I T-called A Load To Myself

This is the first time this has ever happened to me. Last week I had a load from Cressona, PA going to Tampa, FL. It called for a Friday delivery. Since Friday was the day after Thanksgiving, I called the customer to verify my appointment. They said, "There's no appointment. We are closed Friday and are all booked up for Monday."

I let my dispatcher know and we decided to drop the loaded trailer at one of our yards in Gainesville, GA for another driver to relay it to Tampa. This week I'm needing a backhaul load from PA and they have me go get that load I dropped in Gainesville and run it to Tampa.

I just thought it was funny. I've never T-called a load to myself before. Oh well, there's always a first time for everything.

Wow! I’m glad you’re back at it!

👍

Old School,

Forgive my ignorance, but what does T-call mean exactly?

Also, I'm still interested in your book if you ever manage to finish it now that you're on the road again.

Glad you're back out here. Stay safe.

Forgive my ignorance, but what does T-call mean exactly?

Excellent question! We tend to throw around phrases and lingo that new folks will not have heard or comprehend. When a load is T-called it is taken away from one driver and given to another to complete. The "T" stands for terminal because that is typically where you would drop a loaded trailer so that it will be secure. In this particular scenario we used a terminal we share with Aim Logistics. For us it is considered a drop yard, but it is a secure location with a key pad entry and exit gate.

Loads may be T-called for various reasons. Mine was because there simply was no reason for me to waste my time sitting with that load for three or or four days until it could be delivered. That was inefficient. I could drop the load and move on to other things while another driver in the area could pick it up after the holidays and deliver it. Sometimes a dispatcher may have you pick up a load that you don't have enough hours to deliver. They may want you to take it as far as you can and then drop it at a terminal. They can then have another driver pick it up and finish the load. Sometimes expedited freight is handled this way. The first driver takes it his ten or so hours and then drops it at a terminal where another driver is finishing his break and then hooks to it and keeps it rolling. That way even though the first driver must take a required break, there is no rule saying the freight has to take that break. The load can keep moving that way and the driver gets his required break.

Over the years I've been on both ends of the T-call. Sometimes I drop it, others I pick it up. This was the first time in my life where I did the drop and the pick up on the same load. It was a unique situation.

I'm still interested in your book if you ever manage to finish it now that you're on the road again.

Thanks Chris! I will get it across the finish line, but this jump back into driving has put a little extra load on me currently. Don't worry, it will be available soon. I will let you know when you can get a copy.

Great to see you back in the saddle. That is funny about the T Call. I'm guessing that you probably fill out the delivery receipt and put scale tickets or weights on it. I always do, and have talked to a few of the guys picking up a load I dropped, but I know there's a debate going on about leaving the weights with the BOL. I always do for two reasons, it's considerate to the next driver and it serves to document that I weighed and was in compliance. The opposing argument is that the driver picking up the load may not weigh if the weights are there and that each tractor is different, therefore the weights may not be valid.

I'd say it's a non-complex metaphor for picking right back up where you left off.

Congrats!

Linehauled it by yourself 😂

Old School, please excuse this local drivers ignorance. I know you guys are paid per mile, when a load is T called (and you don’t pick your load back up yourself lol) how is the pay calculated? I would assume the company runs the actual pickup ZIP and the actual drop ZIP through a computer and the result is your pay then do the same thing for the driver that picks up the load.

Old School, please excuse this local drivers ignorance. I know you guys are paid per mile, when a load is T called (and you don’t pick your load back up yourself lol) how is the pay calculated? I would assume the company runs the actual pickup ZIP and the actual drop ZIP through a computer and the result is your pay then do the same thing for the driver that picks up the load.

Well, for my small company that is exactly how they do it when it's necessary. Last Christmas Day while I was visiting family and was under a load going from North Carolina to Wisconsin, I ended up in the emergency room needing gallbladder surgery. So they ran a driver to Sterling Illinois where he dropped a load and then came down to where I had parked the truck 30 miles from my brothers houses and he swapped trailers and took my loaded one. I got paid to where I parked the truck and the other driver got paid starting at that spot up into Wisconsin where I was supposed to deliver.

Laura