Dispatcher fee calculator

This dispatcher fee calculator returns the dispatch fee for a load or a week, the effective percent of gross, what you keep after the fee and your net rate per mile, for either a percent fee or a flat fee per load.

Dispatch fees look simple until you compare them. A 5% fee and a $150 flat fee can cost the same on one load and very different amounts on the next. Setup fees, minimums and what the fee applies to change the picture again. This tool puts the fee on your real numbers.

How it works

• Percent fee = gross x fee percent
• Flat fee = fee per load x number of loads
• Effective percent = fee / gross
• Net after dispatch = gross - fee
• Net per mile = net / miles

The last line shows our fee for your truck, using My truck if you have set it, so you can compare directly.

A worked example

A truck grosses $6,000 in a week over 2,600 miles on three loads.

• At 5% of gross: $300 fee, $5,700 net, about $2.19 net per mile
• At a $150 flat fee per load: $450 fee, 7.5% effective, $5,550 net, about $2.13 net per mile

In this week, the percent fee costs less. In a week with two large loads, a flat fee might cost less. Run your own typical week, a slow week and a strong week to see which structure suits your pattern.

What to ask any dispatcher

• What is the fee, and what does it apply to: linehaul only, or surcharge and accessorials too?
• Is there a setup fee, a minimum weekly fee or a contract term?
• How much notice to stop?
• Do they book or sign for you, or does every load come to you for approval?
• Who receives the rate confirmation?

On the last two: with our desk, every load is your yes or no, and the broker sends the rate confirmation directly to you to sign.

Our fee

Our fee is a percentage of the gross on loads you haul:

• 4% for two or more trucks with authority older than six months (limited-time rate)
• 7% for a new MC under six months, a single box truck or a single hotshot
• 5% for one truck of other equipment with authority older than six months

No setup fee, no minimums, month-to-month with 30 days notice, and nothing on weeks the truck does not haul.

Fees and fuel surcharges

If your loads carry a separate fuel surcharge, the fee may apply to it depending on the agreement. The fuel surcharge calculator shows how large that line is on a load. Running costs such as DEF and batteries do not change with the fee, but they belong in your cost per mile; see the guides to DEF cost and usage per gallon of diesel and the truck battery.

Slow weeks and strong weeks

A percent fee moves with your gross. In a slow week, when the truck runs fewer loads or lower rates, the fee falls with it. A flat weekly fee does not, so it takes a bigger share of a thin week. A flat per-load fee sits between the two. Run the calculator for your slowest recent week and your best one. The structure that looks cheaper in a strong week is not always the one that hurts least when freight dries up, and slow weeks are when cash matters most.

Is the fee worth it?

The fee is only half of the question. The other half is what you get back: hours freed from load boards and calls, and any change in rates or empty miles. The dispatch ROI calculator weighs both sides with your numbers and starts by assuming no rate increase.

Put the fee in your floor rate

Treat the dispatch fee as one more cost line in your floor rate, next to fuel, tires and the maintenance reserve. A load that clears the floor with the fee included is a load that pays everyone, including you.

Where we fit

We find and negotiate loads for 26 ft box trucks and larger across 11 equipment types. You say yes, counter or no, and the broker sends the rate confirmation to you to sign. Our page for owner-operators explains how we work with single trucks.