An abandoned truck and a first-week quit often share a file

A previous carrier who writes that they left the truck is not only telling you about the unit. The next useful question is whether they also quit in the first days in the same file. Those two show up together far more often than chance. Treat that pairing as a screening item before you hand over keys, not as two unrelated complaints.

Among the reviews carriers left on CDLScan, 33.5% mention an abandoned truck. That figure describes those reviews, not drivers in general: carriers write after a bad run, so the share tells you what shows up once someone bothers to report it.

Inside that slice, 1.0% also mention quitting in the first days. Read the denominator before you use the number. It is 1.0% of abandonment reviews, not 1.0% of all reviews, and not 1.0% of early-quit reviews. Flip the pair and the share changes: 48.2% of early-quit reviews also mention an abandoned truck. Same overlap, two bases.

That pairing is not random. Quitting in the first days is 0.7% of all reviews. If an abandoned truck and a first-week quit showed up together only by chance, you would expect about 0.7% of abandonment reviews to also mention quitting in the first days. The observed share is 1.0% — about 1.44 times the chance rate. Lift is that multiplier. It is not a probability that the next person you dispatch will drop the truck after the first load.

The truck, then the first week

The write-ups talk about an abandoned truck, left truck, after first, first load, one load, first week, few days, worked days, went home, took truck, cash advance, bring truck, phone calls. That is the incident register.

Stay away and waste your time are a different register. Those are the author’s recommendation to the next recruiter, not a description of what the driver did. In 31.0% of abandonment reviews the carrier also writes a verdict. In 32.5% of early-quit reviews they do the same. That is a fact about how these reviews end, not a fact about the driver. Read the scene. Do not hire off the temperature of the last sentence.

From the abandonment side, the louder companions dwarf this pair. A crash or damage sits in 15.0%. Aggression or threats sit in 12.3%. Walking off a loaded trailer sits in 11.6%. Late or missed deliveries sit in 10.5%. Theft or money games sit in 9.4%. Going unreachable sits in 8.4%. Logbook and hours problems sit in 4.9%. A first-week quit is a thin companion on this side. It is the one that tells you the last desk barely got a start.

From the early-quit side, an abandoned truck sits in 48.2%. Aggression or threats sit in 18.1%. A crash or damage sits in 16.3%. Late or missed deliveries sit in 13.9%. Theft or money games sit in 11.4%. Going unreachable sits in 10.8%. Logbook and hours problems sit in 9.6%. Always name which base you are standing on.

I keep the first week next to the truck because the packet you already buy is built for a recorded crash and a failed test, not for a unit left after one load. An abandoned truck is usually not a filing. A first-week quit is never a filing. The pairing in a carrier write-up is employment memory. Most of that memory never becomes a query result.

The abandonment trend is in abandoned-truck mentions in reviews. A loaded trailer next to it is in a loaded trailer walk-off. Going unreachable next to a no-show is in going unreachable and a no-show.

The share of reviews mentioning an abandoned truck ran 18.8% in 2018, 22.6% in 2019, 26.6% in 2020, 23.9% in 2021, 30.1% in 2022, 34.7% in 2023, 38.2% in 2024, and 40.4% in 2025. I stop that line at 2025. 2026 is still open. The mention did not fade. 2025 is the high in the completed series.

Early-quit mentions ran 0.4% in 2018, 1.0% in 2019, 1.0% in 2020, 0.8% in 2021, 0.6% in 2022, 0.7% in 2023, 0.9% in 2024, and 0.4% in 2025. The abandonment line climbed. The first-week line stayed small. How these shares are counted is on the methodology page. Compare percentages inside each year, not year totals.

What the pairing is not

It is not proof that every abandoned truck is a first-week quit. Most abandonment reviews do not also mention quitting in the first days. 1.0% is a heavy overlap relative to chance, not a majority.

It is also not a CSA score. An abandoned truck in these write-ups is an employment complaint: left truck, after first, first load. A first-week quit is how short the start was. Neither is usually a filing you already buy. If you treat a clean PSP as the whole story, you keep the inspections and throw away the first load.

A loaded trailer in the same review is the ending you are trying not to buy with freight on it. 11.6% of abandonment reviews also mention walking off a loaded trailer. The truck and the short start are often the same week.

Why the packet you already buy stays quiet

PSP, an MVR, and the Clearinghouse hold what someone filed: a roadside inspection, a recorded crash, a failed test, a license action. A truck left after the first load is usually not in that packet. A quit in the first days never is.

Previous-employer forms are not much better. Eligible for rehire can come back blank while the same desk will later write that they left the truck after the first load. The behavior lives in carrier-to-carrier memory. Most of that memory never becomes a query result.

A clean packet on Monday morning does not tell you whether Friday’s first load will still be yours. Those are different claims.

I am not going to pretend this is an independent study. CDLScan is the source, and I write from the data they share. An abandoned truck is common enough in what carriers bother to write down, a first-week quit rides along far above chance, and the packet you already run is designed for filings, not for a two-day start.

What was visible before you assigned the load

The pattern I’d watch for is a previous carrier who already used abandoned truck, first load, after first, or few days, plus a hole between two recent jobs. Those words are not a violation code. They are a reason to look the name up before you give out a unit.

Typical sequence, built from how these reviews cluster, not from one person’s file: they start. The first load goes out. Then they leave the truck. Sometimes they last a few days. Sometimes they last one load. People who left cleanly can usually tell you how they turned in the truck and why the first week ended. People who are about to walk often skip the notice and jump to the truck stop.

None of that is a reason to treat every short job as a walk-off. It is a reason to run the name before the first live load.

What to do before you dispatch

Look the name up in what previous carriers already wrote. If you see an abandoned truck and a first-week quit in the same history, treat the first week as a supervised start, not as a full assignment.

Ask how long they stayed at the last carrier, how they turned in the truck, and what that desk will say about the first load. Then make the call. Five open questions beat a rehire box.

If you already assigned a unit, freeze the next loaded trailer until someone has looked. A clean packet on Monday morning does not tell you whether Friday’s first load will still be yours. Those are different claims.

The 33.5% share is not a reason to treat every applicant as a walk-off risk. It is a reason to stop reading a clean packet as “this person will finish the first week.” Check the name on CDLScan before the spend. It takes less than a minute.

Frequently asked questions

Does 1.0% mean an abandoned truck usually comes with a first-week quit?

No. 1.0% is the share of abandonment reviews that also mention quitting in the first days, among reviews carriers left on CDLScan. Most abandonment write-ups do not include that companion. The pairing is far above chance. It is not a majority.

Why is the other share 48.2%?

Because the base changed. 48.2% of early-quit reviews also mention an abandoned truck. Same overlap, counted from the other side. Always name the denominator.

What does lift 1.44 mean here?

Quitting in the first days is 0.7% of all reviews. Seeing it in 1.0% of abandonment reviews is about 1.44 times the chance rate. Lift is that multiplier, not the odds on your next dispatch.

Will PSP or an MVR warn me?

No. Those reports hold inspections, recorded crashes, and license events. A truck left after the first load is usually not filed there.

Is this the same problem as a loaded trailer walk-off?

Often nearby, not the same. 11.6% of abandonment reviews also mention walking off a loaded trailer. That is freight you still have to recover. The first-week quit is how short the start was.

What should I ask before I assign a load?

How long they stayed at the last carrier, how they turned in the truck, and why the last job ended. Then read the write-ups.

Where do I check the name?

On CDLScan, before the first live load. Previous carriers already wrote this pairing down. You should read it while the truck is still yours.