What is Central Dispatch, and how do brokers use it?

Central Dispatch is an online auto transport marketplace, part of Cox Automotive, where shippers, brokers and dealers post vehicles that need to be moved and carriers search for loads to haul. A broker posts the customer's car with the pickup and delivery locations, dates, trailer type and price, a carrier takes the job, and the broker sends an electronic dispatch.

The site started in 1999 as a way for shippers to contact carriers and became part of Cox Automotive in 2015, according to its About Us page. Its home page lists more than 20,000 carriers in the network over the last year and more than 10,000,000 vehicles posted each year.

How do auto transport brokers use Central Dispatch?

A broker sells the move to the customer, then needs a carrier to haul it. Central Dispatch is where you find that carrier. Your desk uses it to:

• post loads, then edit, cancel or re-list them
• check what similar loads were listed for and whether carriers took them, with Price Check
• look up a carrier's USDOT number, MC number and authority status before you dispatch
• send electronic dispatches and follow each one to delivery
• keep dispatch sheets, eBOLs and other documents in one place

Each salesperson or dispatcher can have their own login with access set by permission level, per the shippers page, so your team does not share one password.

How do carriers use Central Dispatch?

Carriers search the board for loads that fit their trucks. The features page lists filters for vehicle type, trailer type, number of vehicles and minimum payment, and the carriers page adds origin, destination and a route search that finds loads along a truck's current route.

Carriers also get a free Central Dispatch app. The carrier app page says drivers use it to apply for loads, inspect vehicles with photos, damage marks and signatures, and send eBOL data to the shipper.

How a load goes from posted to dispatched on Central Dispatch

1. Create the load. On the Create Load page you enter the delivery details once, then post the load to the board or assign it straight to a carrier. Carriers on your preferred list show at the top, and carriers you block stay hidden.
2. Carriers find it. Carriers searching that lane see the listing with its price, dates and trailer type, and the ones who want it apply.
3. Check the carrier. The carrier scorecard shows the carrier's company details and flags any missing or expired FMCSA details.
4. Dispatch. You send an electronic dispatch. Central Dispatch shows each dispatch as Not Signed, Dispatched, Picked Up, Delivered, Canceled or Declined, per the developer FAQ.
5. Pickup and delivery. When the carrier does the pickup inspection in the Central Dispatch app, Real-Time Tracking starts and you get an email link to follow the car (Real-Time Tracking page). After dispatch you can still edit, cancel or re-list the load and upload documents from the Assigned Loads page (dispatch experience page).

How much does Central Dispatch cost?

Prices checked October 28, 2026. The plans page lists Core for shippers starting at $139.95 a month and Premium starting at $214.95 a month, plus applicable tax. Enterprise is priced by sales, and carriers pay starting at $139.95 a month for their own Core plan.

The plans differ in pricing tools and API access. The full breakdown is in Central Dispatch pricing (2026).

Is Central Dispatch a CRM?

No. Central Dispatch handles the load once you post it. Everything before that happens somewhere else: the lead, the quote, the texts and calls, the follow-ups for days, the contract and the deposit. Without a CRM, that history sits in spreadsheets and personal phones, and someone copies the route, vehicle and price into Central Dispatch by hand after the customer signs.

The fewer of these steps that need retyping, the fewer wrong cities and wrong carrier pays reach the board. What a Central Dispatch integration should do in your CRM covers what to look for, and software connects through the Central Dispatch API.

The quote page and orders and dispatch pages show both screens, and the integrations page lists every connection.

Is Central Dispatch the only car shipping load board?

No. Super Dispatch runs the Super Loadboard as part of its Shipper TMS, which also covers eBOL, tracking and carrier payments (Shipper TMS page). A broker can post on either one or on both. Central Dispatch vs Super Dispatch compares their prices and features side by side.

What to do next

Take one load your desk booked this week and list every place its route, vehicle and price were typed: the quote, the contract, Central Dispatch, the dispatch sheet. Every repeat on that list is a place for a typo, and a step a CRM integration can remove.

To see a quote become a Posted CD load in one screen, book a live demo.