Dispatcher invoicing

How to invoice carriers as a truck dispatcher

A dispatcher gets paid by sending the carrier a dispatch fee invoice, usually once a week. This page explains the two ways to charge, what goes on the invoice, a worked example with example numbers, and how LaneTally builds the weekly invoice from delivered loads and tracks what is paid and unpaid.

En español

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Information only. This page is general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Your written dispatch agreement with each carrier decides your fee and payment terms. Check with your accountant or an attorney.

Two invoices, two different jobs

A load creates two invoices, and they are easy to mix up:

• The freight invoice goes from the carrier to the broker, one per load. It is for the freight itself and comes with the signed BOL.
• The dispatch fee invoice goes from you, the dispatcher, to the carrier. It is for your work: finding and booking the loads.

This page is about the second one. Freight invoices are covered in truck dispatch software. Still setting up? Start with how to start a truck dispatch business.

Percent or flat fee: how dispatchers charge

There is no official dispatch rate. You and the carrier agree on a fee and write it in the dispatch agreement. The common ways to charge are:

• A percent of the load. A share of the load rate, for example 8% of a $2,400 load.
• A flat fee per load. The same dollar amount on every load, no matter the rate.
• A flat weekly fee. One amount per week, sometimes per truck, no matter how many loads ran.

A percent fee pays more on a high-paying load. A flat fee is easier for the carrier to predict. Whichever you pick, write down what the percent is figured on (the load rate, or the total freight with extras such as detention) and when the carrier pays.

What LaneTally supports today: a percent of the load rate, a percent of the total freight (rate plus extras), or a flat dollar amount per load. You set it for each carrier, and a new carrier starts at 8%, which you can change. LaneTally works out the fee per load and adds the loads of a week into one weekly invoice. A flat amount charged per week or per truck, independent of the loads, is not a built-in fee type today.

What goes on a dispatch fee invoice

If you build the invoice in a spreadsheet, this is a simple dispatcher invoice template to copy. Keep one invoice per carrier per period:

• Your business name, address, email and phone.
• The carrier's name and MC number.
• An invoice number that you never reuse, the invoice date and the period it covers (for example Monday to Sunday).
• The due date and how to pay you.
• One line per load: the load number, the broker, the delivery date, the load rate, your fee percent (or flat amount) and the fee in dollars.
• Credits from earlier weeks, if any, shown as their own lines.
• The total due, and your payment terms.

Example: one carrier, one week

These are example numbers only, to show how the math works. They are not real customers or real rates.

The carrier owes you $588.00 for the week. With a flat fee of $150 per load instead, the same three loads would be $450.00. Now say the broker refused $100 of Load 2 and you agreed to lower your fee for it. If that week's invoice was already sent, the $8.00 difference (8% of $100) is not changed on the sent invoice. It shows as a credit line on the carrier's next weekly invoice.

How LaneTally builds the weekly fee invoice

• One invoice per carrier per week. The week runs Monday to Sunday, and the invoice is due the Monday after, in one payment.
• Filled in from the loads. Every load the carrier delivers that week adds its rate, your fee percent and the fee. You do not type the loads again. A line also shows what is still coming from booked loads that are not delivered yet.
• Credit lines from short pays, shown as their own lines.
• Your own numbering. One number series for your whole business with a prefix you set (for example D-1001), and numbers are never reused.
• Download or print a finished invoice as a PDF. Emails open in your own email app for now, so you attach the file and send it. Sending with files attached from inside LaneTally is Coming at launch.

The fee uses one rule everywhere: the load, the "Worth it" check, the invoices and the books show the same number. A flat fee is never charged on a cancelled load.

Tracking paid and unpaid

Your My invoices page lists your weekly invoices with their status, so you can see at a glance what is sent, what is paid and what is still owed. When the carrier pays, you press Mark as paid. That puts the money in your own books, and in the carrier's books as a "Dispatch fees" expense. If you marked it by mistake, you can mark it not paid again.

The carrier owner sees the invoice only after you send it. Then the owner sees every load of the week with its rate, your percent and your fee, and the week total, and can open and download it but not change it. Your invoices, pay and books live on your My business pages, kept apart from carrier money and visible only to you.

Tips for getting paid on time

• Agree on terms before the first load. The fee, what it is figured on, the invoice day and how many days the carrier has to pay.
• Invoice on the same day every week.
• Decide short pays in advance. Say whether your fee goes down when a broker pays less, and write it in the agreement.

What LaneTally does not do

LaneTally does not collect the money, take card payments or chase the carrier for you. It builds and tracks the invoice. You and the carrier settle the payment the way you do today. The checklist above is for building your own; in LaneTally the invoice comes from your loads. The dispatcher screens are in English only.

See also driver pay and settlements and trucking accounting software.