Five track-and-trace reps making 40 status calls a day each, at 4 minutes a call with the TMS update, spend about 4,333 hours a year on them. At a loaded dispatcher wage, that comes to $140,000. We found no public benchmark, so the operational defaults are ours.
Your reps spend about 4,333 hours ($136,327) a year on 200 check calls a working day, at 4 minutes each with 40% needing a second attempt. An agent that takes over 80% of the hands-on work gives back about 3,050 hours ($95,953) a year.
- Staff hours, per year: 4,333
- Hours per rep, per working day: 3.5
- Full-time staff it takes: 2.1
- Of those, hours on second attempts: 1,000
- Cost per check call: $2.73
- Hours back with an agent, per year: 3,050
- Staff cost back with an agent, per year: $95,953
How the number is worked out.
The model counts the minutes a person spends getting a status and keying it in: the dial, the voicemail, the callback, the TMS note. It does not price late pickups, missed appointments or the shipper call that follows a stale status.
- 01Calls a year. Reps times calls per rep per working day times 250. A 2026 review of the public record found no benchmark for calls per load or per rep, so the default is from our own engagements.
- 02Minutes each. A call that connects takes a couple of minutes. One that reaches voicemail takes a minute and comes back as a second attempt. The default is 4 minutes including the TMS update.
- 03Second attempts. Calls that reach voicemail or a driver who cannot talk, and have to be made again. The default is 40% at 3 minutes.
- 04What the time costs. Hours times the median dispatcher wage from the federal wage tables, plus 30% for benefits and overhead.
- 05What automation leaves. An agent reads location from the ELD or tracking link where there is one, texts or calls the driver where there is not, and writes the status into the TMS. A person handles the exceptions.
The defaults.
Dials you change are marked in colour. The last column says where each default comes from and what kind of source it is.
| Dial | Yours | Default | Where the default comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dispatchers or track-and-trace reps | 5 | 5 | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Check calls per rep per working day | 40 | 40 | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Minutes per call, including voicemail and the TMS update | 4 | 4 | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Calls that need a second attempt | 40% | 40% | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Minutes per second attempt | 3 | 3 | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Dispatcher hourly wage | $24 | $24 | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, via O*NET, 2025 Official |
| Benefits and overhead on top | 30% | 30% | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Hands-on time an agent takes over | 80% | 80% | JRW, 2026 Our default |
| Human review per item after automation | 0.5 | 0.5 | JRW, 2026 Our default |
Sources.
No independent public benchmark exists for check calls per load, per rep or per minute. Vendor case studies report large reductions from automation, none audited. The wage is federal. The rest is ours.
Our defaults. We found no published benchmark, so each operational default is a round number from our engagements: five reps, each making forty calls a day at four minutes a call, with the calls and minutes set low. Log a week of your own calls and use those numbers instead. How we set defaults.
- JRW default. JRW, 2026. No public benchmark we trust. The number is a round figure in the range we see in engagements, chosen so the headline errs low. Replace it with your own. Source
- Dispatchers, except police, fire and ambulance, median wage. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, via O*NET, 2025. Median $24.20 an hour, $50,340 a year, May 2025, as reproduced by O*NET from the BLS wage tables. Before benefits and overhead. Source
Also consulted
- The freight status gap: check-call automation in 2026. Let's Ask Claire, 2026. A review that found no independent public benchmark for check calls per load, calls per rep or minutes per call. Vendor case studies report 41% to 100% reductions in manual calls, none independently audited. Our defaults are therefore our own. Source
- Customer service representatives, median pay. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025. Median pay $21.53 an hour, $44,770 a year, May 2025. Source
Where the minutes go.
-
The call that reaches a driver
A location, an ETA and a note in the TMS. Where the carrier runs an ELD or shares a tracking link, an agent reads it and writes the status without a call. How we cut check calls in your TMS.
-
The call that reaches voicemail
In the default, two in five calls reach voicemail. The agent texts the driver instead, reads the reply, and escalates to a person only when a load is at risk.
-
The shipper asking where it is
A stale status brings a second call, from the customer. When the agent writes the status the moment it changes, the shipper can read it in the portal before calling.
Questions.
- Where does 40 calls a day come from?
- It comes from our engagements; we found no published study. A 2026 review of the public record found no benchmark for calls per load, per rep or per minute. The figures that circulate are vendor worked examples. Count a day on your desk and put it in.
- Why four minutes?
- The call is only part of it. Dial, hold, voicemail, callback and the TMS entry add up. A connected call runs two to three minutes and the update takes the rest. If your reps log their time, use theirs.
- Does this include the cost of a late load?
- No. The model prices dispatcher minutes only. A missed delivery appointment, a detention charge or a shipper who moves their freight are on top, and usually larger.
- What about carriers with no tracking?
- They are why the calls exist. An agent that texts the driver and reads the reply covers most of them. The rest still need a person, which is why the default leaves 0.5 minutes of review per call and automates 80% of the hands-on time.
“Copy a link” puts your dials in the address, and we store nothing. A browser agent that supports WebMCP can run this calculator as estimate_check_call_cost. How the calculators work.
Get the status without calling the driver.
Tell us your TMS and how your carriers share location, and we’ll show you which check calls an agent can replace. Fixed price per automation. If the first one misses the scope we agreed, you don’t pay.
Book a call (opens in a new tab)Related: Check calls in freight: how to make fewer · AI check calls and load entry for freight brokers