# Scheduling & Dispatch: done-for-you AI automation by BufferSol

> A done-for-you scheduling and dispatch automation is an AI agent that books delivery windows, dock appointments and crew jobs, assigns them to the right driver or team based on hours, skills, location and equipment, and keeps customers and drivers updated by text or email. When a driver runs late or calls out, it proposes a new plan for the dispatcher to approve. BufferSol builds and runs it in your existing tools, live in 3 to 6 weeks.

- Canonical: https://buffersoltech.com/done-for-you/operations/scheduling-dispatch
- Category: Operations & Supply Chain
- Provider: BufferSol Technologies (New York; serving the US, UK, Ireland, Canada and the EU)
- Timeline: live in 3 to 6 weeks
- Pricing: quoted after a short scoping call

## Jobs, deliveries and dock slots scheduled and rebooked without phone tag

**Who it is for:** Companies running their own delivery fleets, field crews or busy docks, such as distributors, building suppliers, equipment rental firms and private fleets, where dispatchers plan dozens to hundreds of stops a day by phone and spreadsheet.

### Signs you need it
- Dispatchers spend much of the day on the phone confirming windows with customers and drivers.
- The plan is built in a spreadsheet or whiteboard and redone when one driver calls out.
- Customers call to ask when their delivery or technician will arrive.
- Drivers wait at docks because appointments were not booked or were double-booked.
- Each dispatcher can only manage so many drivers before things start to slip.

## Business outcomes
- **Plans that adjust themselves.** When a stop runs long or a driver is out, the agent proposes a reworked plan in minutes, so dispatchers approve changes rather than rebuild the day.
- **Customers informed without calls.** Customers get booking confirmations, day-before reminders and live arrival updates, so fewer of them phone the dispatch desk.
- **Less waiting at docks and sites.** Appointments are booked and confirmed ahead of time, cutting idle time for drivers and crews.

## How it works today
1. Orders and job requests come in by email, phone and the ERP, and a dispatcher collects them.
2. The dispatcher calls or emails customers to agree a delivery window or visit time.
3. They build routes and assignments in a spreadsheet or routing tool, by hand, around drivers' hours.
4. They text each driver the plan and book dock appointments on several receiver portals.
5. All day they take calls from drivers and customers and patch the plan as things change.

Hidden costs:
- Dispatcher hours lost to calls and rework, which limits how many drivers each person can run.
- Paid driver and crew time spent waiting at docks or sites without an appointment.
- Failed deliveries and missed windows that mean a second trip and an unhappy customer.

## How it works done for you
1. The agent reads new orders and job requests from the ERP, email and web forms, along with driver hours, skills and vehicle data.
2. It offers customers available windows by text or email, books the chosen slot and confirms it in writing.
3. It drafts the next day's plan with your routing tool, respecting hours of service, vehicle size, skills and customer windows, for the dispatcher to approve.
4. It books dock appointments on receiver scheduling portals where it can, and flags those that need a phone call.
5. During the day it watches telematics from Samsara or Motive and alerts the dispatcher when a stop will miss its window, with a suggested fix.
6. It sends customers live updates and reschedule options, and updates the ERP or field service system with each change.
7. Every booking, change, message and approval is logged against the order or job.

## What changes for the team
- **Dispatcher.** Today: Plans by spreadsheet, confirms every window by phone and patches the plan all day. Done for you: Approves the drafted plan and handles the few real exceptions the agent raises.
- **Driver or field technician.** Today: Gets calls while driving and arrives at docks without appointments. Done for you: Receives one clear plan, with changes pushed to the app and appointments already booked.
- **Operations manager.** Today: Learns about missed windows from customer complaints. Done for you: Sees on-time performance, waiting time and failed stops by route and customer.

