Drayage Dispatch Software: 7 Picks for Small Carriers 2027

Short answer: pick the category before the brand

Drayage dispatch software assigns and tracks short container moves between a port or rail ramp and a customer, and it carries the terminal appointments, container status, chassis charges and invoices that come with each move. For a small carrier, the first decision is the category: a drayage-specific platform that models terminal and chassis work, or a general small-fleet dispatch tool that handles loads, drivers and invoices but says little about terminals. The category matters more than the brand, because a wrong fit shows up as a dispatcher re-keying terminal data every day rather than as a line on the monthly bill.

TL;DR: if most of your trucks move containers through port or rail terminals, shortlist DrayMate, TMSEZ and PortPro, because their public pages describe container status and terminal work. If drayage is a small share of mixed freight, Alvys and TruckLogics are simpler to price. Get a written quote from every drayage platform, since most of them do not publish a price.

This guide covers seven tools a small carrier can evaluate today: DrayMate, TMSEZ, PortPro, Alvys, TruckLogics, Truckbase and Rose Rocket. It is a desk review of public vendor pages and a few independent listings, not a hands-on trial. The feature matrix therefore says "Not listed" where a page is silent, and a missing line on a marketing page does not prove that a product lacks the feature.

Key Takeaways

• Choose a drayage-specific platform when container status, terminal appointments and chassis charges drive most of your dispatch work. Choose a general tool when they do not.

• TMSEZ is the only drayage vendor here with a per-unit figure on a source this guide could open, and two independent listings disagree on whether that unit is a truck or a driver.

• Alvys and PortPro do not publish a dollar figure on the pages reviewed here, so both need a written quote before any comparison is fair.

• The San Pedro Bay ports require every truck entering a marine terminal to be on the Port Drayage Truck Registry, so registry status belongs in the truck record.

• EDI, GPS and integration fees appear as add-ons on several vendor pages, so ask for each one as a line item before you sign.

• A proposed intake and billing workflow is designed to reduce re-keying, but it adds a build and maintenance cost that a packaged tool does not carry.

How we evaluated these tools

Each tool was scored on six weighted criteria using only the public evidence described in this guide. No vendor was scored from a demo or trial. The weights reflect what a small carrier has to get right in the first months of use, not the features a vendor advertises most.

Drayage workflow fit is weighted highest because it is the reason a drayage tool exists at all. Pricing carries 20% because a vendor that publishes a figure gives the buyer something to check, and a quote-only vendor should still be compared on the other criteria.

Feature matrix: what each public page describes

"Not listed" means the pages reviewed here did not describe the feature. It does not prove the feature is missing, so confirm each blank with the vendor. Container status and terminal appointments are the two columns that separate drayage-specific tools from general dispatch.

Port rules that shape the software you need

The Port of Los Angeles says that all trucks entering marine terminals must be on the Port Drayage Truck Registry. Clean Truck Fund rate: $10 per TEU according to Port of Los Angeles (page checked October 26, 2026). That is one twenty-foot equivalent unit, and zero-emission trucks are exempt from it. Low-NOx trucks registered by December 31, 2022 keep an exemption until December 31, 2027, so a dispatch record that cannot show registry and exemption status forces a dispatcher to check the port's requirements by hand before each move.

A trade report dated August 31, 2026 describes a state change that is easy to misread. CARB agreed in 2025 to repeal the drayage requirements of the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, while the port registry and per-container fees remain fully in effect, according to Container News (2026). The article says the repeal had to be finalized by August 31, 2026, and this guide did not confirm that it was. Check the status before you buy equipment on the assumption that either rule applies.

Where dispatch breaks for small drayage fleets

Intake is the first place small drayage fleets lose time. A proposed, configurable workflow from US Tech Automations would start when a booking email or an Excel order arrives from a customer, then parse the container number, terminal, last free day and appointment window into a draft load. The output is a draft load in the carrier's TMS and a driver notice, but only after a dispatcher confirms the container number and appointment window. The prerequisites are a documented write API or CSV import in the TMS and sample order files from the carrier, so the parser can be checked against real layouts. Any mismatch between a parsed appointment and the terminal's data goes to an exceptions queue instead of being dispatched automatically.

Billing is the second place. A proposed workflow would start when a load changes to delivered or a proof-of-delivery file is uploaded, then build a draft invoice from the carrier's rate table and list waiting time, chassis per-diem and terminal charges as separate lines. Its output is a draft invoice in the accounting system, flagged wherever a charge has no matching receipt. The prerequisites are a rate export, an accounting connection (QuickBooks Online is the common case among the tools above) and agreed accessorial codes. Human review stays in the loop: someone approves each rate and accessorial line, and the design does not send an invoice to a customer on its own.

Vendor profiles

Each profile separates what the vendor's pages say from this guide's reading of what that means for a small carrier.

