A dry van dispatch service that reads past the posted rate

Here are three EXAMPLE dry van postings on the same lane, Dallas to Atlanta, about 780 loaded miles. On the board, the highest rate looks like the obvious pick. Read the rest of each posting and the answer changes.

Dry van rates usually sit below reefer and flatbed on a per-mile basis, because more trucks can haul van freight and the equipment costs less to run. Spot rates move with the season, the market cycle and fuel. We publish public figures only with a named source and a date, and our guides to van freight rates and truckload spot rates collect what's available.

Those averages are useful for knowing which way things are moving. They don't tell you what your lane pays this week, and they don't know your costs. Your floor rate, built from your own cost per mile, is the number that decides whether a load works. The national average just tells you how hard it'll be to get there.

A practical habit: write down the all-in rate on every load you haul for a month, with the empty miles counted. That list is worth more than any index, because it's your lanes, your truck and your timing. It shows which lanes clear your floor, which only work with a good reload, and which you should stop chasing. When you sign up with us, we keep that list for you on the weekly report.

Seasons matter on van freight too. Retail freight builds through late summer and fall, produce season pulls reefers off some lanes and tightens van capacity on others, and the weeks around major holidays shift what's moving. None of it is a promise of higher rates, but knowing the calendar helps you decide when to push for more and when to take the steady load.

• +Searching the major boards and our broker and shipper contacts for your lanes.
• +Reading every posting for all-in rate, dock time, lumper terms and pay terms.
• +Finding drop and hook freight where it exists, so you spend less time at docks.
• +Broker checks on FMCSA's public records before every counter.
• +Negotiating every load from your floor, not the posted number.
• +Reload planning before you deliver, check calls, and detention and layover claims.
• +A weekly report of loads, gross, our fee and your empty miles.

On dry van freight, the load you're looking at is only half the decision. The other half is where it leaves you. Some markets ship far more freight out than they receive, and a van delivering there finds a reload fast. Others mostly receive, and a van can sit a day or deadhead a few hundred miles to find the next load.

So we price the pair, not the single. EXAMPLE: a $2,400 load into a market with weak outbound freight may need 250 empty miles to the next pickup. A $2,150 load into a strong market reloads within a few miles. Over two loads, the lower first rate is often the better week.

That's also why we plan the reload before you deliver. By the time you're unloading, there's either a next load countered and waiting for your yes, or a clear choice in front of you: wait, take something short to a better market, or head home. Our guide to freight lanes explains headhaul and backhaul markets in more detail.