LTL Dispatch Software for Small Canadian Carriers: What to Look For
Most small LTL carriers in Ontario run dispatch out of a mix of Gmail, a spreadsheet and a whiteboard. It works until the day a tender is missed, a driver is double-booked, or a detention claim cannot be proven. Then the question becomes whether to move to dispatch software, and what to check before choosing one.
Here are the questions that matter for a carrier running roughly 10 to 80 trucks, in the order most dispatchers feel the pain.
1. Can it take tenders from your inbox?
Retyping a tender is the slowest part of the day. Brokers send loads as email, attachments and EDI-style messages. Software that makes you copy each one into a form simply moves the spreadsheet onto a screen. Look for intake that reads the tender from the connected inbox and creates the load, and, just as important, one that sends anything it is unsure about to a review list instead of guessing silently.
2. Does it handle shared LTL pickups?
LTL is not full-truckload. One truck often picks up for several customers or delivers to several stops, and a driver may be on a trip that spans more than one load. A board built only for single-pickup, single-delivery freight forces workarounds. Check how it assigns drivers per stop, how it groups loads into a trip, and how it treats a pickup that several loads share when it comes to waiting time.
3. Can dispatch see what is happening right now?
The board should show active loads with stop-level arrival and departure times, who is assigned where, and what still needs an ETA. If the status lives in a dispatcher's head or on a call log, it does not survive a shift change.
4. Does it keep proof of delivery with the load?
A load that is delivered but not documented is a load you cannot invoice cleanly. Look for a simple way for the driver or dispatch to get the signed delivery document attached to the right load without chasing photos through text threads.
5. How does it treat detention?
Software should help you document it, not decide for you. Waiting time is where carriers quietly lose money, and it is mostly a documentation problem. The useful version records arrival and departure, applies the free time from that load's rate confirmation, calculates the charge from confirmed times, and keeps the record for the invoice. Be wary of any tool that contacts a broker on its own the moment a clock runs out, because a stale time on the board is not proof the truck is still waiting. A dispatcher should confirm before a notice goes out. We cover the arithmetic in how to calculate detention charges in Canada.
6. Will it work next to what you already use?
If you already have a transportation management system, a full replacement is a big project. Ask whether the software can run beside it for a trial period, or whether it expects to become the only system of record on day one. If you have no TMS, ask whether it can be that system on its own.
7. What does it cost, and what does the trial look like?
Per-user and per-truck pricing add up quickly for a small fleet. Ask for the price per month for your whole team, whether every dispatcher is included, and what a short trial looks like. A short, measured trial on real loads tells you more than any demo.
A short checklist
- Reads tenders from your inbox and sends uncertain ones to review.
- Handles shared pickups, multi-stop trips and per-stop driver assignment.
- Shows stop-level times and ETAs on one dispatch board.
- Keeps proof of delivery attached to the load.
- Records detention from confirmed times, with a human confirming before notices go out.
- Runs beside your current tools, or replaces them cleanly.
- Has clear pricing for the whole team and a short trial.
FleetOS is a lite TMS built in Ontario for independent Canadian LTL carriers, with Gmail tender intake, a dispatch board, trips, proof of delivery and detention records on one system. See the FleetOS overview or apply for a 30-day pilot.