Power-only freight is the dispatch model where the carrier supplies only the tractor and qualified driver — the shipper supplies the preloaded trailer. The driver arrives at origin, hooks to the trailer that's already loaded, drives to destination, drops the trailer at the receiver, and repeats with the next assignment. The economics: rates run roughly 10 to 20 percent lower per mile than full TL because the carrier doesn't carry trailer capital cost; the shipper benefits from drop-and-hook efficiency (no dock-loading wait time for the driver); and trailer pools at high-volume DCs create dispatch flexibility that standard TL cannot match.
Power-only has been one of the fastest-growing freight segments since 2020, driven by Amazon Relay and Walmart Drop Trailer programs plus the broader retail and CPG distribution shift to shipper-owned trailer pools. In the Pacific Northwest, power-only volume concentrates on: the Kent Valley DC corridor (Amazon BFI4 Kent, Amazon Sumner / DuPont, REI Sumner, Costco Sumner Depot 171, Sysco Tukwila), the Tri-Cities frozen-fry / dairy cluster (Lamb Weston, Reser's, Twin City Foods, Darigold Pasco), and NWSA terminal drayage hand-offs.
Evergreen Shippers (FMCSA MC#896325) dispatches power-only across the PNW (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana) and connects outward to California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Texas, and Canada. Spokane HQ on I-90, I-82, I-84, US-395, and US-95 corridors gives us the inland origin advantage for trailer-pool dispatch. We work with carriers in our network who are Amazon-approved, Walmart-approved, or both and dispatch their tractors against the shipper trailer pool. The constraint: the carrier must be onboarded with the specific shipper program before dispatching their loads.
The shipper maintains a fleet of trailers — either owned outright or leased from a trailer leasing company — staged at high-volume origin DCs. Trailers are loaded by the shipper's warehouse staff on the shipper's own schedule, decoupled from carrier dispatch timing. Common pool types: 53-foot dry van (the standard), 53-foot reefer (food, pharma, beverage), 48 or 53-foot flatbed (lumber, construction materials), step-deck (taller cargo).
The carrier dispatches a Class 8 tractor and qualified driver against the shipper's available trailer pool. The driver arrives at the origin DC, locates the assigned trailer in the pool, hooks up, conducts pre-trip inspection on the trailer, and departs. No dock loading time; no driver waiting on the warehouse. The carrier owns the tractor capital cost, fuel, maintenance, driver compensation, and the time the tractor is in motion.
Standard over-the-road run to the destination receiver. Time-and-distance discipline is identical to standard TL — same HOS rules, same weather and pass operations, same DOT compliance. The difference is on the trailer side: the trailer the driver is pulling carries the shipper's branding, the shipper's maintenance program, and ultimately the shipper's capital.
Driver arrives at destination, drops the trailer in the receiver's yard (or in a designated drop lot), and the receiver unloads on their own schedule. The tractor disconnects and either runs empty to the next pickup, hooks to an empty trailer for repositioning, or assignments to another loaded shipper trailer for the next dispatch. Trailer pool economics work when the pool is large enough that loaded trailer availability is high and tractor utilization stays high.
The largest power-only program in the US. Amazon Relay carriers dispatch tractors against Amazon's trailer pool at Kent Valley DCs (BFI4 Kent, Amazon Sumner, Amazon DuPont), Hillsboro DCs, and the broader fulfillment network. Onboarding requirements: Amazon-approved carrier authority, electronic logging, and integration with Amazon's dispatch system. We dispatch with carrier partners who are Amazon-approved.
Walmart Distribution Centers across the West Coast run shipper-trailer drop programs that carriers dispatch against. Onboarding requirements: Walmart-approved carrier authority, integration with Retail Link / Walmart's dispatch system. Like Amazon, Walmart-approved carriers run dedicated lanes against Walmart's trailer pool. We dispatch with carrier partners who are Walmart-approved.
The Kent Valley submarket carries approximately 100+ million square feet of warehouse and distribution space. Beyond Amazon, the major shipper trailer-pool programs run for REI HQ Sumner, the Costco Sumner Depot 171, Sysco Seattle Tukwila, Nordstrom, FedEx Ground hub, and hundreds of national retail and CPG distributors. Same-day Spokane-to-Kent Valley solo or fast team service.
Lamb Weston Richland (~600M lbs frozen fries/year), Reser's Pasco (500,000+ lbs of potatoes/day), Twin City Foods, McCain Foods Othello, and Darigold Pasco (the new $1B flagship butter / powder plant, 8M lbs milk/day) all run high-volume reefer trailer pools. Sept-Dec potato harvest is the peak season. We dispatch Spokane-anchored reefer power-only on this corridor as a core category.
NWSA marine terminal drayage (Husky, Washington United, Pierce County, East Sitcum, Terminal 7) is structurally power-only in many cases: the ocean carrier supplies the container, the drayage carrier provides the tractor and chassis hand-off to inland line-haul. We coordinate gate pull through partner Tacoma drayage operators and own the inland line-haul east.
Beverage distributors, regional grocery DCs, and CPG manufacturers across the PNW run trailer pool dispatch as the operational standard. Common examples: Tree Top Selah, Albertsons / WinCo distribution, regional dairy outbound (Edaleen Lynden, Tillamook), and the broader food and beverage manufacturer base. Dry van plus reefer pool dispatch.
Power-only programs require specific carrier onboarding. Many willing carriers aren't Amazon-approved or Walmart-approved. We maintain a network of approved carriers and route shipments to the right partners rather than spot-rating through carriers who can't actually take the load.
Shipper trailer pools concentrate at major DCs. Origin or destination drops outside the pool footprint may require empty repositioning. We map the lane against pool availability rather than committing to dispatch and reposition empties as a surprise.
The driver inherits whatever condition the trailer is in — pre-trip inspection becomes critical. Lights, brakes, tires, refrigeration unit (for reefer pool) all need verification before dispatch. We work with carriers who run rigorous pre-trip discipline and decline trailers that won't pass DOT.
Power-only economics work when tractor utilization stays high. Long deadhead between drop and next pickup erodes carrier margin. We sequence dispatch to minimize empty miles and pair power-only with backhaul opportunities through the Spokane / I-90 corridor network.
Shippers often need a mix: power-only for high-volume lanes, full TL for irregular or specialty loads, and hot shot for expedite. We coordinate the equipment match per shipment rather than forcing power-only into every dispatch decision.
Power-only tractors running western mountain passes (Snoqualmie, Lookout, Stevens, Donner, Vail) carry the same chain law requirements as standard TL. We dispatch chain-equipped carriers and monitor pass conditions hourly during winter windows.
Call (509) 321-4380 — shipper program, origin DC, destination, trailer type, volume cadence. We dispatch power-only against your pool.