Dr Dispatch Review: Is It Right for Your Business?
Charlette has over 10 years of experience in accounting and finance and 2 years of partnering with HR leaders on freelance projects. She uses this extensive experience to answer your questions about payroll.
Robie has more than five years of content writing experience and specializes in writing about payroll and human resources software for small businesses.
This article is part of a larger series on Payroll Services.
Dr Dispatch is a fully featured and easy-to-use trucking management software designed for trucking companies, brokers, and carriers. It lets you manage dispatches, invoice customers, calculate driver payments, and track load, fuel, and maintenance transactions. Monthly fees start at $99 per user for its self-hosted/on-premise version and $129 per user for its cloud-based solution.
What We Like
- Easy to use
- Can calculate payroll for truck drivers
- Integrates with QuickBooks Accounting
- Generates International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) reports
- Offers self-hosted and cloud-hosted versions
What's Missing
- Doesn’t calculate payroll taxes
- Lacks HR and new hire onboarding tools
- Charges fees on per-user basis; can get pricey if you have many users
- Self-hosted version doesn’t work on Mac computers
- Interface looks dated
Deciding Factors
- Ease of use: Intuitive interface makes it relatively simple to learn and use
- Pricing:*
- Self-hosted/on-site version: $99 per month for the first user; $50 per month for each additional user
- Cloud-hosted version: $129 per user monthly for up to four users; $99 per user monthly for five and more users
- Software setup:
- Average setup takes around four hours (timelines can change depending on the number of user accounts needed)
- Requires assistance from Dr Dispatch’s implementation team for creation of logins and other requirements (such as system integration with partner software)
- System requirements:
- Runs on computers with at least the following:
- Intel Core i7 processor
- 8–16GB RAM memory
- Preferably a Microsoft Windows 10 operating system
- Windows Server 2016 (for self-hosted version)
- Runs on computers with at least the following:
*Pricing is based on a quote we received
What We Recommend Dr Dispatch For
Dr Dispatch has over 25 years of experience helping trucking and brokerage companies monitor dispatches, cash flow, equipment scheduling, trucking maintenance, driver payments, and IFTA reporting. It offers a transportation management software (TMS) that is easy to use and comes with good customer support.
In short, Dr Dispatch is best for:
- Moving companies, brokers, and other trucking businesses needing to calculate driver payments: Dr Dispatch can help you track and compute driver payments, allowing you to pay by mileage, weight, percentage, hour, and a flat rate. With its integration with QuickBooks, you can easily export driver settlement amounts for payment processing.
- Small trucking companies that manage invoicing in-house: Invoices are auto-generated with Dr Dispatch, plus you can export invoices and carrier bills to QuickBooks Accounting with just one click.
- Truckers delivering interstate loads: Dr Dispatch tracks fuel consumption by state and lets you create fuel reports, making it easy for you to handle IFTA reporting.
When Dr Dispatch Would Not Be a Good Fit
- Trucking businesses looking for a TMS with payroll and basic HR tools: While Dr Dispatch can calculate driver pay, it does not have payroll tax calculation and filing capabilities, nor does it offer basic HR tools, like new hire onboarding and time tracking. Check out our reviews on the top payroll software for trucking companies for better options.
- Large trucking companies: Because it charges by user, Dr Dispatch can get expensive if you need multiple users on the software simultaneously. For a more affordable option, consider TruckLogics, as its monthly fees start at $9.95–$29.95 for up to two trucks.
If you’re not sure Dr Dispatch or any trucking-specific software can serve your payroll needs, check out our reviews of the best payroll services for more options.
Dr Dispatch Pricing
Since our Last Update:
Dr Dispatch has included unlimited system upgrades and live tech support in both its software versions. These services were initially part of its “Software Assurance Plan,” an add-on that was priced at $699 per year. You can also access its optional modules for free (previously, these cost extra).
While Dr Dispatch’s pricing isn’t published on its website, you can easily call its sales team to request a quote. The sales rep I spoke with mentioned that monthly fees are based on the number of users you have and the software deployment option selected. There are two versions: cloud-hosted and self-hosted (on-premise) installation.
Software Deployment Options | Up to Four Users ($/Month)* | For Five+ Users ($/Month)* |
|---|---|---|
Self-hosted | $99 for the first user; $50 for each additional user | $50 per user |
Cloud-hosted | $129 per user | $99 per user |
*You get two months free if you pay annually (paid in a lump sum).
Both versions come with free installation, unlimited system updates, live tech and customer support, and full access to Dr Dispatch’s software. You can also get the following optional modules at no extra charge:
- Multi-user security
- Brokerage and trucking LTL planning
- Trucking maintenance
- Document scanning and attaching
- Online client freight tracking
- QuickBooks Accounting integration
- Fuel imports (via T-Chek, Comdata, and Fleetone)
- GPS track and trace features (via MacroPoint, PeopleNet, and FourKites)
- Carrier risk management and monitoring (via SaferWatch)
Dr Dispatch Features
Dr Dispatch offers both on-computer and online versions.
(Source: Dr Dispatch)
Dr Dispatch has a full-featured platform designed to take away a lot of the administrative headache of managing a trucking company. Let’s look at some of its essential features to help you determine whether it fits your business’ requirements.
Dr Dispatch has separate tabs for brokerage and trucking dispatch transactions.
