DISPATCH TRIAGE BOARD
Every run is a ledger. Log your stops, punch in the dead miles between them, and watch three numbers move: stop-density, deadhead, and what the run actually pays after the empties. This is the board behind the 8% bet — shave deadhead under that and the run starts earning.
> LOG A STOP
The first stop's dead miles count as the trip from your staging point. That's the honest number, not the dispatch one.
> RUN READOUT
Deadhead target: under 8%.
> STOP LOG
| Stop | Where | Dead mi | Pay/$ | $/dead-mi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No stops logged yet. Punch one in. | ||||
> HOW I READ IT
The math is blunt. Stop-density is stops ÷ total miles. Below 1.2 stops to the mile, that part of the run is all windshield and no plate. Deadhead is dead miles ÷ total miles — the empties you rode to get to the paid part. My floor is 8%; over that, I'm donating time to the dispatch forecast.
Gross per mile — total pay ÷ total miles — is what I actually bank. A short dense cluster at $6.50 a stop beats a spread-out $11 stop every time, because the empty between them eats the difference. That's the whole logic of triage: kill the long no-pay legs first, chase density second.
Where it breaks: a promo dump wrecks the forecast — five $4.25 stops stacked one hood apart reads like density but pays like charity. So I log $/dead-mile per stop too, and flag anything under $8. If a stop pays less than the gas and minutes it costs, it flips from a stop to a skip.