ENTRY 01 / SMALL FLEET DISPATCH
A fleet dispatcher for owners adding truck two, three and four
The second truck is where most owner-operators stop driving the business and start chasing it. You are booking loads for a driver while running your own, answering check calls at the fuel island, and doing settlements at midnight. Our fleet dispatcher desk runs the phones for every truck at 4% of each truck's gross, so you can run the company.
- 4% per truck
- No salary, no benefits
- You approve every load
Built for fleets of two to about ten trucks that grew out of one owner-operator's business and still run like one.
Any mix of equipment on the MC: a reefer and two dry vans, a step deck and a hotshot, 26 ft box trucks. Same desk, same rate.
Signs you have outgrown dispatching your own fleet
None of these mean the business is failing. They mean the owner has become the bottleneck, and the trucks are waiting on one phone.
A driver sits empty while you are driving
You can't safely book a load at 65 mph, so the second truck waits until your next stop.
You take the first offer for the other truck
You don't have time to counter for two trucks, so one of them always runs cheap.
Detention goes unbilled
Nobody tracked the hours on the truck you weren't in, so the claim never gets sent.
Home time falls apart
Your own home days and your driver's home days collide, and one of you loses.
Settlements and paperwork pile up
Rate cons, PODs and driver pay get done on Sunday night, or late.
ENTRY 02 / WHAT A DISPATCHER COSTS
What an in-house dispatcher really costs a small fleet
The federal wage survey puts the median pay for dispatchers outside police, fire and ambulance work at $46,860 a year, and the average for dispatchers working in truck transportation at $54,010. That is the salary only. Add payroll taxes, any benefits, a desk, a phone line, load board subscriptions and the weeks when the person is sick or on vacation and the trucks still need loads.
SOURCE: BLS OEWS, OCCUPATION 43-5032, MAY 2023
A salary also doesn't care whether the trucks ran. Breakdowns, a driver quitting, a slow January: the paycheck goes out anyway. An outsourced truck dispatch desk paid as a percentage costs nothing for a truck that sits.
DISPATCHER PAY, U.S., MAY 2023
| 25th percentile | $37,800 |
|---|---|
| Median | $46,860 |
| Mean, all industries | $50,830 |
| Mean, truck transportation | $54,010 |
| 75th percentile | $59,500 |
Annual wages before employer taxes and benefits. Occupation code 43-5032.
In-house dispatcher or outsourced desk: side by side
| Factor | IN-HOUSE DISPATCHER | OUR DESK |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Salary every week, plus payroll taxes and any benefits | 4% of each truck's gross, only on loads hauled |
| Slow weeks and breakdowns | Full cost | No fee for a truck that doesn't haul |
| Nights, weekends, sick days | Coverage depends on one person | Dispatchers on nights and weekends |
| Load boards and tools | You pay for subscriptions and software | Included |
| Who signs rate cons | Whoever you authorize | You or a manager you name, every load |
| Adding a truck | More work for the same person, or another hire | Same desk, same rate |
| When it makes more sense | Larger fleets with steady high gross | Two trucks up to a growing small fleet |
ENTRY 03 / SECOND-TRUCK LEDGER
Does truck two pay for itself, and who should dispatch it?
Every number starts as an EXAMPLE; replace them with your own quotes and pay plan. Two questions in one ledger. The top half prices the desk: a salaried dispatcher against our fleet rate. The bottom half asks whether a second truck earns its keep after the driver, the payment and the fee.
IN-HOUSE DISPATCHER
$1,316/wk
Paid every week, loaded or not. $68,412 a year.
BUDDYLOADS 4%
$480/wk
On $12,000 of fleet gross. Zero in a week the trucks don't haul.
At 2 trucks the fleet rate costs $836 a week less than a salaried dispatcher at these numbers.
TRUCK 2 WEEKLY LEDGER · EXAMPLE
| Gross | $6,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Driver pay 28% | ($1,680.00) |
| Fuel | ($1,400.00) |
| Truck payment | ($553.85) |
| Insurance | ($300.00) |
| Dispatch 4% | ($240.00) |
| LEFT FOR REPAIRS AND PROFIT | $1,826.15 |
Before maintenance, permits, workers' comp and your own time managing the driver. Estimates from your inputs.
