Most dispatch software trials get wasted. Someone signs up on a Tuesday afternoon, clicks around the dashboard for ten minutes, gets pulled into a check call, and never opens the tab again. Thirty days later the trial expires, and the only thing anyone learned is what the login screen looks like.

That’s not the evaluator’s fault. Dispatchers and ops managers don’t have spare hours to “explore a platform.” You’re covering loads, chasing PODs, and fielding the driver sitting at a shipper with a detention clock running. A trial has to prove itself in the middle of real work.

This guide gives you a plan: what a trucking software free trial should let you test, a week-by-week schedule for a 30-day trial, and the red flags that tell you to walk away.

What a good dispatch software free trial should include

Before you sign up anywhere, check the trial terms. A trial is only useful if it lets you run your real operation through it.

  • Every feature. If dispatch is included but settlements, EDI, or tracking are “available on paid plans,” you can’t evaluate the thing you’re actually buying.
  • Your whole team. Dispatch, billing, and safety each find different problems. A trial capped at one user tells you little.
  • Real data. You should be able to enter your own trucks, drivers, customers, and loads, not only click around sample data.
  • No credit card. You shouldn’t have to watch a calendar so you don’t get charged mid-evaluation.
  • Enough time. 30 days lets you run at least one full pay cycle and one full billing cycle.
  • Access to a human. Someone who can answer “how do I do X” during the trial, so a small question doesn’t stall the evaluation.

The 30-day trial plan

The plan below assumes about 30 to 60 minutes a day. Test with live loads wherever you can. Dummy data never argues back; a real ratecon with an odd accessorial or a real detention dispute tells you things a demo won’t.

Week 1 (days 1–7): Set up your fleet, drivers, and team

The goal this week is to get your operation into the system and see how painful that is.

  • Day 1: Create the account and add every user who’d touch the system daily: dispatchers, billing, safety, operations. Note whether the price would change with each user you add.
  • Day 2: Add your trucks and trailers, including registration dates.
  • Day 3: Add drivers with their pay structures: company drivers on per-mile or percentage, owner-operators, lease operators. Enter CDL and medical card expiry dates.
  • Day 4: Add your top customers and, if you broker freight, the carriers you use most, with insurance expiry dates.
  • Day 5: Connect tracking. If you use an ELD or telematics provider the TMS supports, connect it. For trucks without one, test phone-based location with one driver.
  • Days 6–7: Rebuild one already-delivered load end to end: stops, rate, driver, documents. Note every place you had to leave the system.

Pass/fail check: could someone on your team do this setup without calling support three times?

Week 2 (days 8–14): Run real loads through dispatch and tracking

Now run live freight, in parallel with your current process if you prefer.

  • Put this week’s loads on the dispatch board. Include at least one multi-stop load.
  • Reassign a load mid-shift. Move it from one driver to another as if a truck broke down. Does the change stick without a page reload and four clicks?
  • Use the driver suggestions, if the software offers them. Compare its pick to the one you’d have made. You’re not testing whether it’s smarter than you; you’re testing whether it saves the mental math you do fifteen times a day. How to reduce deadhead and empty miles covers what a good suggestion should weigh.
  • Track a real truck. Watch the position update, then send a tracking link to a customer (or yourself) and see what they see. More on this in how to track a load without calling the driver.
  • Send a test EDI 204, if your customers tender electronically. Confirm the tender becomes a workable load without re-keying. “EDI support” sometimes means a CSV export; that’s not the same thing.
  • Log detention. Record a two-hour wait at a shipper against the load, with timestamps, so it’s there at invoicing.

Pass/fail check: did the board make your day easier, or did you keep a spreadsheet open “just in case”?

Week 3 (days 15–21): Invoices, settlements, and documents

This is where dispatch software either saves you a Friday afternoon or adds one.

