September 23, 2026 · 3 min read

Best Google Sheets TMS Templates for Small Trucking Companies (2026)

Most 2-20 truck fleets run on Google Sheets or Excel, because enterprise TMS software costs $200-500/month per user and takes months to implement. A good template gets you organized for nothing. It won't do the work, though: every invoice is still built by hand.

Why Google Sheets works for a small fleet

No monthly fee. A free template stays free.
No training. Your office already knows Sheets.
One live copy. Dispatch and billing edit at the same time, it saves itself, and it opens on a phone.
You can change anything. Add a column, rewrite a formula.
Your data stays yours. There's no vendor to leave.

Still choosing a platform? Read Google Sheets vs Excel for TMS.

The templates worth looking at

1. My free TMS template

I built this one, so weigh my opinion accordingly. It has load tracking, customers, a fleet dashboard, five invoice formats and sample data, in Excel and Google Sheets.

Best for: 5-20 truck fleets that want a trucking-specific start. The catch: It's still a template. Every invoice is manual.

2. Paid design templates

Marketplaces such as Template.net sell polished trucking templates: invoices, basic load tracking, maintenance logs. In 2024 they were about $9-29 each. They aren't built around trucking workflows, so expect to rework the load sheet.

3. Templates shared by other carriers

Free sheets posted on forums like TruckersReport, written by people who run trucks. Setup takes technical work, and nobody supports them.

4. Excel conversions

An easy move from Excel, but little in them is specific to trucking. If you're staying in Excel, read the Excel TMS template guide. For more of my templates, see trucking spreadsheet templates.

Templates vs a custom build

	Free template	Paid template	Custom build
Load entry	Typed by hand	Typed by hand	Read from the rate con
Time per invoice	30 minutes	20 minutes	One click
Customer invoice formats	Generic	Basic matching	Matches each customer
Driver updates	Phone calls	Phone calls	A phone web page per load
BOLs and photos	Filed by hand	Filed by hand	Signed and uploaded by the driver, saved to Drive
Cost	$0	Paid per template	One-time build, $0/month

Setting up the free template

Request it on the download page. I send it by hand.
Company Info sheet: business details, logo, invoice format.
Customers sheet: paste in customers, billing contacts and payment terms.
Load Entry sheet: pick the customer from the dropdown, enter pickup and delivery, assign driver and truck.
Invoice: pick a completed load, check the invoice, export to PDF.

Then time your invoicing for a month. That number tells you when to move on. Want to build your own from scratch instead? Follow how to build a TMS in Google Sheets.

Signs you've outgrown a template

Invoicing takes 2+ hours a day.
You run 20+ loads a month on 5+ trucks.
Copy-paste mistakes reach customers, or invoices go out late.
Drivers call all day for load details.
You're adding trucks but not office staff.
Customers want invoices in their own format.

Forty loads a month at 10 minutes of data entry each is about 6.7 hours; at 30 seconds each, it's 20 minutes. Winetoast Carrier has run on a custom Google Sheets system I built every day since spring 2026, and that's how long entering a load takes there now.

Common questions

Is Google Sheets secure enough for business data? It supports two-factor authentication, per-user access controls and encryption. Turn on 2FA and share only with people who need access.

Can a template handle several invoice formats? A few. Basic templates offer one or two; mine has five. Matching every customer exactly takes a custom build.

Your next step

Start with the free template. Request it here and I'll email it within one business day.
Get a custom build quoted. If you're past the signs above, tell me how you run loads. It's a one-time project fee, quoted after a walkthrough, with no monthly subscription. A build is usually live in 1-2 weeks, and you own every file and script.