Broadside is not a dispatch app. Here's the difference.
Dispatch runs tomorrow. Broadside plans next week and the months beyond. Most subs need both, and most still keep the long-range plan in Excel.
Not dispatch. Not timecards. Not a GC project suite. Just your crews, your jobs, and the weeks ahead.
Two different questions
Dispatch asks:
Who goes where tomorrow? Which trucks, which equipment, what time?
Broadside asks:
Where does every crew go, from next week out to next year? Are we short? Is anyone doubled? Can we take this job?
What each one does
| Broadside (crew look-ahead) | A dispatch app | |
|---|---|---|
| Main question | Where does each crew go, from next week out to next year, and do we have enough crews? | Who, what equipment, and which trucks go where tomorrow, and when? |
| Time horizon | Weeks | Today and tomorrow |
| Plans | Jobs and crew leaders | People, equipment, trucks, loads, deliveries |
| Main users | Owner, ops manager, PMs, estimators. Foremen can view. | Dispatcher, equipment manager, drivers, foremen |
| When you use it | Monday planning, when a GC calls, before you say yes to work | Every afternoon for the next day, and all day as things change |
| Catches | Double-booked crew leaders, days with more work than crews, idle crews | Missed deliveries, equipment in the wrong place, short on trucks |
| When a GC pushes you | Drag the job and see what it hits in the coming weeks | Rebuild tomorrow's sheet |
| Trucks, tickets, fuel, GPS | No | Usually |
| Timecards and payroll | No | Often tied in |
| Getting started | Free trial, self-serve | Usually a demo, training, and setup |
A normal week with both
- Monday: the plan for the weeks ahead is set in Broadside. Crew leaders are on jobs by name.
- Tuesday: a GC pushes a job two weeks. You drag it in Broadside and see the two other jobs it now crowds. You fix the plan before you call anyone.
- Every afternoon: the dispatcher builds tomorrow from the plan, in your dispatch app, on the whiteboard, or on the phone.
- Anytime: a PM or estimator checks Broadside to answer "when can we start?" without calling the owner.
Which one do you need?
- You need dispatch if your hard part is tomorrow: trucks, equipment moves, deliveries, and start times.
- You need Broadside if your hard part is the weeks ahead: GC pushes, double-booked crew leaders, and not knowing if you can take the next job.
- You need both if you move crews and equipment every day and your jobs move every week. Keep your dispatch app. Give it a better plan.
What Broadside will never be
We stay out of dispatch on purpose, so the tool stays simple.
- No daily dispatch sheet
- No truck or driver scheduling
- No hauling tickets
- No GPS or telematics
- No equipment maintenance
- No timecards or payroll
Questions we get
- Can Broadside send tomorrow's schedule to my crews?
- No. That's dispatch. Foremen can view the plan with a free viewer seat.
- Does it track equipment?
- No. Broadside plans crews.
- Will you add dispatch later?
- No. Broadside plans the weeks. That’s the job.