Dispatcher-Carrier Agreement: What to Include
CarrierLeads Research Team
We build and operate CarrierLeads, the tool that ingests FMCSA authority records every week, verifies them against live federal sources, and runs cold email sequences for dispatchers, brokers and factors.
Reviewed and updated September 22, 2026
The dispatcher-carrier agreement is the shortest document in the packet and the one that decides whether you get paid when the relationship goes sideways.
This is not legal advice — have a transportation attorney review yours. It is a list of the clauses that experienced dispatchers do not operate without.
Clauses that matter
Every one of these exists because someone got burned without it.
- Fee structure — flat weekly, percentage of linehaul, or per-load, stated with an example
- What the percentage applies to — linehaul only, or linehaul plus accessorials and fuel surcharge
- Scope — booking, paperwork, and negotiation you perform, and what you explicitly do not do
- Authority limits — that you act as the carrier's agent and do not broker freight
- Term and termination — notice period, and whether loads already booked are still payable
- Non-circumvention — what happens if the carrier goes direct to a shipper you sourced
- Payment terms — when your fee is due and what happens when the carrier is paid late
- Independent contractor language — you are not an employee of the carrier
The clause people forget
Termination notice. Without it, a carrier can stop answering the phone on a Tuesday and you have no claim to fees on loads that are still in transit. Ten to thirty days' written notice, with fees payable on all loads booked before the notice date, is the standard.
Getting it signed
Send the agreement inside the same link as the rest of the packet and capture the signature in the browser with a timestamp. A signed PDF that lives in a text thread is not a filing system.
How we source this
Primary federal sources
Authority, insurance and safety facts come from FMCSA registration data, the Licensing & Insurance system, and the QCMobile API — not resold list files.
Refreshed weekly
Our ingest re-pulls new and re-filed authorities every week, then re-checks status before a record is ever shown or emailed.
Written from operating experience
Sequence structure, timing and copy guidance reflect the outreach we run inside the product from members' own mailboxes, under CAN-SPAM and TCPA constraints.
Verify any single carrier yourself with our free USDOT authority lookup, which queries the federal record live.
Frequently asked questions
- Is a dispatcher-carrier agreement legally required?
- No law requires one, but without it your fee, your scope, and your remedies are unwritten. Every established dispatch service uses one.
- What percentage do dispatchers charge?
- Commonly 5-10% of linehaul, with flat weekly fees also used. What matters more than the number is stating exactly what the percentage applies to.
- Can a dispatcher broker freight?
- No. Booking loads as the carrier's agent is dispatching; arranging transportation for a shipper as a middleman requires broker authority and a surety bond.
- Does an e-signature hold up on a dispatch agreement?
- Yes. Under the E-SIGN Act, an electronic signature with a timestamp and audit trail is enforceable for these agreements in the United States.