A fleet dispatcher who keeps your drivers home when you promised
Small fleets lose drivers over two things: missed home time and bad nights on the road. Our fleet dispatcher service plans every truck around both, at 4% of gross per truck once your MC is 6 months old. You or your drivers confirm every load, and the rate cons come to you.
A fleet on an MC younger than 6 months pays 7% until then; the fleet rate starts on its own.
Four trucks, four drivers, every night planned
Here is a hypothetical four-truck fleet, so you can see how we think about a week. The drivers, rigs and nights are made up for the EXAMPLE; the planning is how we actually work.
Every driver's home nights went on the board first. Then loads were matched to each truck so the days ended at a truck stop the driver knows, a reserved spot when the area is tight, or a customer lot where trucks are allowed to stay. Nobody was left hunting for parking at 22:00 because a reload ran long.
HYPOTHETICAL FLEET WEEK · EXAMPLE
Pick a driver to see how the week was planned.
| Driver | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry van, OTR | Truck stop | Truck stop | Reserved spot | Truck stop | Truck stop | Truck stop | Customer lot |
| Reefer, regional | Truck stop | Customer lot | Truck stop | Truck stop | Home | Home | Home |
| 26 ft box truck, local | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home |
| Flatbed, regional | Truck stop | Truck stop | Home | Reserved spot | Truck stop | Truck stop | Home |
Driver A: Dry van, OTR
On file: Out two weeks, home four days; likes one chain for showers.
0 home nights this week, 7 nights out. The fleet as a whole: 12 home nights across 4 drivers, every one planned on Monday.
Home time is the anchor
Driver B wants every weekend at home, so Friday's delivery has to land within reach of home. That one fact rules out a lot of tempting Thursday loads.
Parking is planned, not hoped for
Where the area around a receiver is known to fill early, the plan uses a reserved spot that night. The cost goes on the weekly report so you can decide if it was worth it.
One call, all four answers
When a load changes, the driver and the owner both hear it from us before anything is agreed. Nobody learns about a change from the broker first.
Different trucks, different weeks
The 26 ft box truck runs local and is home every night; the dry van is out for two weeks at a time. One board, four very different weeks.
Paying for reserved spots? Budget it with our truck parking cost calculator, and keep it on the weekly report so you can see what the safe nights cost. Truck parking cost calculator.
From one truck to two: what changes
Going from one truck to two changes more than the paperwork. Here is what shifts, and how the dispatch side keeps up.
- You stop being the only driver
- Your own preferences were easy to remember. Now there is someone else's family, someone else's home schedule and someone else's idea of a bad night. They need to be written down and respected, even when you are on the road yourself.
- Two trucks can work together
- One truck's drop can set up the other truck's pickup. Planned together, they run fewer empty miles than two trucks planned one at a time.
- The fee drops
- With two or more trucks on an MC that is 6 months or older, every truck pays 4% instead of 5%. It starts on its own once the second truck is running.
EXAMPLE
EXAMPLE of a typical Thursday on a fleet board:
Driver B's reefer load picks up late in Georgia, and the original plan would have put her at the receiver an hour after her 14 runs out. Her weekend at home depends on Friday going right.
We call the broker, move the delivery to an early Friday appointment, and find her a truck stop she has used before 40 miles out. Driver D, running flatbed nearby, takes a short load that would have gone to Driver B. Both drivers confirm the changes before anything is final, and Driver B is home Friday night.
None of that shows up in a rate per mile. All of it shows up in whether she is still driving for you next year.
Questions worth asking any fleet dispatcher before you hand over the board:
- Who confirms loads: me, each driver, or the dispatcher?
- Where do the rate confirmations go?
- How do you track each driver's home schedule?
- Do you plan the trucks together, or each one on its own?
- What is in the weekly report, and is it per truck?
- What does it cost when a truck sits for a week?
Small fleet dispatch service, day to day
How we run a small fleet day to day:
A profile for every driver
Home base, home schedule, the stops they like, the areas they avoid, and the freight they will not haul. It sits next to each truck on our board and we plan from it, not from memory.
One owner, many drivers
Decide who says yes. Some owners want to approve every load; others let each driver confirm their own. Either way, nothing is booked without a yes from the person you choose, and the rate con goes where you tell us.
Reloads across the fleet
When one truck delivers near another truck's next pickup, we see it. Planning the fleet together cuts empty miles that no single driver could avoid on their own.
