Dispatch ROI Calculator: Dispatcher vs DIY

Dispatch ROI calculator: dispatcher vs doing it yourself

Enter the hours you spend booking loads, your miles, rate and cost per mile. See what those hours could earn behind the wheel, what the dispatch fee costs, and the net per week.

By Milo / Updated October 2026

YOUR WEEK TODAY

Hours a week finding and booking loads

Loaded miles a week

Your average rate

$/mi

Your cost per mile

$/mi

WITH A DISPATCHER

Fee tier

Freed hours you'd drive

Driving speed

mph

Deadhead saved a week

Your estimate; 0 if unsure

DISPATCH ROI / PER WEEKRESULT

Extra miles from 50% of 10 h: 250 mi
Profit on those miles: $175
Deadhead saved: $0
Dispatch fee, 5%: - $358
Hours back for home time: 5 h
Rate gain needed to break even: $0.07/mi

Net cost a week$182

At your numbers, dispatch costs $182 a week and gives back 5 hours; it pays for itself at $0.07 more per mile. Every rate con still comes to you to sign or turn down.

Talk through your numbers

A dispatcher fee is easy to see on every settlement. What it buys back is harder to see: the hours on load boards and phone calls, the miles those hours could be, and the empty miles a planned week avoids. This dispatch ROI calculator puts them on one weekly page, and it doesn't assume a dispatcher gets you higher rates.

How it is calculated

Extra miles = hours a week spent booking × share of those hours you'd drive instead × driving speed
Profit on extra miles = extra miles × (your rate − your cost per mile)
Deadhead saved = empty miles saved a week × your cost per mile (your own estimate; start at zero)
Dispatch fee = (loaded miles + extra miles) × your rate × fee percentage
Net per week = profit on extra miles + deadhead saved − dispatch fee
Rate gain to break even = any net cost ÷ total miles: how many cents a mile better a dispatcher would need to get for you to come out even

A worked example

EXAMPLE / ONE TRUCK, 2,500 LOADED MI A WEEKEXAMPLE

10 h a week booking, half reinvested at 50 mph: 250 extra mi
250 mi × ($2.60 − $1.90): $175
Fee: 2,750 mi × $2.60 × 5%: - $358
Hours back for home: 5 h

Net per week- $182

With no rate gain and no deadhead saved, dispatch costs this carrier money and gives back five hours a week. It breaks even at about 7 cents a mile better, or with around 100 fewer empty miles a week. Whether that happens on your lanes is the real question, and a fair one to ask any dispatcher before you sign.

Dispatch fee trucking: what changes the answer

Factor	Effect on ROI
More hours spent booking today	Bigger gain from handing it off
Higher margin per mile	Each extra mile is worth more
Lots of deadhead now	More room for planning to save miles
Fleet pricing	A lower fee percentage
You'd rather be home	Hours back, fewer extra miles

Before you decide

Check what any dispatcher charges and on what: gross or linehaul, loads only or a weekly minimum. The fee on a single load is in the dispatcher fee calculator, and the subscription side in the load board vs dispatcher comparison. Reefer carriers have an extra cost line to watch, explained in reefer units, and power only changes the cost side, covered in power only vs owning trailers. Our full pricing is on dispatch cost.

Results are estimates from the numbers you enter.

Questions about this tool

01How much are dispatch fees in trucking?

Percentage fees are the most common. Ours are 5% of gross for one truck with authority over 6 months, 7% while the MC is newer, and 4% for fleets of two or more trucks, with no setup fee and no minimums. Other dispatchers charge flat weekly fees or higher percentages.

02Does a dispatcher pay for itself?

It can, through three things: hours you get back and use to drive, fewer empty miles from planned reloads, and better rates from experience and broker contacts. None of them is guaranteed, so this calculator lets you set each one and starts the rate gain at zero.

03Is the dispatcher fee charged on deadhead?

Our fee is charged on gross load revenue, so only on what loads pay. Empty miles don't pay, so there's no fee on them. No haul, no pay.

04What if I value home time more than miles?

Set the share of freed hours you'd drive lower. The calculator then shows the hours you get back for home time and what dispatch costs for them each week.