Magellan
Does this load fit the driver’s available hours?
Check appointments against driver hours, loading time, time zones and parking. Set an early trigger for replanning before dispatch commits.
The mileage looks reasonable. The receiver has an opening. A routing screen shows an arrival time before the appointment. Dispatch accepts the load, and three hours later the driver explains that the plan does not fit their available time.
The plan counted the road miles but omitted part of the job. It treated travel time as if it were the only constraint and left loading, inspection, parking, breaks and existing duty time outside the decision. A customer appointment can be available even when a particular driver cannot lawfully or safely meet it.
For property-carrying drivers covered by the standard federal framework, FMCSA summarizes the 11-hour driving limit following 10 consecutive hours off duty, the 14-hour driving window, the requirement for at least 30 consecutive non-driving minutes after eight cumulative driving hours without such an interruption, and the applicable 60/70-hour limits. Exceptions and different operating rules can change the analysis. FMCSA hours-of-service summary (https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/summary-hours-service-regulations)
Before using a planning shortcut, the dispatcher needs to confirm which hours rules apply. Local work, an interstate trip and a sleeper-berth arrangement can require different calculations even when they appear on the same load board.
Use the applicable rule set and the driver’s current record to build the plan. Record anything still awaiting confirmation beside the arrival estimate.
For a proposed assignment, identify the current location, reliable available-time information, required pickup and delivery activities, appointment time zones and realistic parking options. Include the work between legs. A truck does not arrive ready for highway driving the instant a shipping clerk hands over a document.
Check what the appointment means. Is it a gate check-in time, a dock appointment or a loading window? Is the receiver open if the truck arrives early? Does a delay trigger a new appointment rather than a simple later unloading? These details change the operational plan even when the mileage stays the same.
Record assumptions explicitly. “Load expected ready at 14:00 local; shipper confirmation pending” is useful. “Pickup 14:00” conceals whether the time is a fact, a request or a guess. The next dispatcher should be able to see which assumptions still need confirmation.
A workable plan includes a time at which the business will reassess, before the driver runs out of options. Choose that point based on the actual trip: when a loading delay would threaten the next leg, when a receiver's cutoff becomes unreachable or when the remaining safe parking choices narrow.
Name the dispatcher responsible for acting at that point. If loading is still unfinished, that person contacts the appropriate customer representative, considers alternatives and updates the assignment. The driver should have an office contact handling the plan while they wait at the dock.
An early trigger is an internal management tool. It does not extend a legal limit or turn uncertain conditions into an exception. It gives the business time to make a lawful, practical change while useful alternatives remain.
Consider an illustrative interstate property-carrying assignment under the standard 11-hour driving, 14-hour driving-window and 60-hour/7-day limits. The driver has completed 10 consecutive hours off duty, starts duty at 06:00 Eastern and has 40 on-duty hours in the previous six days. No sleeper split or other exception is assumed. At 13:00 Eastern, pickup is complete: the driver has worked seven hours, driven two and just completed at least 30 consecutive non-driving minutes. Use the current records when applying the method to an actual assignment.
The remaining plan is 30 minutes of required on-duty, non-driving work, three hours of driving, a one-hour on-duty, non-driving stop and three more hours of driving. All non-driving time in this example is on duty. Final driving would end at 20:30 Eastern. The day would total eight driving hours and 14.5 on-duty hours; the seven-day total would be 54.5 hours.
The qualifying non-driving periods keep cumulative driving since the last qualifying interruption below eight hours in this scenario: the 13:00 pickup completion follows a qualifying interruption, then each three-hour driving leg is separated by the one-hour stop.
The constraint is the driving window: driving after 20:00 is outside the ordinary 14-hour limit. Work performed after that cutoff is not all prohibited; this particular plan fails because driving itself continues past it. FMCSA hours-of-service summary (https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/summary-hours-service-regulations)
Dispatch must now revise the remaining assignment and confirm the receiver and safe stopping plan. A different qualified assignment or a rescheduled delivery may be appropriate. Extra cycle availability does not supply another 30 minutes in the 14-hour driving window.
For a real trip, check loading progress, the driver’s current records, safe stopping options and the receiver’s available alternatives before revising the plan. Record the approved change and give the driver the information when they can review it safely.
Preserve the original plan and the reason for the revision. That record helps the business distinguish a recurring shipper delay from a bad route estimate or a missed internal trigger. If every late load is coded “driver issue,” management will spend money repairing the wrong part of the operation.
Topics
- Compliance
- Hours of service
- Load planning
- Appointments