How Much Do Truck Dispatchers Make
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wages for employees in dispatcher and cargo-and-freight-agent occupations, not a required fee for an independent truck dispatcher.
FMCSA's 2023 guidance says a dispatch service that is a bona fide agent is paid by the motor carrier under the written agreement, and it does not set the amount.
Steps
- Open the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics tables.
- Read occupation 43-5011, Cargo and Freight Agents, for the employee wage BLS publishes for that occupation.
- Read occupation 43-5032, Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance, which is a different occupation and a different wage.
- Do not treat either employee wage as the fee an independent dispatcher charges a carrier. BLS does not publish that fee.
- If you are the carrier's agent, the amount is whatever the written agreement says the carrier will pay. FMCSA does not set it.
FAQ
Which BLS occupation is a truck dispatcher?
BLS does not publish an occupation named truck dispatcher. The closest published series are Cargo and Freight Agents (SOC 43-5011) and Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance (SOC 43-5032). They are different jobs. Use the series that matches the work.
What is the median pay?
TODO: paste the current median annual wage from the BLS pages linked in this article. Third-party sites disagree, and the official profile did not return a figure for this draft, so no dollar amount is stated here.
Do independent dispatchers earn the BLS wage?
Not as a rule this page can cite. OEWS wages are for employees in the surveyed occupation. An independent dispatcher paid by a carrier under a contract is not that table.
What percentage do dispatchers charge?
FMCSA does not set a percentage. BLS does not publish one. TODO: do not fill this in from course ads or forums. Leave the fee in the written agreement with the carrier.
Who is allowed to pay the dispatcher?
For a dispatch service that FMCSA would treat as a bona fide agent, the June 16, 2023 guidance says compensation comes from the motor carrier under the written agreement, not from the broker or a factoring company.
Employee wages versus independent dispatch pay
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program publishes wages for employees. It does not publish a price list for an independent dispatcher who is paid by a motor carrier. Those are different kinds of pay. Using an employee median as "what truck dispatchers make" on their own is a mismatch, which is why this page does not print a dollar figure it could not confirm on bls.gov.
Where BLS publishes the wage tables
The table index is bls.gov/oes/tables.htm. The occupation pages to open are:
- Cargo and Freight Agents, SOC 43-5011: bls.gov/oes/current/oes435011.htm
- Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance, SOC 43-5032: bls.gov/oes/current/oes435032.htm
TODO: copy the median annual wage and the release month (the tables page currently lists May 2024 and May 2025 editions) from those two official pages into this article. Do not use a secondary site. The figures change when BLS releases a new OEWS edition.
BLS wages are national estimates for the surveyed employees. They are not a quote for your city, and they are not a quote for a one-person dispatch service.
Create your free SellDispatch account if you want the carrier file and the call log in one place while you set your own fee in the contract.
What FMCSA says about who pays the dispatcher
FMCSA's June 16, 2023 guidance, Definitions of Broker and Bona Fide Agents, says a dispatch service that does not need broker authority receives compensation from the motor carrier based on the predetermined written agreement. It does not give a percent of the load or a flat fee.
Taking the freight payment from the broker or a factoring company is one of the factors FMCSA says indicates broker authority. The wording to put in the agreement is in the dispatcher-carrier contract template. How the authority question works is in how to become a truck dispatcher.
What this page does not claim
It does not claim a typical commission. It does not claim a salary for someone running a dispatch service from home. Load-board subscription prices are a business expense, not pay. Those prices, as the vendors publish them, are in best load boards for new dispatchers.
Related
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