Dispatcher fee calculator

What a dispatch fee really costs you

A dispatch fee is usually quoted as a percentage, like 5% or 7%, or as a flat amount per week. Neither tells you much on its own. What matters is the fee in dollars on a real week, and in cents per mile next to the rates you already think in. That's what this dispatcher fee calculator shows.

It works for one load or a whole week. Put in a load's gross and that load's miles to see the fee on that load, or a week's gross and the week's total miles for the bigger picture. Count every mile you drove, loaded and empty, because the fee comes out of the money those miles earned.

How the fee is calculated

A percentage fee is your gross times the percentage. What you keep is the gross minus the fee. Divide each by your total miles to get it per mile. A flat fee is simpler: the same amount every week, whatever you gross. The crossover is the weekly gross where both cost the same, which is the flat fee divided by the percentage.

One detail worth asking any dispatcher about: what the percentage applies to. Some charge on the linehaul only, some on the whole invoice including detention and other accessorials. Get it in writing, because on a week with a big detention claim the difference is real money.

• EXAMPLE

  EXAMPLE WEEK

  $6,000 gross over 2,500 miles

  That's $2.40 a mile. At 5%, the fee is $300, about 12 cents a mile, and you keep $5,700, or $2.28 a mile. A $300 flat weekly fee costs exactly the same this week, so $6,000 is the crossover. Gross more and the flat fee costs less. Gross less, or take a week off, and the percentage costs less.

Reading your result

Look at the fee per mile first. If the fee is 12 cents a mile on a $2.40 week, the question is simple: does the dispatcher save or earn you more than 12 cents a mile in better rates, fewer empty miles, claimed detention and hours back? If you're not sure, the load board vs dispatcher comparison shows the break-even with your subscription and hours counted.

Then look at the crossover, if you entered a flat quote. Compare it with your real weeks, not your best one. Most owner-operators have strong weeks, thin weeks, weeks in the shop and weeks at home. A flat fee charges for all of them. A percentage charges nothing when you don't haul.

• +Your weeks are usually above the crossover. A flat fee is likely cheaper over a month, as long as it includes the same work.
• +Your weeks are usually below it, or uneven. A percentage is likely cheaper, and it never bills a week with no loads.
• +Your weeks sit near it. The fee is about equal either way. Compare what each one includes instead.

Our dispatch fees

We charge a percentage of the gross on loads we dispatch: 5% for one truck with authority older than 6 months, 7% for a new MC under 6 months, 26 ft box trucks and hotshots, and 4% for two or more trucks while the fleet rate lasts. The calculator's quick buttons use those three rates.

There's no setup fee and no minimum. A week you don't haul costs nothing. For that, our dispatchers search loads, check brokers, counter above your floor, handle carrier packets, check calls and detention claims, and plan your reload before you deliver. You see every load before it's booked, you can turn any of them down, and the rate confirmation is sent to you. See how we work with owner-operators.

Questions to ask any dispatcher about fees

• +Is the fee on linehaul only, or on the whole invoice including fuel surcharge and accessorials?
• +Is there a setup fee, a minimum weekly charge or a charge per load booked?
• +Does a flat fee still apply in a week with no loads or when the truck is in the shop?
• +Who approves each load, and who receives the rate confirmation?
• +Does any freight money pass through the dispatcher, or does the broker pay you directly?

The last two matter as much as the price. A dispatcher works for you and is paid by you. If anyone takes a cut from the broker side, or collects your freight money, ask who they really work for. Our guide comparing flat fee and percentage dispatch goes deeper on the trade-offs.

If a fuel surcharge or detention pay is part of your invoice, the fuel surcharge calculator and the detention pay calculator help you put a number on each before you compare fees.