Truck dispatch for small fleets: planning the day without chaos
Dispatch is turning tomorrow's bookings into a plan: which truck and which driver does which job, in what order, and what each driver needs to know. In a small fleet, it's usually the owner or one person in the office doing it, between phone calls. Done well, drivers start on time with everything they need and the phone stays quiet. Done badly, the day is spent untangling it.
Step 1: get every booking in one place
Bookings arrive by email, phone, text and sometimes in person. Before you plan, put every booking in one list with the same details:
- Customer and their reference (PO or job number)
- Pick-up and delivery addresses, with any site instructions
- Date, and any time window
- What the load is, and what truck it needs
- Contact on site
A booking missing one of these is a phone call during the job. Ask for it when the booking comes in.
Step 2: match trucks and drivers
Work from the jobs with the tightest constraints first:
- Jobs that need a particular vehicle, such as a crane truck or a semi
- Jobs with fixed time windows
- Jobs at sites with access limits, such as low clearance or no trailer access
- Everything else, grouped to cut empty running between jobs
Check each driver's hours as you go. Fatigue rules apply to the plan, not just the driver.
Step 3: share the plan the night before
Drivers should know their first job the evening before: where, what time, and what to bring. A message at 5am that changes the first job is how a day starts late. Send each driver their own run, not the whole board.
Step 4: track the day
Once trucks are out, the job is spotting problems early: a truck still waiting on site, a delivery running late, a driver who hasn't started. Live GPS and job status from the driver's phone mean you see it before the customer rings.
Step 5: handle changes cleanly
Things change: a site isn't ready, a customer moves a delivery, a truck breaks down. When a job moves, move the existing booking rather than creating a new one, so its history and reference stay with it. Tell the driver and the customer straight away.
Step 6: close each job properly
A job is done when the proof of delivery is in and the times are recorded, not when the truck leaves site. That's what lets you invoice the same day. See proof of delivery.
How TrakkHQ handles dispatch
TrakkHQ turns booking emails into jobs with AI, so bookings land on the scheduler without retyping. The ops board shows every truck, driver and job for the day, and jobs move between drivers with a drag. Drivers see their run in the driver app, and the office sees live GPS, waiting timers and job status as the day goes.
FAQ
When does a small fleet need dispatch software?
Usually once you're past two or three trucks, or when bookings arrive faster than one person can type them up. The whiteboard stops working when the plan changes more than once a day.
Should drivers see the whole day's board?
Their own run is enough. It keeps the message short and avoids confusion when other jobs move.
How far ahead should I plan?
Plan tomorrow by the afternoon before, and keep a rough view of the week so you can see which days are short of trucks.
This guide is general information. Plan within the heavy vehicle fatigue rules that apply to your drivers.