What Dispatch Software Really Costs a 20 to 40 Truck Fleet
The short answer. Trucking dispatch software for a 20 to 40 truck fleet is quoted three ways. Per seat runs $69 to $199 a month for every person who logs in. Per truck runs $22 to $34 a month for every power unit. Flat tiers run $130 to $499 a month for the whole fleet, and some systems are built one module at a time for a fixed price. On public price lists checked in October 2026, a 30 truck carrier with five people in the office lands between $345 and $1,020 a month before integrations, load boards and setup. One full platform publishes a starting price of $2,080 a month.
Price is the first thing every carrier asks us and almost no vendor answers it on their website. Several of the best known systems in trucking publish no price at all. So we read the price lists that are public and did the arithmetic for a fleet your size.
Per seat pricing, and why it charges you for growing
Dispatch needs a login. So does billing. So does safety, and so does the person who chases paperwork. On a seat model every one of them is a line on the invoice, which means the bill follows the size of your office, not your revenue.
The published rates we found run from $69 to $199 per user per month, depending on the tier. For a 30 truck fleet with five logins that is $345 to $995 a month. Hire a second dispatcher and a billing clerk and the same software costs 40 percent more, without a single truck added.
This is the model we paid under when we ran our own trucks. We paid for eight seats at about $1,000 each. That is $8,000 a month for a system that did less than the one we build today, and it is the reason Buoy TMS is priced differently.
Per truck pricing
Per truck is easier to forecast, because trucks change less often than staff. One public list runs $22 to $34 per truck per month on annual billing, with unlimited logins. Another charges $299 a month for the first ten trucks and $30 for each truck after that, which puts a 30 truck fleet at $899.
Check what counts as a truck before you compare quotes. Some lists say "asset" instead of "truck", so ask whether trailers are billed. Ask the same about owner operators and about units that are parked for the season.
A variation is pricing per load. One vendor publishes $3.95 per load with no per truck or per user fee. That is cheap in a slow month and adds up in a busy one: 400 loads is $1,580.
Flat or modular pricing
Flat tiers charge one number for a fleet size band. On the lists we read, a basic system is $130 a month for any fleet of eight trucks or more, and a fuller one is $299 a month up to 19 trucks and $499 up to 30, with a custom quote above that. One platform that covers dispatch, billing and customer portals in a single product starts at $2,080 a month.
Modular pricing is what we do at Buoy. You do not buy the whole system on day one. You start with the one module that is costing you money, we scope it in a paid discovery week, and you see a fixed price before anything is built. Most single modules go live in two to five weeks. We do not post a price list, because the number depends on the module and on your integrations, but the price is tied to the module you are building, not to a count of logins.
The costs nobody quotes
The subscription is the part of the bill you can see. These are the parts that show up later.
Onboarding and implementation. Free on several lists. One vendor starts at $2,500 and adds integrations, EDI and training on top.
Data migration. None of the price lists we read puts a number on moving your customers, drivers and open loads. Get it in writing.
Integrations. EDI is usually priced apart. One list charges $499 per connection, others include one or two trading partners and bill for each one after that. Your accounting software stays a separate subscription.
Load boards. Not included. Carrier plans on the largest load board run $59 to $339 a month.
Minimum terms. The range is wide: month to month, annual billing, and at one fleet technology provider a three year contract paid upfront for small fleets. Ask what you owe if you leave early.
Then there are the bills that come from missing information, not from software. Ocean carriers charge $200 to $300 per container per day once free time runs out, on the 2025 and 2026 US import tariffs of two major lines. Chassis run $24 to $30 a day in two East Coast port pools. One container that sits three days too long at $200 a day is $600, about what the software itself costs for a month.
Detention works the same way. The American Transportation Research Institute found that 94.5 percent of fleets charge detention fees and are paid on fewer than half of those invoices. A system that puts last free day, chassis and hours on the load in front of dispatch pays for itself there, not in the license line. If the gap is people more than software, our nearshore dispatch and back office teams cover check calls, billing and paperwork in your hours.
What a 20 to 40 truck fleet should budget
Fleet | Per seat | Per truck | Flat tier |
|---|---|---|---|
20 trucks, 4 logins | $276 to $796 | $440 to $680 | $130 to $499 |
30 trucks, 5 logins | $345 to $995 | $660 to $1,020 | $130 to $499 |
40 trucks, 7 logins | $483 to $1,393 | $880 to $1,360 | $130, or by quote |
Monthly, United States, before add-ons. Per seat uses $69 to $199 per user, per truck uses $22 to $34 per truck. These are published list prices, not a Buoy price list, and several large vendors only quote on request. Add a load board, EDI and setup and the first year looks different from the monthly number.
Eight questions to ask before you sign
Take these into any demo, ours included.
Who counts as a user, and what does the next login cost?
Ask for the price of adding a dispatcher, a billing clerk and a safety manager. If each one adds $69 to $199 a month, growth has a software tax.
What counts as a truck?
Get the definition in writing. Trailers, owner operators and parked units are billed on some plans and free on others.
What does onboarding cost and what does it include?
Public lists range from free to $2,500 and up. Ask how many hours of setup and training that buys, and what happens after they run out.
Who moves our existing data, and what does that cost?
No public price list we read covers migration. Ask who loads your customers, drivers, equipment and open loads, and whether it is priced.
Which integrations are included?
Go through ELD, accounting, EDI and load boards one at a time. EDI alone can be $499 per connection.
What is the minimum term, and what do we owe if we leave?
Terms run from month to month to three years paid upfront. Ask for the cancellation clause before the demo ends.
Does every load carry last free day, chassis and per diem risk?
If your work touches a port or a rail ramp, this matters more than the license price. One late container at $200 a day erases a month of savings.
What will this cost when we are at 40 trucks?
Have the vendor price your fleet today and again with ten more trucks and two more people in the office. The gap between the two numbers tells you which model you are buying.
See it on your own loads
Bring three real loads to a 30 minute walkthrough. We run them through live, with your lanes, your customers and your rates, and you leave knowing what the first module would cost. Book a walkthrough.
Where the numbers come from: public price lists of nine trucking software vendors, the US import detention tariffs of two ocean carriers, two port chassis pool notices and the American Transportation Research Institute detention study, all read in October 2026. Prices change, so confirm any figure with the vendor before you budget.
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