ISSUE
The truck has arrived, and the driver refuses to touch the freight.
You thought the driver would load / unload your freight.
ACTION
- Do not argue or attempt to negotiate with the driver.
- Call us: we will tell you that the driver’s job is to drive the truck and, with the exception of pre-arranged city drivers, does not include loading or unloading the freight.
- That being said, there are driver-based loading / unloading solutions, but they must be priced and arranged in advance, before the truck is sourced. And there are local solutions that can be arranged to handle loading/unloading on short notice, but it is much more difficult and costly to do so after the truck has arrived.
- We will work with you to make arrangements to have the truck loaded or unloaded, and we will keep the carrier informed.
EXPLANATION
Highway driving involves long and monotonous hours, as many as 70 per week, behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound truck. The driver has to maintain careful attention and split-second reflexes in all types of traffic, weather and road conditions. To maintain peak safety levels, most carriers do not ask their drivers to also do the very physically demanding and tiring work of loading and unloading freight.
Additionally, federal cabotage law prohibits Canadian drivers from loading/unloading freight in the United States, and vice versa. So even if the driver might be willing to load or unload, it may be prohibited by law.
IMPACT & TYPICAL RESOLUTION
Depending on how quickly an alternative loading / unloading arrangement can be made after the truck has arrived, and what it involves, there could be delays of several hours. It is everybody’s interest to find a quick solution to the problem, so these matters are often resolved very quickly, especially when it is an unloading situation.
Unless the loading/unloading is done by the shipper’s/receiver’s staff, there will be additional fees.
In approximately 50% of cases, the shipper / receiver makes immediate alternative loading / unloading arrangements.