SMALL FLEETS · 2 TO 10 TRUCKS · 4% LIMITED TIME
A fleet dispatcher that keeps every truck loaded and on schedule
Running three or six trucks is a different job from running one. Loads, drivers, PM dates, broker calls and paperwork multiply, and they all land on the owner. We work as your outsourced fleet dispatcher: finding and negotiating freight for every truck, staggering service days, and running the calls, while you or your drivers approve every load.
The fleet rate is 4% of gross for two or more trucks with authority older than six months, a limited-time rate. No setup fee, no per-truck fee and no long contract.
We work with fleets of two to ten trucks, in any of our 11 equipment types, as long as each truck has at least 26 ft of cargo space. Mixed fleets are welcome. You keep your customers, your drivers and your decisions; we take the desk work that grows with every truck you add.
Small fleet dispatch is where owners run out of hours
The first truck is usually dispatched by its owner, from the cab. The second truck doubles the phone time. By the third, the owner is either dispatching at night or not driving at all, and the business now has a dispatcher whether it planned to or not. That dispatcher is often the owner, unpaid, and also responsible for maintenance, payroll, insurance and finding the next driver.
The freight side adds its own pressure. Rates and volumes move with the season and the market, and a small fleet does not have the contracted freight a large carrier leans on. Every truck has to find its own loads every week, and every empty day is a truck payment with nothing against it.
We do not quote market averages here without a dated source, and averages rarely match your lanes anyway. On the first call we look at your actual lanes and recent rates, and we tell you what we think is realistic for your equipment and region.
The goal is simple to state and hard to do alone: every truck loaded at a rate above its floor, every truck serviced on time, and an owner who can spend the week running the business instead of answering broker calls. That is the job we take on.
03 · FLEET PM BOARD
Staggered service days, so trucks are not all down at once
Four trucks on the same PM interval, bought around the same time, tend to come due together. Left alone, that means a week where half the fleet sits in the shop while brokers call with loads you cannot cover. A dispatcher who knows the PM dates can spread them out, a few days or a week apart, without letting any truck run past its interval.
The board here is an EXAMPLE week for four trucks. Pick a service day for each one and watch its loads shift around the shop day. Put two trucks on the same day and the board flags it. That is the conversation we have with you every week, with real dates from your PM schedule.
If you do not have a written schedule yet, our preventive maintenance schedule generator builds one per truck from your miles and intervals. Our truck maintenance guide covers what each service level usually includes.
EXAMPLE 4-truck week. Pick each truck's service day.
| TRUCK | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1 | PM | L1 | L2 | L2 | L3 | L3 | |
| L1 | L1 | L1 | PM | L2 | L2 | L3 | |
| L1 | L2 | L2 | L2 | L3 | PM | L3 | |
| L1 | L1 | PM | L2 | L2 | L2 | L3 |
✓ Service days are staggered. No two trucks down at once.
Outsourced truck dispatch, truck by truck
Planning
- Each truck has its own rules: lanes, home base, home time, equipment and service calendar.
- We plan reloads for every truck, so no one is left in a dead market waiting for freight.
- When two trucks could take the same load, we offer it where it fits the week best and tell you why.
- Service days are staggered across the fleet and kept on the calendar.
Who approves loads
You decide who says yes for each truck: you, the driver, or both. Either way, nothing is confirmed until that person approves, and the broker sends the rate confirmation to the carrier to sign. We never sign for your company.
Drivers
- Drivers get load details, appointment times and updates directly, so they are not waiting on you.
- Check calls, delivery confirmations and detention tracking run through the desk.
- Dispatchers answer nights and weekends, when drivers actually need them.
Reporting
The weekly report lists every load on every truck: lane, gross, fee and what you keep, plus open detention and layover claims. It makes it easy to see which trucks and lanes earn and which ones need a different plan.
Mixed equipment, one plan
Small fleets rarely match. A fleet might run two dry vans, a reefer and a 26 ft box truck, or a pair of flatbeds and a step deck. We dispatch all 11 of our equipment types the same way, so a mixed fleet does not need several dispatch services. Each truck is planned for its own freight, and each one needs at least 26 ft of cargo space.
