100 answers for carriers and brokers.

A dispatcher works for the carrier as its agent: searching load boards, calling brokers and shippers on your behalf, negotiating rates, booking loads you approve, and handling the paperwork behind each load. The dispatcher never takes title to the freight and never keeps a margin on the linehaul — it charges the carrier a service fee.

No. Ashton is an independent dispatch and back-office company — not a broker and not a motor carrier. We work for the carrier under your authority. You keep your MC/USDOT, you approve every load, and the broker or shipper pays you directly.

Yes. Your MC/USDOT authority stays entirely yours. A dispatcher operates as your agent under your authority — it cannot move freight without you, and you approve every load before it's booked.

Fees depend on equipment: 4% for semi/dry van and reefer, 6% for power-only, and 8% for box truck and hotshot — charged on the load's linehaul. See our plans page for full details.

Only after you've been paid. The broker or shipper pays you (or your factoring company) for the load first; our fee is collected afterward. You are never asked to pay for a load you haven't been paid for.

We don't lock carriers into long-term commitments or charge setup fees. Full current terms are on the plans page — review them before you sign anything, with anyone.

No. You approve every load before it's booked. A dispatcher recommends and negotiates; the carrier decides.

Our operations desk runs around the clock, including an after-hours desk, so a driver isn't stuck waiting on a broker callback overnight.

Both, though our core focus is active interstate for-hire carriers running roughly one to five trucks — the size where a good back office makes the biggest difference.

Yes. New authorities are a common starting point. Expect to build broker relationships and a track record first — our compliance team also keeps your new-entrant filings on schedule.

We negotiate. Taking the first posted number is how carriers run below cost. We also work to negotiate accessorials — detention, TONU, lumper — onto the rate confirmation before you roll.

Dry van, reefer, flatbed, step deck, power-only, box truck, and hotshot. Fees vary by equipment type.

Yes. Many carriers keep direct relationships while a dispatcher fills the gaps and handles the paperwork. It's your authority and your business.

Yes — that's the back-office half of the job: rate confirmations, BOL/POD collection, invoicing, and following up on slow payments and accessorial charges.

Load boards, direct broker relationships, and shipper contacts — filtered against your equipment, your lanes, your available hours, and your cost per mile.

A broker represents the shipper, is a party to the transaction, and profits from the spread between what the shipper pays and what the carrier is paid. A dispatcher represents the carrier, takes no margin on the freight, and is paid a service fee by the carrier.

No. A dispatcher acts as the agent of a specific motor carrier under that carrier's authority. Brokering — arranging transportation for compensation as a middleman — is what requires FMCSA broker authority and a $75,000 surety bond.

If someone inserts themselves between shipper and carrier and keeps the spread, that is broker activity requiring authority and a bond. A legitimate dispatcher charges the carrier a transparent service fee instead.

When a broker (or someone posing as a carrier) takes a tendered load and illegally re-brokers it to another carrier for a spread, without authority or disclosure. The carrier who actually hauls it is usually the one left unpaid.

Yes. Re-brokering freight for compensation without broker authority violates federal law and can bring civil penalties. It's also the most common way carriers end up working for free.

$75,000 (a BMC-84 bond, or a BMC-85 trust), required under MAP-21 for property brokers registered with the FMCSA.

Yes, but you need separate operating authority for each, and brokered freight must be handled under your broker authority with the required bond — not quietly re-brokered under carrier authority.

The written agreement for a specific load: rate, stops, appointment times, and any accessorial terms. Anything not on the rate con — detention pay, TONU, lumper reimbursement — is very hard to collect later.

The Bill of Lading is the contract and receipt for the freight, issued at pickup. The Proof of Delivery is the signed confirmation the freight arrived. You generally need both to invoice and to factor.

Typically the motor carrier, under the terms of the BOL and its cargo coverage — which is one reason brokers require cargo insurance even though the FMCSA usually doesn't.

A broker may attempt a rate reduction or claim damages, and disputes are handled under the rate confirmation's terms. Document everything: arrival/departure times, delays caused by the facility, and any communication.

No. Refusing to release freight to force payment is illegal and will damage your position. Pursue payment through the shipper, the real broker, and formal complaint channels instead.

The USDOT number is your permanent safety identifier, tracking inspections, crashes, and audits. Operating authority (historically the MC number) is your permission to haul regulated freight for hire across state lines. The FMCSA is consolidating both under a single USDOT identifier.

Roughly $300 for the FMCSA application, $25–$50 for a BOC-3 process agent, and commonly $14,000–$22,000 for first-year insurance as a new authority. Budget $20,000–$25,000 in working capital beyond the truck.

Filing is quick, but new for-hire authority has a public protest window of about 21 days, and activation waits on your insurance (BMC-91) and BOC-3 filings posting. Realistically 3–6 weeks.

A designation of process agents in each state to receive legal documents on your behalf. Blanket coverage typically costs $25–$50 and is required before your authority activates.

New carriers enter an 18-month monitoring period and must pass a safety audit — usually within the first 12 months — reviewing driver qualification files, hours-of-service logs, the drug-and-alcohol program, and records.