(Source: Dr Dispatch)
You can input dispatches in the brokerage or trucking dispatch tabs. Both have similar features, but the brokerage tab has data fields for carriers, customers, shippers, and receivers, while the trucking tab contains information for drivers, equipment, customers, shippers, and receivers.
Its dispatch tool is intuitive and uses Autofill to help you enter information in each section quickly. You can begin entering a customer’s name by putting in the first letters, and it’ll list individuals in the database that you may be referring to. Load inputs are done in spreadsheet-style, plus it lets you know if insurances have expired. It saves information, and you can edit as needed, as well as add scanned-in documents to accounts.
Rate confirmations are easy, and once you have the information in, it creates a preview of the dispatch document for the client, which you can then print or email from the software. You can also send customers load sheets and provide delivery tracking.
With Dr Dispatch, client invoices are easy to create.
(Source: Dr Dispatch)
The system tracks account receivable and payable transactions, wherein invoices are automatically generated from the information already entered into the system. Invoices also export into QuickBooks, plus you can pull reports to see invoice history, aging, and more. You can even scan and attach documents to load, driver, equipment, and customer reports for easy reference.
Dr Dispatch allows you to select each driver’s pay type.
(Source: Dr Dispatch)
With Dr Dispatch, driver payments can be calculated by percent, miles, weight, hourly rate, and flat rate. Note that it does not compute, file, and remit payroll taxes, nor does it pay drivers by direct deposits. However, it integrates with QuickBooks, so if you have QuickBooks Payroll, you can pay your workers that way.
Dr Dispatch’s integration with MacroPoint allows you to track dispatches via cellphones, smartphones, and in-cab devices.
(Source: Dr Dispatch)
Dr Dispatch offers other modules to help you best manage all aspects of your trucking business. Here are some of its free add-on solutions.
- IFTA reports: This includes fuel card and mileage integrations—with fuel purchases importing to the fuel tax module.
- Trucker maintenance: You can schedule maintenance, see service notes, and scan documents.
- Fuel transaction files import: You can import from T-Chek, Comdata, or Fleetone. It can also charge the driver if they are an independent driver using your fuel card.
- Freightboard posting: It comes with a free 123LoadBoard Account.
- GPS tracking: Monitor dispatches and track the locations via MacroPoint, PeopleNet, and FourKites.
- Saferwatch carrier risk management and monitoring: With this module, brokers can qualify carriers and monitor safety and insurance through Dr Dispatch.
Dr Dispatch Ease of Use
- Instructional videos
- Implementation support for new users
- Online knowledgebase
- Helpful customer support
- New users get free software training (within the first 90 days of service)
- Self-hosted version doesn’t work on Mac computers
Signing up is easy, plus Dr Dispatch has an implementation team to help you install the software—regardless of whether you selected its cloud-hosted or self-hosted version. Setup takes around four hours, according to the sales rep I spoke with. Once you have the software, it only takes a few minutes to get your first load going. Take note that the self-hosted version doesn’t work on Mac computers, so you may be limited to their cloud-hosted option if you’re a Mac user.
Its software is also easy to learn and use, but the interface looks dated. However, many of its tools are intuitive, such as its auto-generated invoices and document attaching tool that allows you to drag-and-drop scanned docs to load transactions. And if you have questions, Dr Dispatch has a thorough knowledge base and how-to videos to walk you through the tasks. Online help is also available by email and phone. Dr Dispatch even asserts that it will respond to queries within 30 minutes, with most problems resolved within four minutes.
What Users Think About Dr Dispatch
Users Like | Users Don’t Like |
|---|---|
Easy to use | Search tool isn’t robust |
QuickBooks integration | |
Quick and knowledgeable support |
Many users who posted Dr Dispatch reviews online raved about its ease of use, adding that they didn’t need training to start using its software. They also said that its full-featured platform covers all the bases for effectively running their trucking company. However, one consistent dislike concerned the search function, with reviewers stating that it was too basic.
At the time of publication, Dr Dispatch earned the following scores on popular review sites:
- G2: 4.4 out of 5 based on a little over 10 reviews
- FeaturedCustomers: 4.7 out of 5 based on more than 1,300 reviews
Top Dr Dispatch Alternatives
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
Best for: Best for Southern and Eastern state trucking companies | Best for: Trucking businesses looking for full-service payroll | Best for: Trucking companies that use QuickBooks Accounting |
Monthly fees start from: $9.95–$29.95 for up to two trucks | Monthly fees start from: $39 plus $6 per employee; $6 per contractor (if paying only contractors) | Monthly fees start from: $45 plus $4 per employee |
Payroll add-on: Basic contractor check payments are free; Pro option costs $9 monthly | Payroll add-on: None | Payroll add-on: None |
Trucking-specific features: Robust | Trucking-specific features: Limited | Trucking-specific features: Limited |
If you’ve narrowed down your search to a few providers that can provide payroll support and need help making the best choice, follow our step-by-step guide on choosing the right payroll solution.
Bottom Line
Dr Dispatch is not the cheapest TMS on the market, but it offers great functions for brokers and small trucking companies in an easy-to-use interface that is well-regarded by real users. Prices start at $99 a month for its on-site version ($129 per user for its cloud-based solution), with discounted pricing for five and more users, plus two months free if you opt to pay annually.
Want to try Dr Dispatch? Contact its sales team to get a 14-day free trial today.
