Only One Driver

ISSUE

The truck has arrived for loading, and there is only one driver: you requested a driver team.

ACTION

1. We have specified a driver team per your request, so do not load the truck until we resolve the situation.
2. We will speak with the carrier to determine why there is only one driver. There may be a legitimate explanation:
   • They may have sent a city driver to load the truck, to stage in their yard for a highway team; or
   • There may be a second driver in the bunk (if so, then we will ask them to prove this);
   • The driver may be going to pick up a second driver near his/her home en-route (again, we will need proof); or
   • The carrier may be planning to relay the freight: e.g., the single driver will take the freight outbound for as much as one driving shift, and will then switch the trailer to a team truck for the remainder of the trip.
3. If the carrier does not really have a highway team, we will reject the truck, and source a new team truck for you.

EXPLANATION

For a carrier, a good highway team is gold, so they want to ensure they are kept busy. And a good highway team knows they are in demand, so they want to work for a carrier who will keep them running highway miles. It is therefore in both parties’ interests to minimize pick-ups and deliveries by teams, and to have their next shipment always loaded and ready to roll the moment the team is ready. Thus, these loads are picked up by city drivers, or switched, whenever possible.

However, your one-driver situation would be far, far from the first time a carrier attempted to earn team money with a single driver. But the shop-worn assurances – “he’s a good runner”, “he drives like two drivers”, “he’ll be there on time” – just don’t cut it, especially in the age of Electronic Logs tied directly to power train computers. The days of a team consisting of a driver and his dog are long gone.

So if we are being promised a team for your shipment, but we suspect that we are not really being offered a team, we will ask questions that can only be answered satisfactorily if a team really is available.

IMPACT & TYPICAL RESOLUTION

If the carrier has not provided a team, we will source you a replacement team truck as soon as possible. Depending on the time of day and the availability and proximity of other trucks, this may or may not delay your shipment pick-up until the next day, which in turn may or may not affect your shipment delivery date – we will let you know.

Usually when you see only one driver, there really is a team assigned to the freight, and you have a pick-up driver who is staging the load for the team.