A mixed fleet can also cover more: a load that does not fit the van might fit the flatbed, and a customer who ships both dry and refrigerated freight can be served by one carrier. We look for those chances and bring them to you. Equipment details for each type are on its own dispatch page, such as dry van or flatbed.
Breakdowns across a fleet
A fleet has an option a single truck does not: another truck. When one truck breaks down with a load on, get the driver safe and call the desk. We make the broker calls, explain what happened and what the shop expects, and look at whether another of your trucks could reach the load in time. If one could, we bring you that option and you decide. What the broker accepts depends on the load and the timing, so we will not promise a rescue we cannot control.
The same thinking works in advance. If a truck has a shop visit coming that may run long, we can avoid committing it to a tight appointment the day after, and lean on the other trucks for that week instead.
Adding trucks without adding chaos
Every new truck brings a new driver to learn the system, new packets to update, and a new service calendar. We add the truck to your plan, set its rules on a short call, and update your carrier packets with the brokers we use. The new truck runs on the same fleet rate.
The weekly reports help with the bigger question of what to add next. After a few months they show which equipment and lanes earn most per mile and per day, and which trucks spend the most time empty or in the shop. That is a better guide to your next purchase than a guess about the market.
The 26 ft minimum applies to every truck in the fleet, so check cargo length before you buy anything for dispatch.
Getting a fleet started with us
Apply once for the whole fleet and tell us how many trucks you run. On the first call we go truck by truck: equipment, cargo length, driver, home base, lanes, and the next service date for each. We also agree who approves loads for each truck. Then we set up carrier packets and start bringing offers, usually beginning with the trucks that are empty soonest.
The step-by-step version is on our page about how dispatch works.
06 · IN-HOUSE OR OUTSOURCED
In-house dispatcher or outsourced desk?
An in-house dispatcher gives you one person who knows your fleet well. It also gives you a salary, payroll taxes, a desk, software subscriptions, and a coverage problem every night, weekend and vacation. The cost is the same in a slow month as a busy one.
An outsourced desk costs a percentage that moves with revenue. A slow week costs less and a week in the shop costs nothing. Coverage is shared across dispatchers. The trade-off is that you share the desk with other carriers, which is why we write your rules down and plan each truck to them.
The table is an EXAMPLE month for a four-truck fleet. Replace the gross with yours, and compare it against what a dispatcher would cost you to employ in your area.
| TRUCK | GROSS | FEE (4%) | YOU KEEP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truck 1 | $26,000 | $1,040 | $24,960 |
| Truck 2 | $24,000 | $960 | $23,040 |
| Truck 3 | $21,000 | $840 | $20,160 |
| Truck 4 (shop week) | $15,000 | $600 | $14,400 |
07 · THE FEE
The fleet rate, and what it includes
Two or more trucks with authority older than six months pay 4% of gross on loads hauled. It is a limited-time rate. While the MC is under six months old, the rate is 7% for every truck. There is no setup fee, no per-truck fee, no monthly minimum, and service is month-to-month with 30 days notice.
Everything is included: load searching, rate negotiation, broker calls, check calls, carrier packets, reload planning, detention and layover claims, and the weekly report. The full rules are on the dispatch fee page. If cash flow across several trucks is the pinch point, see our guide to factoring for small fleets.
Set the meter to two trucks or more to see the fleet rate on an EXAMPLE week.
EXAMPLE week. Change the numbers to match yours.
| GROSS | FEE | YOU KEEP |
|---|---|---|
| $6,000 | 5% = $300 | $5,700 |
Fee per loaded mile: 12.5 cents. No haul, no pay.
Other rates: 4% and 7%. No setup fee, no minimums, month-to-month.
Questions carriers ask
Can you schedule loads around each truck's PM?
Can you dispatch mixed equipment in one fleet?
How much does outsourced fleet dispatch cost?
Can I keep one truck on my own dispatch?
Is outsourcing cheaper than an in-house dispatcher?
How many trucks can one dispatcher handle?
Put the whole fleet on one plan
About 2 minutes. No setup fee. No contract. Every load is your call.