Unified Carrier Registration — an annual registration required of interstate carriers, with a fee that scales by fleet size. It's modest for one to a few trucks but easy to forget.

The International Registration Plan (apportioned plates) and the International Fuel Tax Agreement (quarterly fuel-tax reporting). Both are handled through your base state for interstate operation.

An annual federal tax on trucks 55,000 lbs and over, paid to the IRS. You need the stamped Form 2290 to register your plates.

You need a legal business entity and an EIN. Most carriers form an LLC or corporation before applying, since everything else — insurance, banking, authority — attaches to that entity.

Cash flow, not paperwork. Brokers pay in 30–60 days while fuel, insurance, and truck payments come due immediately. Underestimating insurance and working capital sinks more new authorities than anything else.

Leasing on trades margin for simplicity — no authority, no insurance filings, less admin. Your own authority means more of the linehaul and control of your own business, plus the compliance burden that comes with it.

A program where you make payments toward eventually owning a truck. Some are fair; many are predatory, with total payments far exceeding the truck's value and terms that let the carrier reclaim it. Read every term, and have someone independent review it.

For general freight in vehicles over 10,001 lbs, $750,000 in public-liability coverage. Lighter non-hazmat vehicles need $300,000; oil and certain bulk commodities $1,000,000; hazardous materials $1,000,000–$5,000,000 depending on commodity.

Because the federal floor and the market floor are different. Most brokers won't book a carrier without roughly $1,000,000 auto liability and about $100,000 cargo — so many general-freight carriers file $1M even though the law asks for less.

Not for most carriers. The FMCSA only requires filed cargo coverage for household-goods movers ($5,000 per vehicle, $10,000 per occurrence). Everyone else buys it because brokers and shippers demand it.

Proof of your liability coverage filed electronically with the FMCSA by your insurer. Your authority does not activate until it posts — and if coverage lapses, the filing drops and your authority can be revoked.

A federal financial-responsibility endorsement that backstops public-liability obligations. It is not cargo insurance and does not replace your policy — it's a guarantee to the public, and your insurer can seek reimbursement from you.

Owner-operator premiums commonly run $700–$2,500+ per month for general freight, with new authorities at the high end. First-year all-in insurance often totals $12,000–$25,000.

The FMCSA has signaled a rulemaking to raise the $750,000 minimum — frozen since 1985 — with figures discussed from $2 million upward. It is not law yet; a proposed rule requires public comment first.

Insurance protecting your own truck. The FMCSA doesn't require it, but your lender will if the truck is financed.

Coverage for the truck when it's being used outside of business use — typically required if you lease onto a carrier.

The filing drops off your FMCSA record and your operating authority can be revoked. Continuous coverage is a compliance requirement, not just a good idea.

No. Insurance is a regulated product placed through licensed partners — several are listed in our partner directory. Nothing we publish is insurance advice; confirm your limits with a licensed agent.

Selling your invoice to a factoring company for immediate cash instead of waiting 30–60 days for the broker to pay. The factor advances most of the face value — 95–97% is standard — and collects from the broker later.

With recourse, you repay the factor (usually via a chargeback against future advances) if the broker never pays. With non-recourse, the factor absorbs the loss from a broker's credit default or insolvency. About 85% of trucking factoring is recourse.

Typically only non-payment from an approved debtor's credit default or insolvency. It does not cover operational disputes — damaged freight, a missing POD, or a rate disagreement — which still come back to you.

Rates run roughly 1%–5% of invoice value. A typical owner-operator on a flat recourse plan pays 2.5%–3.5%; non-recourse adds about 0.5%–1%. New authorities and weak-credit brokers push toward the top.

A flat fee is the same percentage regardless of when the broker pays. A tiered fee starts lower but steps up at day 31, 46, and 61. Since you don't control broker pay times, tiered often costs more in practice.

ACH/wire fees ($5–$30 per transfer), reserve holdbacks, monthly minimum shortfall fees, per-invoice processing fees, and termination penalties on long contracts. Compare total monthly cost on your real volume, not the headline rate.

Depends on the agreement. Some factors require all invoices; others allow spot factoring. Read the contract — all-invoice requirements plus a monthly minimum can be an expensive combination.

No. Every factor reviews the carrier and the broker's credit before approving. Be wary of anyone implying approval before that review — including us. We never do.

Commonly same-day or next business day once the invoice and paperwork (rate con, BOL, POD) are submitted clean. Sloppy paperwork is the main cause of delayed advances.

It's worth weighing. In a year of rising brokerage failures, the extra 0.5–1% buys protection against a broker going insolvent. If you haul for few brokers and hold thin cash reserves, the case is stronger.

No — factoring is provided by licensed partners. What we do is make sure invoices and documents go out clean and on time so your advances aren't held up, and help you steer toward better-credit brokers.

Commonly 30–60 days, with an industry average around 40. That gap between doing the work and getting the money is the single biggest cash-flow squeeze for small carriers.

After 10 consecutive hours off duty, you may drive up to 11 hours, and may not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty. You must take a 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving.

The 11-hour limit caps driving time. The 14-hour rule caps the window in which driving may happen — and loading, fueling, and detention all burn that window, so you can hit 14 hours with driving time left.