DrayMate

Public data: DrayMate's own site describes a cloud TMS for drayage carriers, with dispatch that covers pre-pulls, yard stops and drops, container track and trace with ETAs and last free storage dates, PDF invoices built from your own rates per location, and driver apps for Android and iOS. The site says a GPS license is an add-on and that new EDI or API integration requests are paid services. It does not publish a price, and a ToolRadar listing says pricing requires a demo request, according to ToolRadar (page updated October 25, 2026).

Analysis: DrayMate is the best fit for a drayage-only fleet that runs intermodal orders and wants container status and invoicing in one place. Its paid add-ons mean the final cost depends on how many integrations you need, so ask for a line-item quote. The site lists free training and free support, which should be written into the contract.

TMSEZ

Public data: TMSEZ's site describes a browser-based system for drayage, intermodal, truckload, LTL and brokerage. It pulls container availability, ETAs, holds, last free days and TIRs from port and rail sites, audits chassis rental bills, tracks per-diem, demurrage and detention, and includes a driver app and built-in invoicing. EDI is an add-on with an extra monthly fee that the site does not quantify. Published TMSEZ rate: $15 per unit monthly according to ToolRadar (2026), which lists it per truck. Software Finder lists the same $15 per driver with a $75 monthly minimum, according to Software Finder (page checked October 26, 2026).

Analysis: TMSEZ fits a fleet that runs drayage alongside truckload or brokerage and needs chassis auditing in the same system. The unit is unresolved, so get it in writing, along with the EDI fee. The site says there is no setup fee and no contract. Settlement features appear in a customer testimonial rather than the vendor's feature list, so confirm them directly.

PortPro

Public data: PortPro's homepage describes an AI dispatcher that builds and adjusts dispatch schedules, load-level GPS tracking with alerts as containers approach last free day, terminal appointment suggestions with ETAs and container size pulled from terminal websites, and same-day invoicing when a load is completed. The homepage does not mention chassis handling and does not describe EDI. Its ROI calculator shows no software price, according to PortPro (page checked October 26, 2026), and it invites a demo.

Analysis: PortPro is the strongest fit on this list for a terminal-heavy operator that wants appointment suggestions and automated invoicing. The missing chassis and EDI information is the main gap, so confirm both before you assume the tool covers the full move. Pricing is quote-based, so the implementation question to ask is how the tool handles your own terminal appointments in a live demo.

Alvys

Public data: Alvys's pricing page says you pay per load, not per user, that implementation and integrations carry no extra cost, and that users are never locked in. Pricing is quoted based on the volume of loads, and the entry tier includes a 14 day free trial, according to Alvys (page checked October 26, 2026). Its API documentation says a load update must carry the current ETag in an If-Match header and returns a 428 status when that header is missing, according to Alvys API docs (page checked October 26, 2026).

Analysis: Alvys is a sound fit for a small or mid-size fleet that runs mostly line-haul and wants a per-load model with a documented API. The pricing page describes no chassis, terminal or container-tracking features, so drayage fit depends on what the vendor confirms in writing. If you plan to build a sync, the ETag rule is a development requirement to price in.

TruckLogics

Public data: TruckLogics's pricing page lists plans by truck count, billed yearly or monthly, with a free trial on the truck-count plans. Its features include dispatch, a driver app for dispatches and expenses, invoicing, ELD imports from Motive and Samsara, and IFTA reporting. Band for 3-7 trucks: $71.96 a month according to TruckLogics (page checked October 26, 2026), billed yearly. Larger fleets are quoted individually.

Analysis: TruckLogics is the simplest published-price option here for a small mixed-freight fleet that does not run terminal workflows. The page lists no container, chassis, terminal or EDI features, and it says the company does not offer refunds, so check that before you sign. The trial lets a buyer test dispatch and invoicing, but not terminal workflows.

Truckbase

Public data: Truckbase's pricing page lists dispatch, ELD and truck tracking, invoicing, a customer portal and driver settlement among its solutions. It describes pricing options per truck, per driver, per load, flat annual and custom. Its stated minimum is $290 a month billed annually, according to Truckbase (page checked October 26, 2026), and it offers a free demo rather than a trial. The page says onboarding and implementation are free.

Analysis: Truckbase suits a small fleet that wants dispatch and driver settlements from one vendor. The page lists no container, chassis, terminal or EDI features and does not mention a driver app, so ask those questions before comparing it with a drayage platform. The minimum applies even to a small fleet, so a one- or two-truck operation pays more per truck than the same figure suggests.

Rose Rocket

Public data: Rose Rocket's pricing page lists a Full Service Platform with unlimited users, automations, order, dispatch, tracking and invoicing, and integrations for ELD, accounting and EDI, with an Enterprise tier at custom pricing. The starting price is set out in the pricing section below. The page does not mention a free trial.

