Dispatch ROI calculator: is a dispatcher worth it for your truck?

How it's calculated

The calculator works on one truck and one week. Every number is yours; the only figures from us are our fee tiers, offered as buttons.

• Weekly gross now = rate per loaded mile × loaded miles.
• Weekly gross with dispatch = (rate per mile + the rate change you assume) × loaded miles.
• Fee = weekly gross with dispatch × fee %.
• Hours back = your weekly hours on dispatch work × the share you hand off.
• Net per week = gross with dispatch − fee − gross now + hours back × your hourly value.
• Break-even rate change = the change per mile that makes the net zero, counting your hours.
• Break-even hours = fee at today's rate ÷ your hourly value.

Your assumptions, out in the open

Two inputs are guesses, and the calculator labels them that way. The rate change starts at zero because nobody can promise you a higher rate per mile, including us. Raise it only if you have a reason, such as quotes you've turned down or lanes where you know you've been underpaid. You can even set it below zero to test a dispatcher who books worse freight than you do.

The handoff share starts at 80%, not 100%. With us you still confirm or turn down every load and sign each rate con the broker sends you, so some minutes stay yours. Change it to match the dispatcher you're weighing.

A worked example

EXAMPLE: an owner-operator spends 15 hours a week on boards, calls and paperwork, values an hour at $30, runs 2,200 loaded miles at $2.30, and is weighing a 5% fee with no rate change assumed.

On these numbers the hours carry the fee with $107 a week to spare. Set the hourly value to zero and the picture changes: dispatch would then need to add about $0.12 a mile to break even. That's the honest test. If those hours turn into nothing useful, the fee has to be earned in rates.

Reading the result

Gain or loss

A gain means dispatch pays for itself on your assumptions, not that it will. A small gain built on a big rate change is fragile; a gain that holds with the rate change at zero is solid.

What your hours are really worth

Hours back only count if you use them. For some drivers they become more miles inside the same hours of service. For others they become sleep, home time, or time to run a second truck. If you'd spend them on the same load board anyway, set the value low.

When dispatch isn't worth it

If you already have steady direct freight, enjoy working brokers, and spend only a few hours a week booking, the numbers rarely work, and that's a fine answer. Our comparison of a dispatcher instead of a load board covers where self-dispatch wins.

Where the hours go

Count your own week before you trust the hours input. This is how the work usually splits once a dispatcher is involved:

Run it twice

Run the calculator once with careful numbers: rate change at zero, a modest hourly value, a lower handoff share. Then run it with the numbers you hope for. If dispatch only works in the hopeful run, try it month to month before you commit to anything longer, and keep a log of your rate per mile and hours so the next run uses real data.

More than one truck

The calculator is per truck. With two or more trucks on an MC at least 6 months old, our rate is 4% on each, so use that button. Booking hours tend to grow with every truck you add, while your own driving time doesn't, which is why small fleet owners often see the strongest result here.

Dispatch fees and what they cover

Dispatch fees in trucking come as a percentage of the gross or a flat weekly fee, and the same number can buy very different work. Before you trust any ROI result, check what the dispatcher fee includes: broker setups, negotiation on every load, check calls, detention and TONU requests, payment follow-up. Our fee covers all of those, with no setup fee and month-to-month terms. Compare quotes in the dispatcher fee calculator.

Next steps

Your current rate per mile only means something next to what the truck costs to run; get that number from the trucking cost per mile calculator. See how we work with owner-operators, browse all trucking tools, or apply for a load plan.