helps new authorities more than most equipment types. We start with brokers that book new carriers and expand as your MC ages.
From your costs: truck payment, insurance, fuel, a repair reserve and what you need to take home, spread over your miles. That gives a floor per mile, counting empty miles to the pickup. You approve it, and you can change it any time.
Apply in about a minute. Tell us your home base and floor rate; the first dry van rate con lands in your inbox for you to sign or refuse.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Dry van week gross, EXAMPLE | $5,500.00 |
| Dispatch fee 5% | ($275.00) |
| NET | $5,225.00 |