← All field notesJuly 8, 2026

How to read a rate con — and spot a skim

The rate confirmation is the one document that tells the truth about a load. Here’s how to read it and catch a dispatcher taking a cut off the top.

Fortuna Dispatch Desk, reviewed by David White

The rate confirmation, or “rate con,” is the broker’s written offer for a load: the lane, the miles, the pickup and delivery windows, and the total the broker pays. It is the only number that matters. It is also the number some dispatchers hide. Learn to read it and you close the door on the single most common way an owner-operator gets quietly shorted.

Read it in this order. First, lane and miles: does the mileage match the actual route, or is it padded? Second, total pay: divide it by loaded miles to get your true rate per mile. Third, the fine print: detention, layover, TONU and lumper terms. A good load pays those. A bad one buries them.

What a rate con actually contains

Every legitimate rate con carries the same core fields, and each one is a number you can check. Before you accept a load, put your eye on all of them:

Broker and load number. The broker’s MC, the reference number, and a contact. If you ever have to chase a payment, this is where it starts.
Origin, destination and stops. This is the physical lane. Cross-check it against a real mileage tool. A route quoted at 1,150 miles that actually runs 980 changes your rate per mile more than most drivers realize.
Pickup and delivery windows. Appointment times, and whether delivery is a hard appointment or first-come, first-served. This dictates whether you can legally make it on your hours.
Linehaul rate. The base pay for moving the freight. Sometimes a fuel surcharge is broken out separately. Add them together to get the real total.
Accessorials. Detention, layover, TONU and lumper terms, spelled out in dollars and conditions.
Total pay. The number the broker commits to in writing. This is the figure a skimming dispatcher wants you never to see.

Run the numbers: a worked example

Say a broker sends a rate con with a $3,000 linehaul on a run with 1,000 loaded miles and 120 miles of deadhead to reach the pickup. Two quick divisions tell you almost everything:

Loaded rate per mile: $3,000 ÷ 1,000 = $3.00/mi
All-in rate per mile (including deadhead): $3,000 ÷ 1,120 = $2.68/mi

Now compare the honest document against what a skim looks like. Same load, same broker, two very different stories:

Line item	Broker’s real rate con	What the dispatcher told you
Linehaul	$3,000	$2,600
Loaded miles	1,000	1,000
Your rate per mile	$3.00	$2.60
Detention terms	$50/hr after 2 hrs	not mentioned
Gap in your pocket	None	$400 skimmed

That $400 sits on top of the dispatcher’s agreed percentage. On a single load it’s a bad week; run it fifty times a year and it’s a truck payment gone. The math only works in the skimmer’s favor because you never saw the top line.

The skim: how to catch it

The fix is simple: ask to see the broker’s rate con, unedited, every time. If they won’t show it, that’s your answer — though it isn’t the only option; federal law gives you the right to go straight to the broker and ask.

Catching it isn’t complicated, but it has to be a habit. Every load, before the wheels turn:

Ask for the original rate con as the broker issued it. It should be a PDF. A screenshot or a retyped “summary” is where edits hide.
Check the broker’s name and MC on the document, then confirm the total pay matches what you were told, to the dollar.
Recompute the miles in your own mileage tool. Padded miles inflate a rate per mile that looks fine but isn’t.
Read the accessorial lines: detention, layover, TONU, lumper. Know what you’re owed before a shipper holds you up.
Keep the PDF. When you invoice, or if a payment goes sideways, the rate con is your proof. A text message won’t cut it.

Accessorials: the money hidden in the fine print

The linehaul is the headline, but the fine print is where a load quietly turns profitable or painful. These terms are industry-standard, but the dollar figures below are illustrative only. They vary by broker and lane, so read your own rate con every time rather than assuming:

Reading the fine print is the difference between a rate you agreed to and a rate you found out about later.

Detention. Pay for time a shipper or receiver holds you past the free window, commonly two hours. Rates often land around $25–$75 per hour. No detention line means you eat that time for free.
Layover. Pay for being held overnight, frequently $150–$300 per day. On a load that strands you, this can matter more than the linehaul.
TONU. Short for “Truck Ordered Not Used,” paid when you show up and the load falls through, often a flat $150–$250. It doesn’t make you whole, but a rate con that omits it leaves you with nothing.
Lumper. The fee for third-party loading or unloading. It should be reimbursed against a receipt. Confirm the rate con says so before you pay one out of pocket.

Red flags: when to walk away from a rate con

Most rate cons are clean documents. When one isn’t, it usually shows up in one of these ways:

One red flag on a load might be an oversight. Two on the same load is a pattern. A pattern is worth a phone call before you roll, not an explanation after you’re already there.

At Fortuna Trucks you see the real rate con on every load. What the broker paid is what you see: the full document, unedited, with the accessorial terms intact. No markup, no skim. If a dispatcher ever hesitates to put that document in front of you, you already know everything you need to.

No total pay line, or it’s handwritten in. A broker’s own system prints the number. It doesn’t get added after the fact.
The document is a screenshot or a retyped “summary,” not the broker’s original PDF. That’s exactly where a number gets changed on the way to you.
The broker name or MC on the paper doesn’t match what you were told on the phone.
Detention, TONU or lumper terms are missing entirely. Not just thin, gone. A rate con that never mentions them isn’t protecting you if any of those things happen.
You’re asked to accept the load before you see the rate con, with the paperwork promised “after pickup.” By then you’ve already committed your hours and your truck.
The mileage doesn’t match your own mileage tool, especially when it’s padded higher than the real route. Inflated miles make a rate per mile look better than it is.
Payment terms are vague, no quick-pay option stated, nothing but “we’ll pay you.”

Common questions

How do I calculate my real rate per mile from a rate con?

Divide the total pay by loaded miles for your loaded rate, then divide by loaded miles plus deadhead for your all-in rate. A $3,000 linehaul on 1,000 loaded miles with 120 deadhead miles works out to $3.00 loaded and $2.68 all-in. Both numbers matter, since deadhead still burns fuel and time even though it isn't paid the same.

What are the warning signs of a skimmed rate con?

A screenshot or retyped "summary" instead of the broker's original PDF, a broker name or MC that doesn't match what you were told on the phone, missing detention or TONU terms, and being asked to accept the load before you see the paperwork at all. One red flag might be an oversight. Two on the same load is a pattern.

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July 5, 2026

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