Automated check-calls: the honest ROI math.
The brokerage we're modeling
A representative SMB freight brokerage: 8 dispatchers, 200 loads in active transit at any given time, dispatcher fully-loaded cost roughly $48,000/year. This is the shape the math is most honest about — small enough that check-calls are still a meaningful share of the day, large enough that automation changes the staffing equation.
Step 1 — The manual workload, sized honestly
Our own estimate, from dispatching the founders' fleet, puts the typical check-call cadence at 4 to 6 per load per day for active loads — once before pickup confirmation, two or three during transit, once on-arrival at delivery, plus the one a shipper triggers when they call asking where the load is. Call it 5 per active load.
A 200-load active book is therefore 1,000 check-call attempts per day. Not all of them succeed on the first try — drivers don't pick up, the call goes to voicemail, callbacks happen — but the manual workload is sized off the attempts, not the connections.
Step 2 — Dispatcher minutes per call
A real manual check-call, dialed by a dispatcher who knows the driver, gets through, and captures the answers, runs roughly 2 to 4 minutes. Call it 3 minutes average including the inevitable short chitchat. The dispatcher then spends another 30–60 seconds updating the TMS load record with what they heard. Call it 4 minutes per completed check-call, end to end.
Connection rate on cold check-calls in freight runs around 60–70% per attempt. At 65% connection rate, 1,000 attempts becomes 650 completed check-calls per day, or 2,600 dispatcher-minutes per day on the check-call workload. That's 43 dispatcher-hours per day, or ~1.1 to 1.4 full-time-equivalent dispatcher seats absorbed into the check-call workload — quietly, without showing up on anyone's job description.
Step 3 — What that costs in real money
1.2 FTE × $48,000 fully-loaded annual cost = $57,600 per year the brokerage is spending on manual check-calls. At higher dispatcher cost basis ($60K loaded), the number lands closer to $72K. At a slightly more conservative 1.0 FTE estimate, it's $48K. The honest band is roughly $48,000–$72,000 per year.
Step 4 — What automation actually costs
Two pricing patterns in the AI check-call market in 2026:
- Standalone per-call voice-AI platforms: $0.25 to $1.50 per call depending on length and volume tier. 1,000 attempts/day at $0.50/call = $500/day = ~$15,000/month or $180,000/year at the high end of usage. Doesn't pencil for SMB unless the per-call rate is much lower.
- Bundled into the broker TMS (per-load or flat pricing): check-calls included in the base price. Keelway AI at $799/mo includes the check-call module — a 200-load brokerage covers ~600 loads of inbound volume monthly + the active check-call workload for ~$600/month or $7,200/year all-in. The TMS-bundled plan ($799/mo flat) is another $12K/year flat regardless of volume.
Step 5 — The break-even, plainly
Bundled-pricing AI check-calls at $7K–$12K/year vs $48K–$72K/year in dispatcher labor. The break-even isn't close — even at the most conservative end (1.0 FTE absorbed at $48K, AI at $12K), the savings is $36,000/year. At the mid-case (1.2 FTE at $60K loaded, AI bundled at $7K), it's $65,000/year. Per-call standalone platforms only pencil for brokerages who genuinely can't consolidate into a bundled stack.
That said: the honest framing isn't "fire 1.2 dispatchers." The brokerages we've seen run this play successfully keep the dispatch headcount and reallocate the recovered capacity to load coverage. Same team, meaningfully more loads covered — typically the difference between "need to hire another dispatcher to keep up" and "can absorb 25% volume growth without adding anyone." The ROI shows up as load-volume growth without headcount growth, not as a headcount cut.
What the AI doesn't cover
Free-form problem-solving. Broken-down trucks. Rejected loads. Paperwork disputes. Carrier-relationship work. Shipper-side escalations. All of those still require a human dispatcher making a human call. The AI catches the scheduled predictable-shape workload (~70–80% of total check-call volume on a well-run book) and escalates the exceptions to the human. That's the right division of labor — not a replacement story, an unburdening story.
Where to dig further
