Dr Dispatch is a fully featured and easy-to-use transportation management system (TMS) designed for trucking companies, brokers, and carriers. In addition to basic trucking features like dispatch management and load tracking, it includes driver settlement tools to pay contractors.
It also integrates with QuickBooks Online—allowing you to import and export freight and accounting data like carrier bills, driver pay settlements, and invoices between the two systems. In this Dr Dispatch review, we discuss the TMS’s pricing, pros and cons, and notable features to help you decide whether it’s the right solution for you.
Pros
- Is easy to use
- Can calculate payroll for truck drivers
- Generates International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) reports
- Offers self-hosted and cloud-hosted versions
- Integrates with QuickBooks Online
Cons
- Doesn’t calculate payroll taxes
- Lacks human resources (HR) and new hire onboarding tools
- Charges fees on per-user basis; can get pricey if you have many users
- Has a self-hosted version incompatible with Mac
- Has a dated interface
Supported Users | Trucking and brokerage companies that need driver payment calculation for processing trucking payroll |
Pricing | |
Free Trial | None, but a free demo is available |
Standout Features |
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Ease of Use | Intuitive interface makes it relatively simple to learn and use |
Customer Support | Email and phone support and self-help guides like knowledge base and how-to videos |
- 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 Online 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.
- QuickBooks Online users: You can import and export your trucking and accounting data, such as invoices, customers, and bills, between Dr Dispatch and QuickBooks—making Dr Dispatch one of our best QuickBooks Online trucking integrations.
- 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, which offers an affordable plan for large fleets with more than 15 trucks for only $119.95 per month. It is one of our top payroll software for trucking companies.
- Trucking businesses looking for full-service payroll: While Dr Dispatch can calculate driver pay, it does not have payroll tax calculation and filing capabilities. QuickBooks Payroll is a great alternative as it handles all of your payroll and tax calculations. You can even use it to prepare and remit payroll tax payments, file tax forms, and prepare year-end W-2s/1099s. Head to our QuickBooks Payroll review to see if it fits the bill.
- Trucking companies seeking a complete HR management solution: Dr Dispatch has no built-in HR management tools. Gusto, our best payroll software, is our most recommended HR payroll solution for trucking companies because it has robust HR tools—like time tracking, hiring, performance reviews, and support from HR experts. Read our Gusto review for more information.
If your primary focus is trucking accounting without the need for payroll, you might want to see our best trucking accounting software instead.
Dr Dispatch Alternatives
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
Best for: QuickBooks Online users and trucking companies that require full-service payroll | Best for: Trucking businesses looking for full-service HR solution | Best for: Large trucking companies that need a more affordable TMS |
Cost: From $45 base fee plus $6 per employee monthly | Cost: From $40 base fee plus $6 per employee monthly | Cost: $119.95 monthly for large fleets with more than 15 trucks |
If you think your trucking company can benefit from a general-purpose bookkeeping solution, check out our best small business accounting software.
Dr Dispatch Pricing
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.
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:
- Multiuser security
- Brokerage and trucking less-than-truckload (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 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 offers both on-computer and online versions. (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.
Dr Dispatch has separate tabs for brokerage and trucking dispatch transactions. (Source: Dr Dispatch)
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.
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.
With Dr Dispatch, client invoices are easy to create. (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 allows you to select each driver’s pay type. (Source: Dr Dispatch)
If you’re unsure whether Dr Dispatch or any trucking-specific software can serve your payroll needs, check out our reviews of the best payroll services for more options. If you don’t have any idea how to narrow down your options, you can read our guide to finding the right payroll solution.
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 Fleet One. 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’s integration with MacroPoint allows you to track dispatches via cellphones, smartphones, and in-cab devices. (Source: Dr Dispatch)
Dr Dispatch integrates with QuickBooks Online, allowing you to import and export your freight and accounting data between the two systems. You can import customers, carriers/vendors, and bills from Dr Dispatch to QuickBooks Online and vice versa.
When integrated with QuickBooks, you can easily transfer your data by clicking the import or export button in the selected module. Dr Dispatch then prepares the data with the appropriate mapping rules and configurations. Once the data is transferred, it becomes readily available within the corresponding sections in QuickBooks. For instance, exported customers will be recorded on the customer list, and exported carriers will appear as vendors in QuickBooks.
Import and Export buttons in Dr Dispatch
Additionally, the integration allows you to export contract driver pay information to maintain accurate records of driver earnings in QuickBooks. If you work with multiple drivers, you can transfer all their pay data in batch, instead of exporting each individual driver’s pay data one by one. From the driver pay list in Dr Dispatch, place a checkmark next to the driver pay you wish to transfer, and then click on QuickBooks Export.
Batch driver pay export from Dr Dispatch to QuickBooks
Dr Dispatch Ease of Use and Customer Service
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 Macs, so you may be limited to the 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.
Additionally, 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.
Dr Dispatch Reviews From Users
We read the most recent Dr Dispatch reviews online. Many users find the platform easy to use, and one user pointed out that their entry-level employee was able to quickly learn the program and do repetitive order entries. They also added that Dr Dispatch’s sales, development, and tech teams are all very responsive.
We found very few negative comments, such as the limited invoice customization. One user explained it’s difficult to edit invoices in Dr Dispatch—one good reason why we recommend getting the QuickBooks Online integration.
As of this writing, Dr Dispatch has the following ratings on several review websites:
- Software Advice[1]: 4.3 out of 5 based on around five reviews
- G2[2]: 4.4 out of 5 based on about 10 reviews
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, you can set up various elements, such as base pay, bonuses, hourly rates, mileage rates, and deductions.
Yes, you can export driver pay information to QuickBooks Online, which you can use to process payroll with a subscription to QuickBooks Payroll.
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.
User review references:
1Software Advice
2G2