Analysis: Rose Rocket is built for larger operations that need workflow customization. Its starting price is the highest on this list by a wide margin, so a small drayage carrier should not begin the search here unless a larger operation is planned. White-glove implementation is included, but the public pages do not say what a small fleet would have to commit to in order to get it.

Pricing and total cost

Pricing checked October 26, 2026. Most drayage vendors do not publish a figure, so the table marks those rows Quote-based and calculates only the figures that are published. The six-truck column is arithmetic on those figures, not a quote. Starting price: $2,080 per month according to Rose Rocket (page checked October 26, 2026), which is the only published figure above $300 a month on this list.

Worked example (illustrative, not a customer): take a hypothetical six-truck drayage carrier whose dispatcher spends 2 hours a day re-keying terminal emails into the TMS across 22 working days, or 44 hours a month. At the $15 per-unit rate cited in the TMSEZ profile, six units cost 6 × $15 = $90 a month, or $1,080 a year, and the 44 hours of re-keying are the cost a proposed intake workflow would target. If the carrier chose a platform with a write API, the integration would need to send an Alvys.Models.Loads.LoadWriteRequest body with the load's current ETag, or the update is rejected with a 428 status. That is a build requirement to price in, not a monthly fee, and it is the reason to ask each vendor for its API documentation before the buying decision is final.

Where a simpler tool or a DIY build wins

When NOT to use US Tech Automations: a simpler product wins in three situations. If you run one or two trucks and need invoices and a driver app, a tiered small-fleet tool such as TruckLogics is simpler than any custom workflow. If your carrier does no port or rail work, Truckbase or TruckLogics avoids paying for terminal features you will not use. If your current TMS already exports clean data and re-keying is minor, a proposed workflow adds maintenance without a clear gain.

Zapier, Make and n8n are the realistic alternative for many small carriers, and they can do a lot. When configured, they keep run histories, retries, error branches and audit evidence, so a failed email parse is visible rather than silent. The buyer still has to design and own observability, idempotency (so a retried email does not create two loads), escalation paths, access controls and maintenance when a terminal website or an API version changes. A proposed US Tech Automations design would scope those pieces up front, with the same prerequisites of API or export access, sample documents and named human approvers, so the carrier does not inherit the build by default.

Who this is for

This guide is for an owner or operations lead at a small carrier or drayage operator who has a shortlist and needs to compare what the public pages actually say. It fits a fleet that moves containers to or from port or rail terminals, or a fleet that wants one system for drayage and mixed freight.

Red flags: most of your work is truckload with no terminal moves; you cannot share sample order files or a rate table with a vendor; or nobody in the company owns the software decision after go-live.

Common mistakes

• Comparing a per-truck price with a per-driver price as if they were the same unit.

• Treating a feature missing from a marketing page as a confirmed absence.

• Buying a drayage platform for a fleet that runs mostly line-haul.

• Learning about EDI and GPS add-on fees only after the contract is signed.

• Keeping registry and Clean Truck Fund status in a binder instead of the truck record.

Frequently asked questions

Which drayage tool publishes a per-unit price?

TMSEZ is the only drayage-specific vendor here with a per-unit figure on a source this guide could open, and two independent listings disagree on whether the unit is a truck or a driver. Confirm the unit and the EDI fee in writing before you budget.

Does a small carrier need registry data in its dispatch tool?

Yes, if your trucks enter San Pedro Bay terminals, because the Port of Los Angeles requires every truck entering a marine terminal to be on the Port Drayage Truck Registry. A dispatch record that tracks registry status saves a manual check before each move.

Is TruckLogics cheaper than TMSEZ for six trucks?

Yes on the published numbers: the 3 to 7 truck band on TruckLogics is $71.96 a month, while six units at TMSEZ's $15 rate come to $90 a month. TruckLogics lists no terminal features, so the lower price buys a different scope, not the same drayage workflow.

Can US Tech Automations replace a dispatch tool?

No. A proposed design sits beside the carrier's TMS and does not replace its dispatch, driver app or billing. It depends on the TMS exposing an API or export, and a person approves each dispatch and invoice.

What should I ask for in a quote?

Ask for the pricing unit (truck, driver or load), the EDI and GPS add-on fees, the terminal and chassis feature list in writing, and the exit terms if the tool does not fit after the trial.

The short version for your shortlist

Decide first whether your work is drayage-specific or mixed freight, because that choice narrows the list more than any feature table. Then ask each shortlisted vendor for the pricing unit, the add-on fees and written confirmation of the terminal and chassis features you need, and check the port registry and fee rules against the port's own pages before you commit. If you want to see how a proposed intake and billing design would be configured, see how a proposed intake and billing design from US Tech Automations would be configured.