This glossary defines 40 terms every transport operator runs into when dealing with dispatch, answering services, and back-office outsourcing — from operational words like deadhead and will-call to BPO and call-center terms like talk time, wrap time, and escalation. Plain definitions, no jargon, grouped so you can find what you need fast.
When you start outsourcing dispatch or answering, two vocabularies collide: the transport one you already know and the call-center one your provider uses. This glossary covers the terms that matter on both sides, in plain language, so a quote or a service agreement stops reading like a foreign document.
Dispatch and operations terms
The operational vocabulary of running a fleet and a desk.
- Dispatch: assigning and routing drivers to jobs in real time, and managing the changes that follow.
- Deadhead: miles or time a vehicle runs empty, with no paying load or passenger.
- Will-call: a return trip with no fixed time, where the rider calls when ready to be picked up (common in NEMT).
- Manifest: the list of trips or stops assigned to a driver or vehicle for a shift.
- ETA: estimated time of arrival, the number customers and brokers grade you on.
- Exception: anything that breaks the plan — a cancellation, no-show, delay, or reassignment.
- No-show: a booked rider or pickup that isn't there when the driver arrives.
- Acceptance window: the short time you have to accept a digital job (motor clubs, brokers) before it's reassigned.
- Acceptance rating: your score on how reliably and quickly you accept assigned jobs; it drives how much volume you're offered.
- Routing: sequencing jobs to minimize empty miles and keep drivers productive.
- Dispatch software: the cloud platform where bookings, assignments, and trip records live.
- ELD: electronic logging device, which records a commercial driver's hours of service automatically.
- HOS: hours of service, the federal limits on how long a commercial driver can drive and work.
Answering and call-center terms
The vocabulary providers use to describe and bill the phone work.
- Answering service: a desk that answers your calls live in your name and takes messages or bookings.
- Virtual receptionist: a remote person who answers as your front desk — greeting, routing, and booking.
- Talk time: the billable minutes spent actually on a call; the basis of per-minute pricing.
- Wrap time: the time after a call ends spent finishing notes or booking; some providers bill it, some don't.
- Per-minute billing: paying for billable talk time, usually with a monthly minimum.
- Per-call billing: a flat rate per answered call, regardless of length.
- Flat-rate / bundled plan: a fixed monthly fee for a set volume or dedicated hours.
- Minimum: the floor you pay each month even if usage falls below it.
- Escalation: passing a call that's out of scope (a VIP, an emergency) to your on-call person by a set path.
- Script: the agreed greeting, questions, and rules an agent follows on your calls.
- Overflow: calls that spill past your own team's capacity, routed to a desk so none are missed.
- After-hours: coverage for the evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays your office is closed.
- IVR: the automated phone menu (press 1 for...) that routes callers before a person picks up.
- Hold time: minutes a caller waits on hold; worth checking whether a provider bills it.
- First-call resolution: handling the caller's need in one call without a callback.
- Dedicated agent: an agent trained on and assigned to your account, rather than a shared pool.
- Shared pool: agents who handle many clients' calls, cheaper but less specialized.
Real-time driver coordination and routing around the clock — overnight, weekends, holidays, and peak surges covered.
BPO and back-office terms
The outsourcing and admin vocabulary behind the service.
- BPO: business process outsourcing — handing a business function (like dispatch or billing) to an outside team.
- Back office: the non-phone admin work — billing, paperwork, records, claims — that keeps the operation running.
- White label: a desk that works entirely under your brand, so customers never know it's outsourced.
- Onboarding: the setup period where the desk learns your zones, rules, software, and brand voice.
- SLA: service-level agreement, the promised standards (like answer speed) your provider commits to.
- Answer speed / speed to answer: how fast calls are picked up, often measured in rings or seconds.
- Abandonment rate: the share of callers who hang up before an agent answers.
- Coverage window: the specific hours and days your desk is staffed for you.
- Billing / invoicing: producing and chasing the invoices for completed trips, a common back-office handoff.
- Claims: the documentation and follow-up needed to get paid by brokers, insurers, or motor clubs.
Using the glossary
Keep this handy the next time you read a quote or service agreement. The fastest way to get burned on an outsourcing deal is to nod along to a term you didn't actually understand — especially the billing ones like talk time, wrap time, and minimums, where the definition decides the price.