Van freight is a density game. Our desk dispatches van fleets of four trucks and up — planning reloads so a truck empties where the next load is, chasing the drop-trailer programs that keep drivers off docks, and billing detention the day it happens instead of arguing about it a month later.
Quick answer: Dry van dispatch is load sourcing, rate negotiation and back-office work for a trucking company running enclosed 53ft trailers. Badass Logistics dispatches van fleets of four or more power units — never owner-operators. You keep your own authority and approve every load; our desk plans lanes, books the freight, and runs the paperwork.
Dry van is the deepest freight pool in the country and the most competitive, which means the money is almost never in the individual rate — it is in how few empty miles a truck runs between loads. Palletized consumer goods, packaged food and beverage, paper and packaging, and retail DC replenishment make up most of what a van fleet on our desk sees.
The freight is appointment-driven end to end. A van load is booked against a delivery window, not a delivery day, and a truck that misses a window at a grocery or retail DC can lose most of a day waiting for the next open door. Planning around those windows is most of what a van dispatcher does.
Palletized consumer goods into regional distribution centres on tight appointment windows.
Ambient, non-temp-controlled grocery freight — steady, high-frequency, appointment-heavy.
Rolls, cartons and corrugate out of mills and converters, usually floor-loaded or clamp-loaded.
Manufactured goods, parts and MRO moving between plants and warehouses.
A van truck that delivers into a market with no outbound freight has just donated a day. We plan the next load before the current one delivers, and we would rather take a fair rate out of a strong market than a good rate into a dead one.
Live-load and live-unload van freight burns driver hours at both ends. Drop-trailer programs at shippers and DCs are worth real money to a fleet, and getting into them takes a desk that asks for them and keeps the carrier packet current. We chase them.
Van freight generates more detention and more lumper fees than any other equipment type, and both get written off constantly because nobody recorded the in and out times. Our desk timestamps arrival and release on every load and files with the paperwork, not from memory.
We book against the driver's available hours and the receiver's window together. A load that pays well but cannot legally be delivered on time is not a load we put on your truck.
Every load is negotiated against the lane and the work the freight actually takes. These are the factors the desk argues from — no rate sheet, and no number quoted before we know your fleet:
You keep your operating authority, your insurance and your drivers. You approve every load before it is booked — no forced dispatch. Hiring, maintenance, and your safety and compliance program stay in-house; the desk plugs into your company rather than replacing it.
Badass Logistics is an industrial rigging company first, which is where the freight advantage comes from: our own projects generate loads that need covering, and project freight between sites moves through our licensed broker and carrier partners. Badass holds no operating authority and owns no trucks — your fleet hauls the freight, our desk finds and papers it.
See the full fleet dispatch service, browse dispatch by equipment type, or see how the desk works for 4–10 trucks, 10–25 trucks, 25+ trucks, after-hours coverage.
Temperature-controlled fleets — set points on the rate con, download-backed claims defence, and seasonal lane planning.
Reefer Dispatch →Tractor-only fleets pulling shipper and 3PL trailer pools — interchange terms and trailer condition handled up front.
Power Only Dispatch →Partial truckload fleets — linear feet, co-loading two or three partials into one truck, and reclass exposure.
LTL & Partial Dispatch →Yes — dry van dispatch for trucking companies running four or more power units under their own authority. We do not dispatch single-truck owner-operators. Apply for fleet dispatch →
Four power units and up. Van freight rewards planning reloads across several trucks at once, which is exactly what stops working on one or two trucks.
Yes. Arrival and release times are recorded on every load as they happen, and detention, layover and TONU are billed with the paperwork rather than reconstructed later. Lumper receipts are submitted with the invoice packet.
We chase them where they exist, because they are worth more to a van fleet than a few cents a mile. It depends on the shipper, your trailer count and your setup paperwork being current — which the desk keeps on file for you.
Always. You keep your authority, your insurance and your drivers, and you approve every load before it is booked. No forced dispatch.
Tell us your fleet, your equipment and the lanes you want to run. We'll set up an onboarding call and get your trucks covered.