The Question Isn't "What's the Fee?" — It's "What's Left After It?"
A lot of owner-operators compare dispatch services by percentage alone: 5% sounds better than 10%. That's the wrong comparison. A 4% service averaging $2.80/mile costs you more in the end than a 6% service averaging $3.40/mile — because the fee is a percentage of gross, but what you actually keep is net revenue per mile, after the fee, after deadhead.
The math to actually run
Before comparing dispatch services — or deciding whether to self-dispatch at all — put these numbers side by side for each option:
- Average gross per loaded mile (not just per trip — per mile, so you can compare fairly across different trip lengths).
- Deadhead percentage — the miles you drive without a load. This is where a lot of the real difference between "cheap" and "expensive" dispatch actually lives.
- The fee itself, as a percentage of gross.
- What's left per mile after the fee and after accounting for deadhead.
A lower fee on a worse rate, with more deadhead, can leave you with less money than a higher fee on a better rate with less deadhead. The fee alone tells you nothing.
Where self-dispatch fits in
Self-dispatch saves you the fee entirely — if you have the time to search loads, negotiate rates, and handle paperwork and disputes yourself, and you're disciplined about it. For a lot of owner-operators, especially anyone also driving full days, that time has a real cost too — it's just not written on an invoice.
What we charge, so you can put it in your own math
- Company owners with their own authority: 5% of gross, flat.
- Owner-operators without their own authority: 12% total (5% dispatch + 7% to the partner carrier providing the authority).
- Every load's gross, miles, and RPM are visible in your own dashboard in real time — so you're never doing this math on numbers you have to take on faith.
We focus exclusively on Amazon Relay, which is what lets us keep deadhead down through lane knowledge rather than just taking whatever load is available. See our page on Amazon Relay dispatch for what that specialization means in practice.
Common questions
- Isn't the lowest percentage always the best deal?
- No — see the math above. A lower fee on worse rates or more deadhead can cost you more, not less.
- How do I know your rates are actually better, not just your fee lower?
- You see every load's gross and RPM yourself, in real time. You don't have to take a claim about "better rates" on faith.
- What if I run the numbers and it's not for me?
- You're free to leave anytime — no lock-in. Run the math for a week or two on real loads before deciding either way.
Talk to us
Phone: +1 (323) 916-4678 · Email: [email protected] · Telegram: @kostkifflogistics · WhatsApp: +380 63 990 4828