My Driver Is Late
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Three things, in order: find out where they actually are, tell the broker before the broker tells you, and work out what it does to the loads behind this one. The middle step is the one that gets skipped and the one that costs the lane.
Find out where they are
Check the ELD before calling. Position and hours remaining usually answer the question without interrupting someone who’s driving, and if they’re moving normally, the delay may be upstream rather than the driver.
If the position is stale or they’re stopped somewhere unexpected, then call. And treat no answer as information: a driver who doesn’t pick up is usually driving, in a facility, or has a problem.
Tell the broker first
Before they call you. A delay you report is a rescheduling conversation; a delay they discover is a service failure, and brokers remember the difference when they’re deciding who to call next week.
Give a realistic ETA rather than an optimistic one, and say when you’ll update again.
Then look downstream
A late delivery frequently costs a pickup you’ve already committed to. That broker needs to hear from you now, while there’s still time to reschedule rather than cancel.
Also check hours: if the delay means the driver can’t legally complete the run, that’s a different problem and it needs solving before the clock forces it.
Common causes, and which are actually the driver
Usually not the driver: detention at the previous stop, a facility that loaded late, traffic or weather, an appointment that was never achievable given the hours.
Sometimes the driver: a late start, an unplanned stop, a route choice.
Worth distinguishing, because if the same driver is late repeatedly it’s a conversation, and if the same facility is causing it, it’s a pricing decision.
Preventing the repeat
- Check appointment feasibility against hours before booking
- Ask whether the facility is FCFS: many “late” drivers were sitting
- Track which facilities cause your delays; they’ll be the same ones
- Make status updates automatic so lateness surfaces early rather than at the window
Where Hey Bubba! fits
Hey Bubba! is an AI back-office automation platform for fleets. ETA is tracked against the appointment window from live ELD data, the broker is notified when a window is at risk, and the loads behind it get reworked: without a dispatcher noticing first.
Frequently asked questions
Check the ELD first; position and hours usually answer it. No answer typically means driving, in a facility, or a problem.
Yes. Early partial information beats late complete information.
Contact that broker immediately, while rescheduling is still possible.
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