Broker setup once
Carrier packets are per MC, not per truck. Once a broker approves your company, every truck can run their freight.
Detention and layover for every truck
Claims are filed for each truck that gets held, with the times from the check calls, and followed up until they are paid or settled.
One weekly report
Every truck's loads, gross, miles, deadhead and our fee, side by side, so you can see which trucks and lanes are carrying the business.
How dispatch keeps drivers
Drivers rarely quit over a single bad load. They quit over a pattern: missed weekends, nights on ramps, a dispatcher who does not listen. A fleet dispatcher's real job is to break that pattern before it starts.
- Home dates are promises, and we treat them that way. If a load threatens one, the driver and you hear about it first.
- Good parking is part of a good load. A higher rate that ends at a full lot is often a worse load.
- Long weeks wear on people. We keep an eye on how many days each driver has been out, and we plan the reset before it is overdue.
Long weeks are hard on people. We wrote a practical guide to driver mental health on the road.
Outsourced truck dispatch or an in-house dispatcher?
Hiring your own dispatcher is a real option once a fleet grows. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay for dispatchers at $50,340 a year, before payroll taxes, benefits, software and load board subscriptions, and before you cover nights, weekends and vacations.
With outsourced truck dispatch, you pay 4% of gross per truck on loads hauled and nothing for idle trucks. For a few trucks, that is usually less than a full-time salary; for a larger fleet, an in-house dispatcher can make sense. Run your own numbers with your fleet's actual gross before deciding either way.
POSTED: BLS, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, 43-5032 Dispatchers (except police, fire, ambulance) · checked Oct 2026
YOUR TIER
Fleet (2+ trucks, MC 6+ months)
4%of gross
- Weekly gross (3 trucks)
- $18,000
- Dispatch fee
- $720
- You keep (before costs)
- $17,280
Month-by-month table
| MC month | Fee |
|---|---|
| 12 | 4% |
| 13 | 4% |
| 14 | 4% |
| 15 | 4% |
| 16 | 4% |
| 17 | 4% |
| 18 | 4% |
| 19 | 4% |
| 20 | 4% |
| 21 | 4% |
| 22 | 4% |
| 23 | 4% |
Same tiers for every equipment type. No setup fee, no minimums, month-to-month, cancel with 30 days notice. EXAMPLE math, not a promise of revenue.
The full terms are on our fees and terms page. Cash flow across several trucks is its own job. If broker payment terms are squeezing you, read about factoring for small fleets. We refer carriers to our factoring partner and may be paid for referrals. Factoring for small fleets.
Questions fleet owners ask
Do you plan home time for each driver?
Yes. Each driver has their own profile with home base and home schedule, and their home nights go on our board before we look for freight. If a load would cost a driver a promised night at home, you and the driver hear about it before anyone says yes.
Can you dispatch mixed equipment in one fleet?
Yes. We dispatch box trucks 26 ft and longer, hotshots, dry vans, reefers, flatbeds, step decks, power only, car haulers, dump trucks, oversize and hazmat or tanker equipment, and a fleet can mix any of them. Each truck is planned for the freight it can actually take.
Who confirms the loads, me or my drivers?
Your choice. You confirm every load before it is booked. Some owners approve every load themselves; others let each driver confirm their own. We follow whatever you set, and the rate confirmations go to whoever you choose, usually the office email for the company.
Is outsourcing cheaper than an in-house dispatcher?
For a small fleet, often yes. A dispatcher's median pay is $50,340 a year per BLS, before taxes, benefits and tools, and you pay it even when trucks sit. Outsourced dispatch is a percentage of gross on loads hauled. Past a certain size, hiring can win, so compare with your real numbers.
How many trucks can one dispatcher handle?
It depends on the freight. A local dump truck operation and a fleet of long-haul reefers need very different amounts of phone time. We assign trucks so each one gets the attention its lanes need, and you always know who is handling your fleet and how to reach them.
Do you send fleet reports?
Yes, weekly. The report lists every truck's loads, gross, loaded and empty miles, and our fee, plus totals for the fleet. It is the fastest way to see which trucks and lanes are paying, and which ones need a different plan next week.
Put your fleet on one board
5% of gross for one truck, 4% for 2+, 7% while your MC is under 6 months. No haul, no pay.