Dispatcher fee calculator: what dispatch really costs you
Enter a typical week and how your dispatcher charges. The dispatcher fee calculator returns the fee per week, per loaded mile and per year, and what you keep.
Defaults are an example week and an example fee, not market averages.
DISPATCH FEE A WEEK
$480
8.0% of gross · $23,040 a year
YOU KEEP A WEEK
$5,520
before fuel and other costs
- You keep$5,520
- Dispatch fee$480
- Rate per loaded mile, gross
- $2.40
- Rate per loaded mile, after fee
- $2.21
- Fee per loaded mile
- 19.2¢
HAULSTOP AT YOUR TIER
5% of gross for one truck: $300 a week on the same loads, $180 less than the fee above. No setup fee, month to month, and no fee on weeks you do not haul.
A fee is only half the comparison: what the dispatcher gets you in rate and miles matters as much. Compare the net, not just the fee.
You pay $480 a week now. Send these numbers with your application and a dispatcher will walk you through what changes with us. Dispatch runs 5% of gross for one truck, and you confirm every load.
By Nathan Beck · Updated October 2026
A dispatch fee looks small as a percentage and large on a yearly statement. This dispatcher fee calculator puts both side by side. Enter what you gross in a typical week and how your dispatcher charges, whether a percentage of gross, a flat weekly fee or a flat fee per load, and see the cost in dollars per week, cents per loaded mile and dollars per year.
How dispatchers charge
Percentage of gross. The most common model. The fee rises and falls with what you haul, so a slow week costs less and the dispatcher has a reason to push your rates up.
Flat per week. A set amount whatever you haul. Easy to budget, but it costs the same on a bad week as a good one.
Flat per load. A set amount each load. Short, cheap loads cost proportionally more.
Some dispatchers also charge a setup fee, a monthly minimum or a fee on weeks you sit. Those do not show up in the headline percentage, so add them in before you compare. Our own terms are on the dispatch fees and terms page: 5% of gross for one truck, 4% for 2+, 7% while your MC is under 6 months. No haul, no pay., no setup fee, month to month.
How it is calculated
- Fee per week: gross times the percentage, or the flat weekly fee, or the flat per-load fee times loads per week.
- You keep: gross minus the fee, before fuel and your other costs.
- Effective percentage: the fee divided by gross, so flat fees can be compared with percentage fees.
- Per loaded mile: gross, net and fee divided by loaded miles.
- Per year: the weekly fee times the weeks you run.
What a good result and a bad result look like
A good result is a fee you can see in cents per mile and that is clearly paid back by better rates, fewer empty miles or hours you get back. A bad result is a fee that looks small but sits on top of setup charges, minimums or fees on weeks you did not run.
The fee is only half the math. A dispatcher who costs a little more but finds better-paying loads can leave you with more money than a cheap one. The dispatch ROI calculator weighs the fee against the rate and hours a dispatcher can change. And remember what a week sitting costs: the idle cost calculator shows how fast an idling truck burns money, which no fee comparison captures.
What the fee should buy you
A fee should pay for loads that fit your truck, rates negotiated before the offer reaches you, the paperwork, and a week planned so each day ends near a legal place to park. Parking is harder in some states than others, as the truck parking capacity by state table shows, and good planning works around that. It should never buy away your say. With us, you confirm every load, the rate confirmation goes directly to you and you can say no.
If money is the reason you are comparing, our guide to trucker discounts covers other costs worth cutting first. If you want to see our fee on your own week, read how it works for owner operators or send your numbers with your application, and a dispatcher will walk you through them.
Questions about this calculator
How much do truck dispatchers charge?
Most charge a percentage of each load's gross, commonly in the mid single digits up to around ten percent, or a flat fee per week or per load. Some add setup fees or monthly minimums. The calculator turns any of these into dollars per week and cents per mile, so you can compare a percentage dispatcher with a flat-fee one on the same week.
Is a percentage or a flat dispatch fee better?
A percentage fee moves with your gross: you pay less on slow weeks and the dispatcher earns more when they get you better rates. A flat fee is predictable, but you pay it even on a bad week, and the dispatcher earns the same on a cheap load as a good one. Check what each costs on your normal week and on a slow one.
What should a dispatch fee be charged on?
On the gross of loads you actually haul, and nothing else. Watch for fees on loads that were cancelled, on fuel surcharges or detention you collected yourself, or on weeks you did not run. Ask in writing what the percentage applies to before you sign. Our fee is charged on gross of loads hauled, and if you do not haul, you do not pay.
Do I have to take every load my dispatcher finds?
You should not have to. With us, the carrier confirms every load, the rate confirmation goes directly to you, and you can say no to any load for any reason. A dispatcher who books loads without your yes, or keeps the rate con from you, is making decisions that belong to you as the carrier.
See our fee on your own week
No setup fee. Month to month. You confirm every load.