Truck dispatch software for an owner-operator fleet of two to ten trucks is not a smaller TMS. It is the run sheet each driver carries, the board that says which truck has which load, and the roster that puts the drivers on the trucks, kept somewhere the drivers can read from the road. Dispatch trucking software sold per truck with a term and hardware in every cab is built for a hundred trucks and priced for them. This page is what a small trucking fleet needs from its dispatch software, what it should leave to the ELD and the accountant, and which free sheets on this site do the arithmetic before anything is paid for.
The run sheet, from the loads and the stops
A truck's day is its loads with their pickups and deliveries, the windows on them, and the stop and drive times between. The free dispatch schedule takes the trucks, the stops, the windowed stops, the loads and the times and returns each run's stops, its minutes and its headroom inside the federal driving limit. The owner-operator who drives one of the trucks sizes the other three runs before leaving on the fourth.
The board the drivers read from the road
Every truck and driver, every run with its loads and stops, and a status that moves from assigned to en route to delivered or exception. Runsheetly Pro keeps that board for the whole fleet at one price, with no per-truck fee, and each driver sees their own runs on the phone's browser rather than a text thread from six in the morning.
What dispatch trucking software should leave alone
The hours-of-service log is the ELD's, by rule. IFTA, fuel tax and the books are the accountant's. Load finding is the load board's. Cargo securement, size and weight are the driver's and the loader's under the federal rules the sources below set out. Truck dispatch software that tries to be all of them is a TMS with a term contract, and a small fleet pays for the parts it does not use.
Registration on every sheet
A carrier's USDOT number and operating authority identify it on every document the driver carries, and the run sheet and the roster in Runsheetly Pro carry the fleet's name, number and logo on the print. The free sheets print with the site's name on them; Pro prints with yours.
Questions people ask about truck dispatch software
What is the best truck dispatch software for three trucks?
The one that keeps the run sheet, the board and the roster at a flat price with no per-truck fee. Runsheetly's free sheets build the first and the third; Pro keeps all three.
Does truck dispatch software replace the ELD?
No. The ELD is required by rule for the hours-of-service log. Dispatch software plans the run to fit the limit; the log stays on the device.
Is dispatch trucking software the same as a TMS?
No. A TMS tenders loads, exchanges EDI and reports IFTA, priced per truck with a term. Dispatch software is the board and the roster; a small fleet needs those first.