Percentage or flat fee?
Run the comparison.
Enter your loads per week, average revenue, and both pricing models — see exactly which dispatch structure costs you less per week, month, and year.
Monthly figures use 4.33 weeks/month; annual figures use 52 weeks/year. The crossover point shifts with your average load revenue.
Dispatch your own trucks — keep the fee.
Alogix gives you the dispatch board, load tracking, and billing tools to run your fleet in-house and stop paying a percentage of every load.
How do truck dispatchers charge?
Independent truck dispatchers typically charge one of two ways: a percentage of the load's gross revenue, or a flat fee per load. With percentage pricing, the dispatcher takes a cut — commonly 5% to 10% — of whatever the load pays, so the fee scales up on high-paying freight and down on cheap loads. With flat-fee pricing, you pay a fixed dollar amount per booked load — often $75 to $150 — regardless of the rate. Some dispatchers also offer weekly or monthly retainers, but per-load pricing is by far the most common in the owner-operator and small-fleet market.
Percentage vs flat fee — which is better?
It comes down to your average load revenue. Percentage pricing favors you when you run cheaper loads — 7% of a $1,500 load is only $105. Flat-fee pricing favors you when you haul high-value freight — a $150 flat fee on a $4,000 load is far cheaper than 7% ($280). The crossover is simple: divide the flat fee by the percentage rate to find the load revenue where they cost the same. Above that revenue, flat fee wins; below it, percentage wins. If your freight is mixed, run the comparison on your real weekly average — which is exactly what the calculator above does.
What's a fair dispatch fee in 2025?
In 2025, a fair percentage dispatch fee runs 5% to 10% of gross, with most reputable dispatchers landing around 6–8%. Fair flat fees run roughly $75 to $150 per load. Be cautious of anyone charging over 10% or layering on extra fees for paperwork, factoring setup, or compliance — those should generally be included. The real question is value: a good dispatcher who keeps your truck loaded, cuts deadhead, and negotiates better rates can easily earn back their fee. Many small fleets eventually bring dispatch in-house to eliminate the cost entirely once volume justifies it.