If you want to compare our rate with a quote from another desk, the dispatcher fee calculator handles percentage, flat weekly and per-load pricing. And before you sign for truck two, read fleet owner vs owner-operator: the job changes more than the truck count suggests.
ENTRY 04 / HOW WE RUN A FLEET
Small fleet dispatch service, truck by truck
Each truck has its own rules
Floor rate, lanes, home base, home days and broker list are set per truck and per driver, because a reefer out of Fresno and a dry van out of Atlanta don't run the same week.
Rate cons still come to you
Every rate con goes to your company email for the owner, or for a manager you name, to sign or refuse. Drivers get the dispatch details once the load is signed.
Drivers hear from the desk
Pickup numbers, appointments, check calls and changes go between the desk and the driver, so your phone isn't the switchboard for every truck.
One weekly fleet report
Every truck on one page: loads, loaded and empty miles, gross, detention, and the fee per truck. Spot the truck that is dragging the average before it costs a month.
Planning across trucks
We avoid sending two of your trucks after the same freight, and use one truck's delivery to set up the next truck's reload when lanes overlap.
Room to grow
Adding truck four doesn't mean hiring. Add it to the MC, send the packet details, and the desk starts booking it at the same rate.
The fleet rate in plain numbers. 4% of each truck's gross, on loads that truck hauls, for two or more trucks on one MC with at least six months of authority. It is a limited-time rate. If your MC is younger, every truck pays 7% until month 7. No setup fee, no minimum, month to month. Details on the dispatch pricing page.
Cash flow with more trucks. Driver pay and fuel for several trucks are due long before 30-day broker payments arrive. Many small fleets factor to close that gap. Factoring for small fleets covers what it costs; we refer to our factoring partner and may be paid for referrals.
What your job becomes once the desk has the phones
Handing off dispatch doesn't make a fleet run itself. It moves your hours to the parts only the owner can do: hiring and keeping good drivers, keeping trucks maintained, watching the cost per mile of each truck, and keeping the company compliant.
Drivers and compliance. With employee drivers you keep driver qualification files, hours of service records and, for CDL drivers, a drug and alcohol testing program that covers every driver. A consortium can run the random pool for a small fleet.
Numbers per truck. The weekly fleet report shows which truck carries the business and which one doesn't, so decisions about the next truck come from data, not a good month.
Cash. More trucks, more money out before money comes in. Plan the gap before you add the next unit.
ENTRY 05 / FLEET QUESTIONS
Outsourced truck dispatch for fleets: common questions
Q01When should an owner-operator add a second truck?
When the first truck is profitable on paper and in the bank, you have cash for a down payment and several months of a driver's pay, and you know the lanes well enough to keep two trucks loaded. Adding a truck to fix a weak first truck usually doubles the problem.
Q02How many trucks can one dispatcher handle?
There is no single right number. Long-haul dry van loads need fewer touches per week than short regional flatbed or hotshot runs with tight appointments. What matters to you is response time: when a driver is empty, how fast does the next load get lined up? Ask any desk that question.
Q03How do you handle driver home time across a fleet?
Each truck gets its own home base and home days in its profile, and we plan each week backward from them. When two trucks need the same weekend, we plan both from Monday, not Thursday. You see the plan for every truck before the week starts.
Q04Do you talk to my drivers directly?
If you want us to. Most fleet owners have the desk send dispatch details and handle check calls with the driver, while rate cons and load decisions come to the owner. Some owners want everything routed through them. We set that up on the first call.
Q05Is outsourcing cheaper than an in-house dispatcher?
For most fleets of two to a handful of trucks, yes, because a salary is paid every week whether the trucks run or not. As the fleet and its gross grow, the math can flip. Run your own numbers in the second-truck ledger on this page.
Q06How much does outsourced fleet dispatch cost?
4% of each truck's gross for fleets of two or more trucks on one MC with 6+ months of authority, a limited-time rate. MCs under 6 months pay 7% until month 7. No setup fee, no minimum, month to month.
Every truck on the board. Every rate con on your desk.
Apply in about a minute and tell us how many trucks run on your MC. 4% per truck, no salary, no contract.
RATE CONFIRMATION · TO: YOUR COMPANY
TRUCK 1 · TRUCK 2 · TRUCK 3 · YOUR SIGNATURE
SIGNATURE: ____________________ (yours, never ours)