This last mile dispatch spreadsheet is a free Excel template for manually planning delivery stops, assigning drivers and vehicles, recording completion details, and reviewing daily performance. It contains four sheets: Dashboard, Dispatch Log, Fleet Roster, and Settings.
Each Dispatch Log row represents one delivery stop. The populated sample block runs from row 4 through row 13. Prepared formulas and data validation continue through row 1000, leaving later rows available for operating records. Replace or clear sample values in the user-input columns while retaining the calculated columns.
The file supports manual dispatch planning and status tracking. It does not include GPS tracking, route optimization, live vehicle locations, driver messaging, or external system integrations.
In practice
What this workbook helps you do
- ✓Keep route, stop, customer, driver, vehicle, package, mileage, timing, status, exception, note, and COD details in one row per delivery.
- ✓Use validated lists and entry limits to keep recurring dispatch values consistent.
- ✓Review calculated stop duration, on-time results, late minutes, mileage variance, mileage cost, COD balance, and data checks.
- ✓Compare daily stop counts, packages, actual miles, exceptions, and driver results from a date-based dashboard.
Instructions
How to use the file
Configure the dispatch assumptions
Begin on Settings and review the yellow setting cells. The supplied assumptions include a 95% Target On-Time Rate, a $0.70-per-mile mileage cost estimate, a 10-minute late warning threshold, and a 1-mile mileage variance alert. Additional settings establish entry ceilings for package counts, leg miles, and COD values, along with the earliest and latest accepted dates.
Settings also holds the lists used by workbook dropdowns: delivery statuses, exception codes, state codes, driver statuses, vehicle statuses, and vehicle types. Edit these entries when your operation uses different terminology. Default Dashboard Date records the initial date shown on the Dashboard, while the active reporting date is selected on the Dashboard itself.
Update the driver and vehicle directories
On Fleet Roster, enter driver names, mobile phone numbers, and Driver Status and Vehicle Status selections in the appropriate directory columns. Vehicle records also include Vehicle ID, Vehicle Type, Package Capacity, and License Plate.
The first roster rows contain sample drivers and vehicles. Replace those examples with current information, then use the remaining blank rows through row 103. Dispatch Log dropdowns reference driver names in column A and vehicle IDs in column E. The workbook does not show status-based filtering, so a dispatcher must review availability and vehicle capacity manually before assigning work.
Enter one delivery stop per row
Dispatch Log uses blue columns A:X for user entries. Record Dispatch Date, Route ID, Stop Number, Order ID, customer, address, city, state, ZIP Code, delivery-window times, driver, vehicle, package count, planned and actual leg miles, dispatch, arrival, and completion times, status, exception code, notes, COD Amount, and COD Collected.
Mileage is the leg distance from the prior stop or dispatch point to the current stop. Validations cover dates, stop numbers from 1 to 999, state codes, five-digit or ZIP+4 entries, times, roster-based driver and vehicle selections, packages, miles, statuses, exception codes, and COD values. Delivery Window End must be later than Delivery Window Start.
Do not overwrite gray columns Y:AE. Formulas in these columns calculate Stop Duration in minutes, On-Time status, Late Minutes, Miles Variance, Estimated Mileage Cost, COD Balance, and Data Check. These formulas are prepared from row 4 through row 1000.
Choose the daily reporting date
Set Dashboard cell B3 under Report Date to the day you want to review. Dashboard formulas summarize Dispatch Log rows with the same dispatch date. The main results include planned, delivered, open or unresolved, and exception stops; on-time rate; packages scheduled; actual miles; estimated mileage cost; COD outstanding; data issues; late deliveries; and the target on-time rate.
The lower area reports counts for Pending, Dispatched, Out for Delivery, Delivered, Attempted, Exception, and Canceled stops. Driver rows show stops, deliveries, exceptions, packages, actual miles, and completion rate. One chart displays the seven status totals.
Inside the file
Included features
Plan Routes and Delivery Windows by Stop
Dispatch Date, Route ID, and Stop Number establish the operating day, route, and sequence for each delivery. Order ID and customer address fields connect the row to a specific shipment. Delivery Window Start and Delivery Window End record the planned service period, while Driver and Vehicle ID selections connect the stop to Fleet Roster entries.
Package Capacity is stored in the vehicle directory as a planning reference. No confirmed formula automatically compares assigned package totals with vehicle capacity, so dispatchers should make that comparison manually. The spreadsheet also does not calculate an optimized stop sequence.
Record Delivery Progress and Exceptions
Update Status as work progresses using Pending, Dispatched, Out for Delivery, Delivered, Attempted, Exception, or Canceled. When a delivery encounters a problem, Exception Code and Driver or Dispatch Notes provide structured and free-text fields for recording what occurred.
Arrival Time and Completion Time produce the stop duration in minutes. For a Delivered row, Completion Time is compared with Delivery Window End. A completion at or before the window end returns Yes for on-time service; a later completion returns No and produces the calculated number of late minutes.
Compare Planned Miles, Actual Miles, and COD
Miles Variance subtracts Planned Leg Miles from Actual Leg Miles, showing the difference for each stop. Estimated Mileage Cost multiplies actual miles by the rate stored in Settings and rounds the result to U.S. dollars. The supplied $0.70-per-mile value is a planning estimate rather than an accounting reimbursement rate.
COD Balance subtracts COD Collected from COD Amount and does not return less than zero. Dashboard totals combine actual miles, estimated mileage cost, and outstanding COD for records matching the selected date.
Review Daily Results and Data Issues
Dashboard attention checks identify delivered stops with COD outstanding, delivered stops missing actual miles, deliveries over the late warning threshold, and mileage variance alerts. The Data Issues metric counts populated Data Check results that are not marked OK.
Driver summaries provide recorded workload and completion information for the selected date. These results can support a dispatch review, but they do not evaluate driver safety, legal eligibility, vehicle roadworthiness, or regulatory compliance.
Common questions
About this workbook
Dispatch Log provides 997 prepared rows from row 4 through row 1000. Rows 4 through 13 form the populated sample block. Later rows have blank input cells with formulas and validation already prepared. Replace or clear sample inputs before using the file for operating records.
The Delivery Window End validation requires the end time to be later than Delivery Window Start and less than one full day. An overnight window cannot be entered as an earlier clock time in the same row under that validation.
No status-based assignment control is confirmed. Driver and Vehicle ID dropdowns reference Fleet Roster entries, while availability statuses appear in separate roster columns. Dispatchers need to review those statuses manually before assigning a stop.
The Data Check formula looks for more than one row with the same Dispatch Date, Route ID, and Stop Number. If that combination appears more than once, the result is Duplicate route stop. The same output column also checks for missing required fields and missing delivery windows.
The COD Balance calculation uses the greater of zero or COD Amount minus COD Collected. If the collected value is higher than the recorded amount, the calculated balance remains zero instead of becoming negative.
No. Estimated mileage cost is for planning, and this spreadsheet does not replace accounting, tax, legal, DOT or FMCSA, safety, or other compliance advice. It also does not provide GPS tracking, route optimization, live dispatch communications, or external integrations.
Editorial team
Prepared and checked with care
Casey Morgan
Fleet operations editorCasey turns dispatch, driver, vehicle, and delivery workflows into clear workbook guides.
About the editorial identities
Jordan Lee
Workbook quality editorJordan documents the automated formula, recalculation, download, and usability checks applied before publication.
About the editorial identities