Drop and Hook Trucking Question

Are you asking about a single truck operation like an O/O or are you asking about situations for mega's like Swift or JB Hunt etc?

Answers vary, but in short it depends on what the contracts call for.

 

And if your contract is for one manufacturer/shipper, for example, and they deliver to 40 places, you're possibly going to need 42 trailers.

If your shipper only delivers to one customer (which is highly unlikely), you may only need two.

It depends on what the contract states & how the project works.

I'll try to explain this as not to sound rude.
The contract we are on is for one company location. We are running about 18 trucks. We run to about 60 - 70 locations. Some locations are required to have up to 20 trailers at them at all times... loaded or unloaded. Some only 2 or 3. But the number of trailers at each location is stated in the contract. We are required by the contract to have 100 trailer at the shipper at all times. Again, running only 18 trucks with about 300 trailers assigned to our contract.

Again, I'll try to explain........
When we pick up a loaded trailer at the shipper & drop it at a customer, they may not unload that trailer for 2 weeks. That's why you drop & hook. Early order, early delivery, ensures product availability on hand at the customer when they need it. Again, they may require 20 trailers at their location. Some locations reload the trailers with their product to be shipped out to another location.

As already noted, it depends on how the accounts are set up & designed to work for both shipper & customer. Therefore, it depends on what your customer needs & what the contract for that account says.
There are 100's of thousands of scenario's for a situation like this.