I'm proactive dispatching because I'm dispatching myself too, but thanks all the same.
I actually think a smart driver should experience dispatching, and vice versa with a dispatcher, so that both sides understand the plight of the other. It's easy to undervalue the work of, or underestimate the difficulties faced by the other side if you've never experienced it yourself. 2 Weeks on the road should be mandatory for every dispatcher, while 2 weeks droning over bid boards dealing with operators and brokers should be mandatory for every driver. It would eliminate YEARS of frustration with each other.
That said, there is so much dishonesty in this business between carriers and drivers that something like this will never be the norm. If a driver were given the opportunity to be a dispatcher for 2 weeks, they'd see just how much different rates are than what they are often led to believe. I could never be a company dispatcher. The first time I was asked to lie for them, I'd walk out.
Again, added an edit above that you may or may not have seen after the fact. Wasn't in your quote.
Another thing that makes it more likely for a smaller, independent company to get a good price on a load is that many of the larger companies like panther have policies in place that tie their own hands in some cases. For instance, many times, larger carriers like panther will have a policy of never giving their own drivers a rate higher than their contract rate. So, even if there ARE 100 vans in the area, if all of the panther trucks have declined the load at the contract rate, instead of offering it to their own trucks at a higher rate, they'll put it on a bid board and pay someone else more than they would have to their own trucks, who probably would have taken it if given the option of a higher rate. But they do this to avoid setting a precedent for "negotiable" load prices within their own fleet. If you give your driver extra money on a load once, there is a fair likelyhood of them trying to get that arrangement more often, and before you know it, all the drivers are doing it.