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Dispatcher (Truck & Delivery)

$50,340
median / year
$36,030 – $78,140
what most earn per year (10th–90th percentile)

What the job actually is

Schedule and route drivers, track shipments, and handle delays and problems to keep freight moving.

You may also see this posted as: City Dispatcher, Dispatcher (Dispatch), Taxi Dispatcher, Train Dispatcher, Aircraft Dispatcher, Charter Coordinator.

Where you work

Trucking and delivery offices

The hours

Shifts, some nights and weekends

The day to day

What you'd actually spend time doing

  • Schedule or dispatch workers, work crews, equipment, or service vehicles to appropriate locations, according to customer requests, specifications, or needs, using radios or telephones.
  • Prepare daily work and run schedules.
  • Confer with customers or supervising personnel to address questions, problems, or requests for service or equipment.
  • Relay work orders, messages, or information to or from work crews, supervisors, or field inspectors, using telephones or two-way radios.
  • Receive or prepare work orders.

Good fit if you like…

Conventional

organizing information, following systems, and getting details right

Realistic

working with tools, equipment, materials, or the physical world

Enterprising

leading, persuading, selling, or turning an idea into action

O*NET job zone 2 of 5

Some preparation—often a high school credential and on-the-job learning—is usually needed.

Work styles that matter most

DependabilityAttention to DetailStress ToleranceCooperation

Software that shows up in the work

Examples employers report—not a checklist you must already know.

Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft WordKronos Workforce TimekeeperMicrosoft Access

By the numbers

May 2025 BLS wage & employment data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.

Median pay
$50,340
per year
Hourly median
$24.20
per hour
What most earn
$36,030–$78,140
yearly, 10th to 90th percentile
Openings a year
~18,500
projected, 2024–34
Outlook to 2034
-0.9%
Little change
Working in the U.S.
202,810
people, nationwide

Openings a year counts new jobs plus the ones that open when people retire or move on — a truer picture of your odds than growth alone.

“Median” means half earn more and half earn less. Your city, employer, and years on the job move it a lot — that is what the 10th-to-90th range shows.

BLS estimates 2.7% of workers in this occupation are self-employed.

What it pays in your state

Statewide medians are a better starting point than the national number. Your city and experience still matter.

BLS state wage tables

How you get in

Typical starting education

High school / no degree

Training path: On-the-job training, paid.

Related work experience: None.

On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training.

License or certification

No license required to start in most places.

You can earn while you train. This field has a genuinely paid pathway in — an apprenticeship, a paid academy, or employer-funded training — so you draw a paycheck instead of taking on debt to learn it.

Check the path where you live

Licensing rules and available programs change by state. These federal tools take you to the current official listings.

What it takes

CoordinationCommunicationProblem solvingComposure

The honest take

The coordination hub of a trucking operation — a desk job in freight that experience, not schooling, opens.

Standard Occupational Classification 43-5032. Pay and employment from the BLS May 2025 OEWS survey; outlook and openings from the 2024–34 employment projections; tasks, interests, work styles, software examples, and job zone from O*NET 30.3. See something off? Tell us.