## KPIs we measure
- **On-time window performance:** Arrivals inside the promised window, from telematics, baselined over the month before launch.
- **Inbound where-is-my-delivery calls:** Calls and emails asking for arrival times, counted from the phone system and inbox.
- **Dwell and waiting time:** Time on site beyond the planned stop length, from geofence data.
- **Failed or repeat stops:** Deliveries or visits that needed a second trip, tracked weekly by reason.
- **Drivers per dispatcher:** Active drivers or crews managed per dispatcher per shift, before and after launch.

## Industry data
- 39.3% of deliveries: drivers reported being detained during 39.3% of deliveries in 2023 (ATRI driver detention research, 2024) ([Ainora (summary of ATRI research)](https://ainora.lt/blog/transport-logistics-dispatch-call-statistics-2026))
- over 135 million hours: total time lost to truck driver detention in for-hire trucking in 2023 (ATRI) ([Ainora (summary of ATRI research)](https://ainora.lt/blog/transport-logistics-dispatch-call-statistics-2026))

## Systems it connects to
Samsara, Motive, Descartes, OptimoRoute, Opendock, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service, NetSuite, Twilio, Microsoft Teams, Google Calendar

## Guardrails
- The daily plan and any mid-day reroute need dispatcher approval before drivers receive them.
- Hours-of-service limits and driver qualifications are hard rules the agent cannot override.
- Customer messages use approved templates and quiet hours you set.
- Every booking, change and message is logged with who approved it.
- Driver location data is used only for dispatch and is kept under your retention policy.

## What teams say about this work
- Carriers say status calls arrive while drivers are on the road, and at fleet scale manual check calls eat a large part of each dispatcher's shift and cap how many trucks one person can cover. ([Bubba.ai](https://bubba.ai/problems/i-have-too-many-broker-calls))
- MIT research at one mid-sized carrier found that dispatcher team size affects how much of drivers' available driving time is actually used, with some team sizes well below average. ([Ainora (summary of MIT CTL research)](https://ainora.lt/blog/transport-logistics-dispatch-call-statistics-2026))
- Drivers wait at facilities while paperwork and signatures are handled, and hourly detention charges build up during the wait. ([Vector](https://www.withvector.com/blog/challenges-in-creating-a-paperless-supply-chain-and-how-to-overcome-them-according-to-experts/))

## Delivery: live in 3 to 6 weeks
1. Week 1: discovery, access and a baseline of today's numbers.
2. Weeks 2–3: build the agents and connect your systems, with your rules and approvals.
3. Weeks 3–5: test on your real history, then pilot on live work with your team reviewing.
4. Weeks 4–6: staged go-live, training, dashboards and handover.

## Executive Ask questions for this workflow
- Which customers had late deliveries this week, and what caused them?
- How many hours did our drivers spend waiting at docks last month, and at which sites?
- If two drivers are out tomorrow, which orders are at risk?

## Frequently asked questions
### How long does implementation take?
Usually 3 to 6 weeks. We connect your order source, telematics and routing or field service tools, and capture your scheduling rules, such as windows, vehicle limits, skills and hours. The agent then drafts plans beside your dispatchers for a short period. When they agree with its plans, it begins booking and messaging within your approval rules.

### What will it cost us?
It depends on fleet size, stop volume, the tools we connect and how many customer messaging channels you want. We do not publish a price on this page. Cost is quoted after a short scoping call where we review a typical day of orders and your current dispatch process, with a fixed scope before any build starts.

### Do we need a new routing system?
Usually not. If you already use a routing tool such as Descartes or OptimoRoute, or a field service system, the agent works through it. If you plan in spreadsheets today, we can add a routing engine as part of the build. The agent handles the booking, messaging and replanning around it.

### Will drivers need a new app?
Not necessarily. The agent can send plans and changes through the telematics app drivers already use, such as Samsara or Motive, or by plain text message. Drivers can reply in plain words, such as running late or customer closed, and the agent turns that into a status update.

### Can it book dock appointments with our customers' receivers?
Where a receiver uses an online scheduling portal or accepts email requests, the agent can request and confirm slots and record them on the order. Where a receiver only takes phone calls, it flags the stop for a dispatcher with the details ready, so nothing is missed.