You may be on duty a maximum of 60 hours in 7 days, or 70 hours in 8 days, depending on whether your carrier operates every day of the week.

Taking 34 consecutive hours off duty resets your 60- or 70-hour cycle back to zero.

You can split the required 10 hours using a 7/3 or 8/2 pairing — e.g. at least 7 hours in the sleeper plus a separate 3 hours off. Paired correctly, the qualifying rest doesn't count against your 14-hour window.

Most drivers required to keep records of duty status must use a registered ELD. The main relief is the short-haul (150 air-mile) exemption — stay within 150 air miles of your base and return within 14 hours, and you may keep time records instead.

Unexpected weather or traffic can extend your driving window by up to 2 hours.

A federal database of CDL drivers' drug-and-alcohol program violations. Employers must query it before a driver's first safety-sensitive function and at least once every 12 months.

A full pre-employment query (with the driver's electronic consent) before their first safety-sensitive function, then at least one query per driver every 12 months on a rolling 365-day basis. Keep the receipts in the driver's qualification file.

Yes. You're both employer and driver: register as an employer, query yourself annually, and join a C/TPA consortium for random testing — you can't run your own random program. Membership typically runs $50–$150 per year.

Under Clearinghouse II, state DMVs query the Clearinghouse before issuing or renewing a CDL, and a prohibited driver's CDL is downgraded to a standard license within 60 days — until they complete the return-to-duty process.

See a qualified Substance Abuse Professional for evaluation, complete the recommended education or treatment, pass a return-to-duty test, and complete a follow-up testing program.

The FMCSA minimum random testing rates are 50% for drugs and 10% for alcohol of the average driver pool.

Yes. Since June 2025, failing the FMCSA English-language proficiency check at roadside can result in an out-of-service order.

The Motor Carrier Identification Report, updated biennially (every two years) based on your USDOT number — or sooner if your information changes. Letting it go stale can deactivate your USDOT number.

The FMCSA's Safety Measurement System groups violations into BASIC categories (unsafe driving, HOS compliance, vehicle maintenance, and others). Poor scores draw interventions and make brokers and insurers nervous.

Carrier vetting and onboarding, track-and-trace, load entry and documentation, invoicing and collections, and an after-hours desk — so your team focuses on selling and covering freight.

Authority and insurance verification, SAFER checks including phone-number matching, MC age, safety history, and ongoing monitoring for changes — the checks that catch identity theft and unauthorized re-brokering before a load moves.

Yes — our desk runs around the clock, which is when most tracking problems and driver calls actually happen.

No. We're a service provider paid a fee by the brokerage, not a party to your freight.

By verifying the carrier in SAFER (matching the phone number listed there, not the one on paperwork), checking authority age, validating insurance directly, and confirming that the truck and trailer that show up match the carrier you contracted.

Yes — packet collection, W-9s, insurance certificates, carrier agreements, and keeping the file current as coverage renews.

Check calls and status updates from pickup to delivery, exception handling when a load runs late, and keeping your customer informed before they have to ask.

Yes. A new brokerage's biggest constraint is usually people — which is exactly what an outsourced back office solves before you can justify full-time hires.

Contact us with your MC/DOT number and equipment type. We'll confirm your authority and insurance are active, walk through how the fee and paperwork work, and get you set up. There's no cost to have the conversation.

Active for-hire operating authority, active insurance meeting your brokers' requirements, and the standard carrier packet documents (W-9, insurance certificate, authority letter).

We can help you understand the process and keep the filings on track through our compliance service, but we can only dispatch a carrier with active authority and insurance on file.

Our headquarters is in Houston, Texas, with an office in Sheridan, Wyoming. Our team is US-based and works around the clock.

Yes — Ashton Global Services LLC is US-registered, with a US-based team supporting carriers and brokerages nationwide.

Whatever works for the driver — phone, text, or email. The point of a dispatcher is that the driver doesn't sit on hold with brokers.

You can stop. We don't lock carriers into long-term commitments, and your authority, your broker relationships, and your customers remain yours.

Yes — both, alongside dispatch, compliance, and back-office. See our services page for the full list.

Through our referral program — you earn at each milestone your referral reaches, up to $500 per company, with no cap on how many you refer.

Use the FMCSA's SAFER system at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov. Pull the company snapshot, confirm the phone number matches what you were given, and if it doesn't, call the number listed in SAFER instead.

No, and be cautious of anyone who does. Freight markets move, and no dispatcher controls what brokers pay. What we control is how hard your loads are worked and how clean your paperwork is.

Our blog covers authority, insurance, factoring, cost per mile, detention, fraud, HOS, and the Clearinghouse in depth — all sourced from FMCSA rules and primary data.

Empty miles between loads. They burn fuel and earn nothing, so your loaded rate has to cover them. If 15% of your miles run empty, that has to be priced into every load you accept.

ATRI's most recent Operational Costs of Trucking report puts the industry average at $2.26 per mile including driver pay, with non-fuel costs at a record $1.78. Owner-operators excluding their own pay typically calculate $1.30–$1.85.