DUMP TRUCK DISPATCH
Dump truck dispatch that keeps your trucks working past the busy season
Dump work lives on contractor relationships and the calendar. Our dump truck dispatch finds the jobs, checks the pay basis and the ticket rules, plans around the slow months, and brings every job to you first. Your truck only goes where you say it goes.
- Per hour
- Per ton
- Per load
UNIT 02
How dump work is paid, and what goes on the ticket
Most dump work isn't posted like van freight. It's booked by the day or the job, and the ticket is your invoice.
| Pay basis | Fits | What the ticket must show | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | Site work: excavation, paving, demolition | Start and stop times, breaks, foreman's signature | Unsigned tickets, disputed start times, a minimum day not agreed |
| Per ton | Quarry, plant and stockpile runs | Scale weight per load, material, date and truck number | Slow loaders and long lines that cut your loads per day |
| Per load | Short, repeat trips with known cycle times | Load count, pickup and dump site, signature | Trips that run longer than quoted with no adjustment |
Whatever the basis, compare jobs on one number: what your truck earns per working hour after fuel. A $9 per ton job with a quick loader and a short haul can beat a $110 hourly job with two hours of waiting that the contractor won't pay. The desk does that math on every offer and puts it on the card you see.
Tickets are where dump trucks lose money quietly. A missing signature or a lost scale ticket can turn into an unpaid day 30 days later. The desk collects ticket photos from your drivers daily, matches them to the job terms, and flags anything missing before the contractor bills the job. That is a big part of what the fee pays for.
Payment terms matter as much as the rate. Contractors and brokers pay on very different schedules, and some hold subcontractor pay until the general contractor pays them. Before you accept a job, the offer shows the pay basis, any minimum day, how waiting time is handled, who signs the tickets, and when you can expect payment. If a contractor has paid late before, we tell you that too, and you can price the job or skip it with that in mind.
UNIT 03
The same four trucks in a busy month and a slow one
Pick hourly or per ton, set your rate, then change the days each truck works. The gap between the two columns is what a winter plan has to cover.
Notice that the slow month doesn't hit every truck the same. The first trucks keep working because they're on the contractors' regular lists; the fourth truck sits. That's normal for a growing dump fleet, and it's why the fourth truck is the riskiest purchase. Its payment, insurance and registration don't stop when the work does.
For a full year by month, including fixed costs, use the trucking profit calculator and enter your slow months honestly.
Slow-season options the desk can work on with you: longer material hauls that brokers post (often per ton or per load at a lower daily rate), snow and salt work where your trucks and insurance allow it, and for end dumps, open-deck style freight like aggregate or scrap between cities. Each one changes your trucks' wear, your drivers' days and your insurance, so you choose.
EXAMPLE A tri-axle that worked 20 days in June works 9 in January. Two longer aggregate hauls a week at $650 each add 4 working days and about $2,600 gross to that month. Not June, but the payment gets made.
UNIT 04
Finding contractor work: what a desk does well, and what you do better
Here's the honest version. The best dump work in your area often comes from people who know you: the excavating contractor you've hauled for before, the paving crew that calls when they're short, the plant manager who likes your drivers. No dispatcher replaces those relationships, and we won't pretend to. Keep them. Tell us about them so we never book over them.
Where a desk helps is everything around them. We fill the days those contacts don't, chase down new contractors and haulers who need subcontract trucks, compare jobs on real hourly earnings, track tickets, and keep the next week planned so you're not on the phone at 5 a.m. finding work for truck four.
Trucks booked by habit
Tickets lost in the cab
Slow pay not tracked
Truck four with no plan
One rule-side note. A tri-axle or quad-axle dump truck is almost always over 26,000 lb GVWR, so drivers need a Class B CDL CDL Class BSingle vehicle GVWR 26,001 lb or more49 CFR 383.91(a)(2): any single vehicle with GVWR of 26,001 lb or more, or such a vehicle towing 10,000 lb GVWR or less.49 CFR 383.91Checked Oct 2026, or a Class A CDL Class AGCWR 26,001 lb or more, towing a unit over 10,000 lb GVWR49 CFR 383.91(a)(1): a combination with GCWR of 26,001 lb or more where the towed vehicle's GVWR is over 10,000 lb.49 CFR 383.91Checked Oct 2026 when pulling a dump trailer. That brings random drug and alcohol testing for those drivers FMCSA random testing rates, 202650% drug, 10% alcoholMinimum annual random testing rates for CDL drivers under 49 CFR 382.305, unchanged for calendar year 2026.U.S. DOT ODAPC, random testing rates, 2026Checked Oct 2026. If you're hiring your first driver, set that up before they haul.
Our opinion: don't buy a dump truck for the busy season you hope for. Buy it for the slow month you know is coming, with the payment covered by work you already have. The busy season then becomes profit instead of catch-up.
UNIT 05
Dump truck dispatcher questions
EXAMPLE A 9-hour day at $110 an hour grosses $990, and dispatch costs $39.60 for a fleet of two or more or $49.50 for one truck. No setup fee, no minimum, and nothing on jobs you turn down. Details are on the dispatch rates page.
01How does dump truck dispatch work?
The desk finds hauling work for your trucks: contractor jobs, material deliveries, and longer hauls that brokers post. We check the pay basis, the ticket rules and when you get paid, then bring each job to you. You decide whether your truck goes. Once you accept, the job confirmation or rate con comes to you, and we track the tickets so every hour or ton gets billed.
02Is dump truck work paid hourly or by the ton?
Both, plus per load. Hourly is common when trucks wait on an excavator or paver. Per ton suits steady material runs from a quarry or plant. Per load fits short, predictable trips. Which pays best depends on the cycle time, so we compare each job by what your truck earns per working hour.
03How many dump trucks can one dispatcher handle?
It depends on the work. Long jobs with one contractor for weeks need little daily attention, while short jobs that change every day need much more. Our desk runs your trucks alongside other carriers, so you pay a percentage of what each truck earns instead of a full salary for someone who sits idle in slow months.
04What insurance does a dump truck need?
If you haul for hire across state lines, federal liability minimums apply. Many dump trucks run only inside one state, where state rules set the minimums, and contractors often require higher limits plus general liability. Ask an agent who insures dump fleets. We aren't an insurer.
05Do you dispatch end dumps and side dumps?
Yes. Tri-axle and quad-axle straight dumps, end dump trailers, side dumps and belly dumps are all dispatched at the same fee. Tell us what each unit is and the desk only offers it jobs that fit its body and the site's unloading setup.
Every job offered, none forced
Tell us what you run and where. A dispatcher calls back with work for your dump trucks, and you approve each job before a truck rolls.
4% for 2+ trucks, 5% for one, 7% while your MC is new