Dispatch scheduling software does one thing the whiteboard cannot: it sizes the run before it is assigned. The stops on a truck, the minutes each takes, the minutes between them and the windows that fix the order add up to a length, and that length either fits inside the driver's day and the federal driving limit or it does not. The free dispatch schedule on this site does that arithmetic from the trucks, the stops, the windows, the loads and the stop and drive times, and returns each run's minutes and its headroom. This page is what scheduling means for a fleet of two to fifty trucks, what the sheet counts, and what Runsheetly Pro keeps once the run is assigned.
The run's length is the schedule
A run of seven stops at twenty minutes each with twenty-five minutes between them is 315 minutes, and a driver with eleven hours of driving available has 345 minutes of headroom on the worked example. The sheet shows both before the sheet is printed. Dispatch scheduling software that does not show the run's minutes against the limit is a list of stops, and a list of stops is what the whiteboard already had.
Windows fix the order, and the sheet counts them
A stop with a delivery window is a stop the run has to be built around, and a truck carrying six of them has a different day from one carrying none. The sheet counts the windowed stops per truck so the dispatcher rebalances before the sheets go out. The order itself stays the dispatcher's, who knows the territory; the sheet sizes, it does not optimise.
The driving limit is the ceiling
A property-carrying driver may drive at most 11 hours inside a 14-hour window after 10 consecutive hours off, with a 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving (FMCSA). The sheet takes the driving hours as an input with that limit as the default and returns the headroom in minutes; a negative figure is a run that does not fit and needs a stop moved. The hours-of-service record stays on the ELD.
From the schedule to the board
Once the run fits, it is assigned on the board with a driver and a truck, and its status moves as the day goes. Runsheetly Pro keeps each run sheet against its driver and truck and re-reads the schedule when a stop moves, so the dispatcher changes a sheet rather than starting the day again.
Questions people ask about dispatch scheduling software
What does dispatch scheduling software do?
Sizes each run from the stops, the windows and the stop and drive times, checks it against the driving limit and shows the headroom before the truck leaves. The free dispatch schedule on this site does that.
Does it order the stops for me?
No. It counts and sizes; the order is the dispatcher's. Route optimisation is a different product that pays at hundreds of stops a day with changing territories.
What if the run does not fit?
The headroom reads negative. Move a stop to another truck, split the run, or renegotiate a window; re-run the sheet and assign it when it fits.