Dispatch ROI calculator
Put in the hours you spend finding loads, your rate and your miles. See what a dispatcher would cost or save you each week.
YOUR WEEK NOW
YOUR ASSUMPTIONS (START AT ZERO)
DISPATCH ROI, PER WEEK
DISPATCH PAYS YOU
$200/wk
- Gross now
- $5,000
- Gross with your assumptions
- $5,000
- Dispatch fee (5% of gross)
- -$250
- Your hours back, valued
- +$450
- Extra gross you assumed
- +$0
- Rate gain needed to break even (time valued)
- 0.0%
Built only from your numbers. We do not promise a rate increase; the break-even line shows how much the rate would need to move for the fee to pay for itself.
Your 15 hours a week are worth more than the fee, before any rate change. Hand us the search.
Start dispatchHow the dispatch ROI is calculated
- Gross now = your rate per loaded mile x loaded miles a week.
- Gross with dispatch = rate x (1 + the rate change you assume) x (miles + any extra miles you assume).
- Dispatch fee = gross with dispatch x the fee percentage.
- Weekly result = value of your hours back + extra gross - dispatch fee.
- Break-even rate change = the rate change at which the fee is paid for by your time plus the better rate.
EXAMPLE WEEK, ONE DRY VAN
Dispatch fees vs the value of your time
The fee is the visible cost of dispatch. The hidden cost of dispatching yourself is the hours: on the boards, on the phone, filling out carrier packets, chasing check calls. Those hours come from driving, resting or being home. Put a fair price on them; for many owner operators, it is what they would earn driving in that time.
The calculator keeps the two apart. If the result is positive with no rate change at all, your time alone covers the fee. If it is negative, the break-even line tells you how much better the rates would have to be. That is a question to ask any dispatcher, us included: how do you get there?
Dispatch fee trucking math beyond the week
A dispatcher fee only makes sense next to what the loads pay you after costs. Check the loads themselves with the load profitability calculator, and compare fee structures with the dispatcher fee calculator. Our guides on owner operator pay and gig and delivery apps cover the alternatives. Our fees are on the dispatch fees page.
Questions about this calculator
Q-01Is a truck dispatcher worth the fee?
It is worth it when the hours you get back, plus any better rates or fuller weeks, are worth more than the fee. This calculator puts a value on your time and shows the rate change needed to break even. If your hours are worth little to you or you negotiate well yourself, the answer may be no.
Q-02How are dispatch fees usually charged?
As a percentage of the gross on each load, a flat fee per week, or a flat fee per load. Ours is a percentage of gross on loads you haul, set by the fee matrix: a new MC, a single box truck or a single hotshot, a single truck of other equipment, or 2 or more trucks. There is no setup fee.
Q-03What dispatcher fee should I put in?
Pick the preset that matches your truck, or enter another quote. Our rates are 7% for a new MC or a single box truck or hotshot, 5% for one truck of any other kind with 6+ months of authority, and 4% for 2 or more trucks (limited-time rate).
Q-04Why does the calculator start with no rate gain?
Because nobody can promise one. Rates depend on the market, your lanes and the load. The calculator starts at zero so the result is what your time alone is worth against the fee; add a rate change only if you have a reason to expect one.
Ryan, TruckSwing dispatch desk
UPDATED OCTOBER 2026 · EDITORIAL POLICY
Your hours back, your loads negotiated
No setup fee, no minimum, nothing on weeks you do not haul. You approve every load.