Payment Flow Visualizer
See exactly where every load dollar goes.
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross revenue (line haul + FSC) | $2,000 |
| Dispatch fee | -$120 |
| Tolls | -$20 |
| Lumper fee | -$0 |
| Fuel cost | -$280 |
Get More Out of the Payment Flow Visualizer
See Every Deduction in the Order It Happens
Dispatch fee, factoring fee, tolls, lumper, and fuel cost all come off in sequence, and each one shrinks the base the next deduction is calculated from.
Factoring Fees Stack on Top of Dispatch Fees
When you factor a load that's already gone through a dispatcher, the factoring fee applies to what's left after the dispatch fee, not to the original gross revenue.
Fuel Cost Is Usually the Last and Largest Cut
After every fee and accessorial is subtracted, fuel cost for the trip typically takes the biggest remaining bite before you see your final net number.
Payment Flow Visualizer: Formula, Benchmarks, and a Worked Example
It's easy to focus on the line-haul rate a broker offers and lose track of everything that gets deducted before that money actually lands in your account. Dispatch fees, factoring fees, tolls, lumper fees, and fuel cost all take a bite in a specific order, and seeing that full sequence laid out makes it obvious why a rate that sounded solid can leave you with a lot less than expected. This calculator walks a single load's payment through every deduction step by step so nothing gets buried in a lump-sum settlement statement.
What This Tool Actually Shows
A load's settlement isn't a single subtraction, it's a sequence of deductions applied one after another, and the order matters because a percentage-based fee like factoring calculates off whatever's left after the fee before it, not off the original gross. This tool visualizes that full chain step by step, from gross revenue down to what actually lands in your pocket.
The Formula Behind This Calculator
Gross revenue is your line-haul rate plus fuel surcharge. Dispatch fee is gross revenue multiplied by your dispatch fee percentage, and subtracting it gives the amount after dispatch. If you're using factoring, the factoring fee is calculated on the amount after dispatch, not on gross revenue, and subtracting it gives the amount after factoring; if you're not factoring, this step is skipped entirely and the amount after dispatch carries forward unchanged.
From there, tolls and lumper fee are both subtracted as flat dollar amounts to get the amount after accessorials. Finally, fuel cost for the trip is subtracted from that to arrive at net to driver, the number that actually represents what you take home from the load.
Realistic Industry Benchmarks
Dispatch fees commonly run 5 to 10 percent of gross revenue, and factoring fees, when used, typically add another 2 to 5 percent on top of whatever's left after dispatch. Fuel cost varies enormously by trip length and truck efficiency, but it's frequently the single largest deduction in the whole chain once dispatch and factoring fees are accounted for, since those are percentage-based on a per-load basis while fuel scales with distance.
A Worked Example
This calculator's own defaults are a $1,850 line-haul rate, a $150 fuel surcharge, a 6 percent dispatch fee, factoring turned off, $20 in tolls, $0 in lumper fee, and $280 in fuel cost. Gross revenue is $1,850 plus $150, which is $2,000.
Dispatch fee is $2,000 times 6 percent, which is $120, leaving $1,880 after dispatch. With factoring off, that step is skipped and $1,880 carries forward. Subtracting $20 in tolls and $0 in lumper fee brings it to $1,860 after accessorials. Subtracting $280 in fuel cost gives a final net to driver of $1,580.
Out of $2,000 in gross revenue, $1,580 makes it to the driver, meaning $420 across dispatch fee, tolls, and fuel cost was deducted along the way, roughly 21 percent of gross revenue.
Why Watching the Full Flow Matters More Than the Headline Rate
Two loads with the identical line-haul rate can leave very different amounts in your pocket depending on dispatch fee percentage, whether factoring is involved, and how far the truck has to run on fuel. Comparing loads by the full payment flow rather than just the posted rate gives a much more accurate picture of which load is actually worth taking.
Common Mistakes With Reading a Settlement
The most common mistake is comparing loads by gross revenue alone without accounting for dispatch fees, factoring fees, and trip-specific fuel cost, which can make a high-rate load look better than a lower-rate load that's actually shorter and cheaper to run. The second is forgetting that a factoring fee calculates off the post-dispatch amount rather than the original gross, which understates the real factoring cost if calculated the wrong way by hand.
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What Owner-Operators Say
“I always wondered where the gap between the rate I was quoted and what actually hit my account went. Seeing the steps laid out in order made it click.”
“Comparing two loads by gross rate used to trip me up. Running them both through this showed the shorter, cheaper-to-run load actually netted more.”