  • Attach documents. Upload the ratecon, BOL, and POD to the loads you ran in week 2. Can you find them again in under a minute?
  • Generate invoices. Deliver a load and see whether the customer invoice drafts itself with the right rate and accessorials, or whether you build it by hand.
  • Run driver settlements. Settle at least one company driver and one owner-operator for the week. Check the math against your current method. The driver settlement calculator is a handy cross-check, and driver settlement calculation explained covers the common deductions.
  • Run a carrier settlement if you broker any freight out.
  • Check compliance alerts. Find out which driver’s medical card or which truck’s registration expires next. If you can’t find it in a minute, your safety manager won’t use it either.
  • Look at the dashboard. Can you see revenue and margin for the loads you ran?

Pass/fail check: would your billing person rather do this in the new system or the old one?

Week 4 (days 22–30): Decide

  • Day 22–24: Collect notes from everyone who used it. What slowed them down? What would they miss?
  • Day 25: Work out the real price: your user count, your monthly load volume, any add-ons, and the contract term. Compare it with what you pay now in software and hours.
  • Day 26–27: Take your open questions to support. Their answers now are a preview of support after you pay.
  • Day 28–30: Decide before the trial ends, while the details are fresh. If it’s a yes, plan the cutover for a slower week.

Use a buyer’s checklist for choosing a TMS to score each system you tested side by side.

Red flags during a trucking software trial

  • Credit card required to start. Not a dealbreaker on its own, but it shifts your attention from evaluating to watching the calendar.
  • Feature-limited trial. If settlements, EDI, tracking, or reporting are locked “until you upgrade,” you’re evaluating a different product than the one you’d buy.
  • Per-seat pricing that only shows up at checkout. The homepage price is for one user. Add your whole team during the trial and ask for the real quote in writing.
  • Per-load or per-truck fees you can’t predict. Ask what happens to the price when you add trucks or have a busy month.
  • Add-ons for basics. Tracking, EDI, or an ELD connection billed separately turns a low base price into a high real one.
  • Mandatory long contracts or large setup fees after the trial.
  • Nobody answers during the trial. Support rarely gets better after you pay.
  • Sample data only. If you can’t enter your own loads, you’re watching a demo, not running a trial.

For more on how pricing adds up, see what TMS software actually costs small fleets.

How the Techvia TMS free trial works

  • 30 days free, no credit card. Register yourself at tms.techvia.software/register; it takes a couple of minutes.
  • Every feature included during and after the trial: dispatch board, AI Dispatcher (a ranked shortlist of drivers or carriers for a load, scored on deadhead and margin), fleet and driver pay structures, invoicing and settlements, live GPS tracking with shareable customer links, phone-based driver location without an ELD, Samsara integration, compliance expiry alerts, EDI X12 204 tenders, per-load documents, and a KPI dashboard.
  • Unlimited users. Add your whole team during the trial; there are no per-seat fees afterwards either.
  • Guided onboarding and direct support from the product team while you set up.
  • After the trial: a limited-time launch price of $49/month (regular price $199/month). Plans include a monthly load allowance sized to your operation; higher volume moves to a higher allowance, and no feature is ever locked.

You can see the full feature list on the Techvia TMS product page, then start your 30-day free trial and run the plan above on your own loads.

Frequently asked questions

Is there trucking dispatch software with a free trial?

Yes. Many TMS and dispatch software vendors offer trials, but the terms vary a lot: length, whether a credit card is needed, and which features are unlocked. Techvia TMS offers a 30-day free trial with every feature and no credit card.

How long should a TMS free trial be?

Long enough to run at least one full weekly pay cycle and one billing cycle with real loads. 30 days is enough if you follow a plan; 7 or 14 days usually isn’t.

Do I need a credit card for a dispatch software free trial?

It depends on the vendor. Trials without a card let you evaluate without worrying about an automatic charge. Check the terms before you sign up.

What should I test first in a trucking software trial?

Rebuild one real, already-delivered load end to end: entry, dispatch, tracking, POD, invoice, and driver settlement. It shows you the gaps in a single afternoon.

Can I use real loads during a TMS free trial?

You should. Sample data hides the edge cases (odd accessorials, multi-stop loads, detention) that decide whether the software works for you.

What happens when the trial ends?

It varies by vendor. With Techvia TMS, you choose whether to continue on the paid plan. No card is on file, so nothing is charged automatically.