Truck dispatch fee: 5% of gross, nothing when you don't haul
One percentage of the loads you actually haul. No setup fee, no monthly minimum, no contract to escape. The rate only changes with your authority age and how many trucks you run, never with what you pull.
New MC
Standard
Fleet 2+
"5% sounds like a lot." Here it is in cents per mile.
If you drove for a company, you think in cents per mile. So do we. Set a week's gross and loaded miles and the card shows what the fee costs per mile and what you net per mile after it. The defaults are an EXAMPLE week, not a promise of what you'll book.
Your rate works out to $2.50 per loaded mile.
- Gross
- $6,000
- Fee 5%
- −$300
- Fee per loaded mile
- 12.5¢
- Net per loaded mile
- $2.38
Same week with a dispatcher charging 10%: $600, or 25.0¢ a mile. Difference: $300 a week.
Want to compare a percentage fee with a flat weekly fee or doing it yourself? Try the dispatcher fee calculator. To test whether dispatch pays for itself in time and rate, use the dispatch ROI calculator.
| Your rate | New MC 7% | Standard 5% | Fleet 4% |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2.00/mi | 14.0¢ | 10.0¢ | 8.0¢ |
| $2.50/mi | 17.5¢ | 12.5¢ | 10.0¢ |
| $3.00/mi | 21.0¢ | 15.0¢ | 12.0¢ |
Why a percentage and not a flat fee
A percentage ties our pay to yours. We only earn more when your loads pay more, so a cheap load hurts us too. It also means a week off costs you nothing. The honest downside: on a high-paying load, a percentage costs more than a flat fee for the same phone calls. If you mostly haul long, well-paid runs, compare both before you choose.
Dispatch service cost depends on two things only
How long you've had your authority and how many trucks you run. Not your trailer, not your lanes, not how good a week you had. A reefer and a 26 ft box truck on the same authority age pay the same percentage.
7%
New authority
Your MC is under 6 months old.
New MCs need more packets, more broker vetting and more calls per load. The rate moves to standard on its own at 6 months.
5%
Standard
One truck, authority 6 months or older.
The everyday rate for an established owner-operator, same for every equipment type.
4%
Fleet (limited time)
Two or more trucks under your authority.
One desk dispatching every truck, with loads planned so your trucks don't chase the same freight. This is a limited-time rate.
Every rate is a percentage of the gross on each load, charged only on loads you haul. Your costs on the road, like fuel and tolls, are yours to manage; we don't sell you fuel cards or add-ons. If you factor, your factoring partner's fee is separate from ours. How factoring works.
Three ways to pay for dispatch
| Model | What you pay | Good when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage (ours) | A share of each hauled load | Your weeks vary, or you want zero cost on weeks off | Higher dollar fee on big loads |
| Flat weekly or per load | A set amount, often due even in slow weeks | You run steady, high-paying lanes | Paying in weeks the truck sits |
| Do it yourself | Your time on boards and phones | You enjoy brokering and have hours to spare | Less sleep, fewer miles, weaker counters |
What the percentage covers, and what we never charge
Included in the fee
- Load searches on the major boards and direct broker and shipper contacts
- Rate negotiation on every load
- Every load offered to you first, with the rate con sent to you directly
- Broker calls, check calls and delivery confirmations
- Carrier packet setup with brokers
- Deadhead and backhaul planning
- Detention and layover claims
- Weekly earnings report
- Dispatchers on nights and weekends
Never charged
- Setup or onboarding fees
- Monthly minimums or standby fees
- A fee on weeks you don't haul
- Extra charges by trailer type
- Penalties for passing on a load
- Cancellation fees (30 days notice)
All of this goes into a written dispatch agreement you read before your first load: the fee for your tier, when it's invoiced, the 30 days notice to cancel, and the rule that every load needs your yes. If anything on this page and the agreement ever disagree, ask us before you sign. We'll fix the paper, not argue about it.
Fee questions, answered in plain numbers
We dispatch owner-operators and small fleets with their own authority. If you drive for a company, your carrier dispatches you and none of these fees apply to you.
How much is a 5% dispatch fee per mile?
Divide the fee by your loaded miles. At $2.50 a mile, 5% is 12.5 cents a mile. At $2.00 a mile it's 10.0 cents. The higher your rate per mile, the more the fee is in cents, but you keep the other 95% of a bigger number. The calculator above runs your own week.
How do I pay my dispatch fee?
The billing schedule and payment method are written into your dispatch agreement before your first load, so there are no surprises. The fee is figured only on loads you hauled, as a percentage of each load's gross. Brokers and factoring companies pay you directly; we never collect your freight money and take a cut out of it.
Is the dispatch fee a business expense?
For most owner-operators, yes. The IRS lets businesses deduct ordinary and necessary expenses, and a dispatch fee paid to book freight usually fits. Keep the invoices with your other trucking records. Your situation may differ, so confirm with a tax professional who works with truckers.
What if I don't haul a week?
Then you owe nothing for that week. The fee is a percentage of loads you haul, so a week at home, in the shop or waiting out weather costs you zero on our side. There's no monthly minimum and no standby charge.
When is the dispatch fee invoiced?
After loads deliver, on the schedule set in your agreement. You'll see every load, its gross and the fee on your weekly earnings report, so the invoice should never hold a number you haven't seen. If something looks wrong, call the desk and we'll walk through it.
How much do truck dispatchers charge?
Most dispatch services charge a percentage of each load's gross, commonly somewhere between 5% and 10%, and some charge more for flatbed, reefer or specialized freight. Others charge flat weekly or per-load fees. Compare the fee in cents per mile, what it includes, whether there's a setup fee and how long the contract runs.
Is there a contract?
There's a written dispatch agreement so the terms are clear, but no long-term lock-in. It's month-to-month, and you can cancel with 30 days notice for any reason. You also approve every load, so you're never stuck hauling freight you didn't agree to.
Do you charge a setup fee?
No. There's no setup fee, no onboarding fee and no charge for packet setup with brokers. Your first cost is the percentage on your first delivered load.
Run a week at our rate, then decide
No setup fee and no contract to escape. If the first weeks don't work for you, 30 days notice ends it. Your application takes about 2 minutes.
- Gross booked
- $5,600
- Dispatch fee 5%
- −$280
- You keep (before costs)
- $5,320
Fee is charged only on loads you haul. No haul, no fee.