Dallas-Fort Worth Truck Dispatch

Dallas-Fort Worth is the biggest inland warehouse market in Texas. Two railroads run large intermodal yards here, the airport sits in the middle of the metro, and I-35, I-20, I-30 and I-45 all meet in the area. For an owner-operator, that means two things. Loads into the Metroplex are easy to find, and the reload is usually close by.

The catch is size. The metro stretches about 70 miles from the Alliance area north of Fort Worth to the warehouses south of Dallas. A dispatcher who knows which side of town the next pickup is on saves you hours of city driving.

Where the freight is in the Metroplex

The intermodal yards

Rail is a big reason so much freight lands here. BNSF says its Alliance intermodal facility averages about 2,700 lifts a day, with a daily record of 3,900. Each lift is a container or trailer moved between a train and a truck. Union Pacific runs its own intermodal terminal south of Dallas near Wilmer.

The rail yards themselves are mostly local drayage work. What matters to an over-the-road truck is what happens next: containers get unloaded at nearby warehouses, and the freight leaves again in dry vans headed all over the South and Midwest.

Toll roads and city driving

• Toll roads are everywhere. The North Texas Tollway Authority runs the President George Bush Turnpike, the Sam Rayburn Tollway, the Dallas North Tollway and others. They're cashless. Without a toll tag, the NTTA mails a bill to the plate owner. Ask the broker whether tolls are covered before you route through them.
• Rush hour runs long. I-635, I-35E through downtown Dallas and I-30 between the cities back up morning and evening. A 30-mile move can take two hours.
• Plan across town carefully. A delivery in Alliance and a pickup in Wilmer can be more than an hour apart without traffic. Your dispatcher looks for the reload on your side of the metro first.

Outbound lanes from Dallas-Fort Worth

Most owner-operators who live in the area run regional loops: out to Houston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City or Shreveport, and back. Longer runs pay well going out, but plan the reload first, since freight back toward Dallas from the West Coast is thinner.

Parking and staging

Truck parking fills up fast in the Metroplex, especially along I-20 in South Dallas and I-35W near Alliance. Many distribution centers won't let you park on site before your appointment. If you arrive early, find a truck stop or a staging lot first, and plan your 10-hour break before the evening rush. Your dispatcher can time the next pickup so you aren't stuck circling the metro.

Equipment that fits

• Dry van: the bulk of Metroplex freight, from retail and e-commerce warehouses and the intermodal yards.
• Power only: drop trailer programs at large distribution centers in Alliance and South Dallas.
• Reefer: grocery and food distribution, and inbound produce from the Rio Grande Valley.
• Flatbed: building materials for a fast-growing metro, plus steel and cement from Midlothian.
• Box truck: local deliveries and expedited freight across the metro.

Seasons in North Texas

• Summer: Heat over 100 degrees is common. Reefers work harder, and docks can be slow in the afternoon.
• Spring: Hail and severe storms, sometimes with tornado warnings.
• Winter: Snow is rare, but an ice storm can shut down area highways for a day or more.
• Fall: The holiday retail build keeps distribution centers busy from late summer on.

A Fort Worth van loop home by Friday

Here's a regional loop a dispatcher might plan for a dry van based in Fort Worth, home on the weekend.

An example of how a week can be planned, not a promise of loads, rates or miles. Distances are rounded.

Metroplex checklist: distance across town and tolls

• Check which side of the metro the pickup and delivery are on, and how far apart.
• Confirm toll coverage if the route uses the tollways.
• Avoid booking a tight appointment across town at rush hour.
• At large distribution centers, ask whether the load is live or a drop trailer.
• Put detention on the rate con before you go. Busy Metroplex docks can hold you, and the detention calculator helps you bill it.

Booking Metroplex freight with us

The Metroplex is big enough that a load across town can eat half a day. Your dispatcher looks for the reload on your side of the metro first, from Alliance in the north to the South Dallas warehouses.

The rest of the state, from the border to the Panhandle, is on our Texas truck dispatch page. The two other big Texas markets have their own pages: Houston and Laredo. To price a lane before you take it, try the load profit calculator.