Dispatch apps put the board on the driver's phone: today's run with the stops in order and the windows, the loads, and the status the driver moves as the day goes. For the dispatcher they are the same board from the office. Dispatching apps and mobile dispatch software are the same product seen from the cab; a cargo van dispatch app is the same product for a fleet that makes forty stops a van rather than four. This page is what mobile dispatching software should do on the phone, what it should not do with the phone, and how Runsheetly's board reaches the driver without an app store.
The run on the screen, built before it got there
The driver opens today's run: the stops in order, the windows, the loads, the truck. The run sheet was sized by the free dispatch schedule from the stops and the stop and drive times and checked against the driving limit before it was assigned, so what is on the phone fits the day. A dispatching app that shows a run nobody sized shows a run the driver will finish late.
The status, moved from the road
En route at the first stop, delivered at the last, exception when something goes wrong, each with its time. The dispatcher reads the board without a call, and the record that dispatch management is built from is written by the driver's thumb rather than remembered on Friday. Runsheetly Pro runs in the phone's browser, pinned to the home screen, with each driver seeing their own runs and the dispatcher seeing the fleet.
What the app should not do with the phone
It should not read the driver's location: that is telematics, priced per vehicle with hardware, and a small fleet's dispatcher acts on the run's status, not a dot. It should not keep the hours-of-service log: that is the ELD's job by rule. Mobile dispatch software that quietly does both is a tracking product with a dispatch screen, and the drivers know it.
The cargo van fleet's app
A cargo van dispatch app carries forty stops rather than four, so the run sheet's arithmetic matters more, not less: forty stops at eight minutes each with six minutes between them is 560 minutes, and the sheet shows it before the van leaves. The app carries the sheet, the status per stop and the exception at the stop it happened, and the roster moves a driver when one calls in sick. Runsheetly Pro is priced for the fleet, not per van.
Questions people ask about dispatch apps
What is the best dispatch app for a small fleet?
One that shows the run the dispatcher sized, lets the driver move the status from the road, and does not track the phone or pretend to be the ELD. Runsheetly Pro does that in the phone's browser.
Is there an app to download?
No. Runsheetly runs in the phone's browser and can be pinned to the home screen; the driver signs in and sees their runs.
Does mobile dispatch software need GPS?
No. GPS is telematics, a separate product with hardware. The app records the status the driver moves and the time it was moved.