Appointments, routes and the plan

A load that fits and weighs right still has to get there. Most docks run on appointments: a set time for each truck, because they only have so many doors and people. Some have first come, first served (FCFS) windows instead. Others use drop trailers: the carrier leaves a loaded trailer and takes an empty, so nobody waits. If a dock keeps a driver waiting past the free time in the contract (often two hours), the carrier can bill detention.

Drive time is limited by the hours of service rules. For US property-carrying drivers: at most 11 hours of driving, all inside a 14-hour window that starts when the driver comes on duty, after 10 hours off in a row; a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving; and no driving after 60 hours on duty in 7 days or 70 in 8. Canada and other countries have rules of their own. A plan that only works if the driver breaks the rules isn't a plan.

For planning, many people use an average of about 50 mph once fuel, traffic and breaks are counted, which is roughly 500 to 550 miles a day for one driver. A team (two drivers taking turns) can keep a truck rolling most of the day. Add loading and unloading time, and the time at each extra stop, before promising a delivery.

Pickup Mon 08:00 (2 h to load), 1,000 miles, 50 mph average

Driving needed   1,000 / 50 = 20 h
Day 1   leave 10:00, drive 11 h (with a 30 min break), stop 21:30
Rest    10 h off
Day 2   leave 07:30, drive 9 h (with a 30 min break), arrive about 17:00 Tue

Routes have limits too. A 53-foot van is usually about 13 feet 6 inches tall. Most eastern states set their height limit there and many western ones at 14 feet, but old bridges and parkways can be far lower, so trucks follow truck routes and truck GPS, not car maps. The federal width limit is 102 inches. Some cities, tunnels and bridges ban hazmat or big trucks. Freight wider, taller, longer or heavier than the limits needs permits from each state on the way, and often escorts and set travel hours.

Put together, a load plan says: which orders, on what equipment; where each pallet goes and what stacks; the expected weight on each axle group; the stop order and loading order; the appointment for each stop; and the route and drive time that make them. Send it to the dock and the dispatcher, then check what actually happened (the scale ticket, any damage, how long the stops took) and plan the next one better.