Pricing & Scheduling
Why we charge $15 for a specific delivery window
Flexible delivery is free. Locking a Morning, Midday, or Afternoon window costs $15. Here's the straight answer on why — and why we think it's a fair tradeoff.
- Flexible — Free. We pick the best time. Dispatch confirms by 5 PM the day before.
- Morning / Midday / Afternoon — +$15. The truck holds that slot for you.
- Why we charge: a pinned window blocks dispatch from chaining loads efficiently — $15 covers the lost routing efficiency on that day.
- If you can be flexible, take Flexible. If you can't, $15 is what it costs us to honor a fixed window.
How a dispatch day actually works
A loaded dump truck only makes money when it's moving. Every minute parked at a yard, idling at a quarry, or driving an empty leg back to the next pickup is a minute we're paying for and the truck isn't earning. Our dispatcher's entire job is to chain loads together so the trucks stay loaded and the empty miles stay short.
When everyone's order says Flexible, dispatch can solve that chain like a puzzle: pair an East Valley load with another East Valley load instead of bouncing back to Scottsdale, send the Western Star to the bigger jobs, send the Ram to the smaller ones, and keep both trucks running the same direction whenever possible. Efficient routing means lower cost per load — which means lower prices for everyone.
When an order pins a specific window, that puzzle piece can't move. We have to plan the rest of the day around it. Sometimes that's easy. Sometimes it forces an empty return leg, a detour to fit the morning peg, or a truck that finishes 90 minutes earlier than it could have. None of those costs change the customer's invoice — they hit our P&L.
Why $15 — and why not just bake it in?
We could quietly raise every delivery by a few dollars to cover the cost. We chose not to. Two reasons:
- Pricing should be honest. If you can take Flexible, you shouldn't subsidize someone who needs a fixed window. Keeping the fee visible means customers who can be flexible save money, and customers who really do need a window know exactly what they're paying for.
- $15 is roughly what the lost efficiency costs us. It's not a profit center — it's what one pinned slot costs the route on average across a day. We recalibrate the number as our fleet and routing get tighter.
We get it — contractors have deadlines
A subcontractor showing up at 8 AM expects their material there at 8 AM. A pump truck booked for 11 AM means the base course needs to be in the dirt by 10:30. Concrete pours don't wait. We know that — most of us at Trade Master came from the field, and every one of us has watched a crew burn an hour because the rock truck slipped.
That's exactly why the option exists. We don't want to force every order onto whatever's convenient for the truck. If your morning matters, lock the morning — the $15 buys you the certainty that dispatch will plan the day with your slot pinned.
How Flexible actually works
Flexible doesn't mean "whenever we feel like it." By 5 PM the day before, our dispatcher confirms a window for every Flexible order on the schedule and texts the delivery contact. You'll know if it's Morning, Midday, or Afternoon before you leave your office for the day. The only difference vs. paying $15 is that we get to choose which window — and we'll do it in a way that keeps the day moving.