How much time spent waiting to load / unload?

There's a mix. Each trucking company has their regular customers which they are able to keep a stash of extra trailers. Those you can usually do a drop/hook. Then where you are delivering might or might not be a regular customer. So you do a live unload. Then if where you are at, there isn't a regular customer set up, you'll be doing a back haul or a repositioning load to get you to better paying freight. Those are almost always live load/unloads and arranged through a broker. Most bigger companies have a sales team seeking new accounts. They might lose some here and gain another over there.

A good company will have accounts set up on both ends. It's a industry standard depending on the contract, the customer has 2-3 hours to load/unload before detention charges kick in.

Of course there are the odd ball customers for one reason or another they'll keep you there forever.

The beauty of trucking is each day is different. You might spend one day driving all day and the next day is spent unloading and loading. It's like a box of chocolates.

 

Besides waiting at a dock you will be waiting for dispatch to find you another load . That is where more time is spent waiting with some carriers .

 

Depends on the product. Flat's rarely wait very long, same with hoppers and dumps. I think reefers are the worst along with vans which also get the privilege of paying to get they're trailers unloaded. Tell an O/O pulling a dump trailer that he has to wait 8hrs to unload and you'll probably see a pile of something in your driveway.

 

As a reefer hauler I can spend time waiting to get loaded or unload. Depends on the shipper or receiver. Rarely is it ever more than 2 hours.

I am on a dedicated fleet so 90% of the time I am drop and hook. 99% of the time I am preset for my next load and sometimes more than one.

Your experience may be different and will depend on what your hauling and for whom..

 

I pull a reefer now. There is lot's of waiting at both shippers and receivers. Just part of the game. But usually the loads are longer runs..800 miles or more. Often 2500-3000 mile loads.
When I pulled a dry van with dedicated accounts, I had little waiting.
When I pulled a tanker, there was virtually no waiting.
And of course, line haul was all drop and hook.

 

If you end up at a grocery chain...Be prepared to wait..some longer then others but you ARE going to be waiting. I had a dedicated run from Orland to Boston with about 5 to 7 drops. it would take me 2 days just to get the 7 drops of garlic off. One of the places that I hated the most was Stop and Shop but hell they all are pretty bad in New England states. They dont give a dam about you or your time.

 

ughhh! I don't know how you guys put up with it.
If I have to wait for more than a hour I'm restless.

 

Once in awhile I will have to wait for several hours. Normally, I have another load assigned before I arrive at the current customer. Most of our customers will unload fairly quickly and we do alot of drop/hook. I haul large rolls of paper quite a bit with each roll being 7 to 8 feet high and weighing about 7000 pounds. Since I only have between 6 and 8 rolls, I can be unloaded is as little as 15 minutes from the time I hit the dock. My biggest delays are at Walmart Distribution Centers and Big Lots.