A broker prices the lane, books the carrier, and then the driver calls from the gate. The receiver only takes appointments, nobody made one, and there is no dock. Nobody asked, because the first shipper call stopped at origin, destination, weight, and commodity.
Those facts price the move. They do not describe the buildings, and the buildings decide whether the move goes as priced.
Where the surprises come from
Facility problems show up at dispatch or later, when the carrier is already committed and changing anything costs money. Common ones:
- The pickup needs a liftgate because there is no dock, and the carrier did not price one. - The delivery is a residence, or a location with restricted entry, and the quote assumed a business dock. - The receiver takes freight by appointment only, and the load arrives outside the window. - Someone has to unload the truck, and the shipper assumed the driver would.
J.B. Hunt's [accessorials guide for LTL shippers](https://www.jbhunt.com/our-company/resources/shipper/accessorials-guide-for-ltl-shippers) lists liftgate service, residential delivery, limited-access locations, appointment delivery, and inside delivery as separate accessorials. It also says that any shipment that is not a standard dock-to-dock move will likely require one or more accessorial charges. That guide is written for LTL, and truckload fee schedules differ. The lesson carries over: a charge you did not ask about is a charge you did not quote.
Detention is a facility problem you can see coming
A 2014 FMCSA-funded study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute defined detention as time drivers wait beyond two hours at a stop. It found detention on about 1 in 10 stops, averaging 1.4 hours past the two-hour mark ([FMCSA-RRR-13-060](https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/193)). The same report found detention about four times as often in for-hire truckload operations as in private carriers.
That study is more than a decade old and its sample was limited, so do not quote it as today's rate. It does show that long dock waits are common enough to plan for. Some facilities are slow because of how they schedule or how many doors they have. You can ask about that on the first call.
The questions that belong in the first shipper call
Add these to your existing intake. None take long if the shipper knows their own building.
Hours and scheduling. What are the pickup and delivery hours, and are there days they do not receive? Is it an appointment or first come, first served? If it is an appointment, who books it and how far ahead? If it is first come, first served, is there a cutoff after which late trucks wait until morning?
Dock or no dock. Is there a dock with a door, or is the freight at ground level? Does the truck need a liftgate at pickup, delivery, or both? Can a full-size trailer reach the door?
Location type. Commercial dock, residence, or restricted entry? J.B. Hunt gives schools, military bases, government buildings, and correctional facilities as examples of limited-access locations. Add what shows up in your lanes, such as construction sites or guarded gates, and ask what ID the driver needs.
Who loads and unloads. Will the shipper load the truck, or will the driver? At delivery, does the receiver unload it, does the receiver use a third-party lumper service, or does the driver need to assist? If a lumper is involved, who pays, how is it paid, and does the receiver require a receipt?
Time on site. How long does loading or unloading usually take? Is there a check-in process or a yard queue? What are the free time and detention terms, if any?
On-site contact. Who is the on-site contact at each end, with a number the driver can call? A dock supervisor who picks up beats a general office line.
Lumpers and driver assist
Federal law speaks to this. [49 U.S.C. 14103](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/14103) says that when a shipper or receiver requires help loading or unloading, they must provide it or compensate the owner or operator for the costs of securing and paying that help. It also bars coercing a carrier into loading or unloading cargo. Read the statute and confirm with your own counsel how it applies to your contracts.
The practical point is simpler. If unloading help is part of the delivery, the rate confirmation should say who arranges it and who pays. Raise it after the driver is at the dock and it becomes a dispute.
Write down what you do not know
Some shippers cannot answer half of this list on the first call. Record "unknown" and set a task to find out before you tender the load. Do not guess to fill the field. A guess that looks like a fact will travel into the rate confirmation and the carrier's dispatch notes.
Decide in advance which unknowns block a quote and which only block dispatch. A missing liftgate answer can change the price. A missing contact name can usually wait until booking.
Put the facility facts where dispatch will read them
Answers that live in a call recording do not help the person calling carriers. Use fields for the facts dispatch needs: appointment type, hours, dock or liftgate, location type, unload responsibility, and on-site contact. Keep free text for anything unusual, like a gate that closes an hour before the posted time.
If a shipper uses the same receivers repeatedly, save the facility facts once and reuse them. Recheck them now and then, because hours change and receivers move.
Test it on your last ten loads
Pull ten recent loads. Check whether you knew the appointment type, the dock situation, and the unload arrangement before you booked the carrier. Then mark the ones with detention, a surprise accessorial, or a missed window. Where the lists overlap, add those questions first.
If you want help building facility questions into your first shipper call, [book a call with Chosen AI Solutions](https://chosenai.co/book).
Sources
- Virginia Tech Transportation Institute for FMCSA. Technical report FMCSA-RRR-13-060 on driver detention time, December 2014. [rosap.ntl.bts.gov](https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/193) - 49 U.S.C. 14103, Loading and unloading motor vehicles. [law.cornell.edu](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/14103) - J.B. Hunt. Accessorials guide for LTL shippers. [jbhunt.com](https://www.jbhunt.com/our-company/resources/shipper/accessorials-guide-for-ltl-shippers)