Know the terms. Protect your pay.
Dispatch has its own language, and not knowing it costs drivers money. Here is a plain-English glossary and a few guides, free, whether you work with us or not.
The dispatch terms every owner-operator should know.
Twenty-four terms that show up on rate cons, load boards, and settlement sheets, explained without the jargon.
Accessorial Charges
Extra pay beyond linehaul, like detention, layover, lumper, and TONU. These belong to you, never to our commission.
Bill of Lading (BOL)
The legal document listing the freight, shipper, and receiver. A signed BOL is your proof of delivery.
Carrier Packet
The documents a broker needs to set you up: MC authority, W-9, certificate of insurance, and a signed agreement.
Deadhead
Miles driven with an empty trailer to reach your next load. Unpaid miles you want to minimize.
Detention
Pay owed when a shipper or receiver holds you past the free loading or unloading window, usually two hours.
Double-Brokering
A scam where a broker re-brokers your load to another carrier without authorization, often leaving someone unpaid.
Drop and Hook
Swapping a pre-loaded trailer for an empty one instead of waiting on a live load. It cuts your dwell time.
Factoring
Selling your invoice to a factoring company for fast payment instead of waiting weeks for the broker to pay.
FMCSA
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the federal agency that regulates US trucking.
Hours of Service (HOS)
Federal limits on how long you can drive and work before required rest. Real dispatch plans around them.
Hotshot
Expedited freight hauled on a medium-duty pickup with a gooseneck or flatbed trailer, often time-critical.
IFTA
The International Fuel Tax Agreement, the quarterly fuel-tax reporting required for interstate carriers.
Layover
Pay owed when you are held overnight because a pickup or delivery cannot happen as scheduled.
Linehaul
The base rate to move freight from origin to destination, before accessorials. Our fee is a percentage of this only.
Load Board
An online marketplace such as DAT or Truckstop where brokers post freight and carriers find loads.
Lumper
A third-party worker who loads or unloads freight at a warehouse. Lumper fees are reimbursable to you.
MC Authority
Your Motor Carrier operating authority from the FMCSA, the license to haul freight for hire.
NOA (Notice of Assignment)
A document telling brokers to pay your factoring company instead of paying you directly.
Reefer
A refrigerated trailer and the temperature-controlled freight it carries. Appointment-strict and higher paying.
RPM (Rate Per Mile)
Your revenue divided by your miles. The core number that tells you whether a load actually pays.
Rate Confirmation
The written agreement of a load's rate and terms, also called a rate con. Always read it before you sign.
Spot Market
Freight booked load-by-load at current market rates, as opposed to contracted dedicated freight.
Step Deck
A flatbed with a lower rear deck for taller loads that would exceed height limits on a standard flatbed.
TONU
Truck Ordered Not Used. A fee owed when you are dispatched to a load that gets cancelled before you haul it.
Short, useful, and written for drivers.
Owner-operator FAQs.
Knowing the terms is step one. We handle the rest.
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