Collisions between messages simultaneously transmitted by multiple spread-spectrum transmitters are reduced by distributing the transmissions over the available resources of the receiver. Each mobile station in a CDMA system uses one or more randomization methods to distribute its transmissions. In the first randomization, the mobile station time-delays its transmissions by a number of chips of the PN code with which it spreads the transmitted signal. In a second randomization, the mobile station randomly selects the PN code. In a third randomization, the mobile station inserts a random delay between successive message transmissions or probes if it does not receive an acknowledgement after a predetermined timeout period. A predetermined number of such transmissions is called a probe sequence. In a fourth randomization, the mobile station inserts a relatively long random delay between successive probe sequences if it does not receive an acknowledgement of any probe in the sequence.