An abandoned truck and a no-notice 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 without notice 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, 4.8% also mention quitting without notice. Read the denominator before you use the number. It is 4.8% of abandonment reviews, not 4.8% of all reviews, and not 4.8% of no-notice reviews. Flip the pair and the share changes: 49.3% of no-notice reviews also mention an abandoned truck. Same overlap, two bases.

That pairing is not random. Quitting without notice is 3.2% of all reviews. If an abandoned truck and a no-notice quit showed up together only by chance, you would expect about 3.2% of abandonment reviews to also mention quitting without notice. The observed share is 4.8% — about 1.47 times the chance rate. Lift is that multiplier. It is not a probability that the next person you dispatch will drop the truck and walk with no call.

The truck, then the notice

The write-ups talk about an abandoned truck, left truck, abandoned equipment, dropped truck, without notice, quit without, left without, a loaded trailer, went home, home time, the first load, a truck stop, under load. 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 24.4% of no-notice 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%. Quitting without notice is not the most common companion. It is the one that tells you the last desk never got a call.

From the no-notice side, an abandoned truck sits in 49.3%. A crash or damage sits in 16.2%. Aggression or threats sit in 13.0%. Late or missed deliveries sit in 10.5%. Going unreachable sits in 8.8%. A loaded trailer walk-off sits in 7.9%. Equipment or a fuel card that never returned sits in 5.2%. Always name which base you are standing on.

I keep the notice 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 at a truck stop with no call. An abandoned truck is usually not a filing. A no-notice 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. The no-notice trend is in quit-without-notice mentions.

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.

No-notice mentions ran 1.0% in 2018, 4.3% in 2019, 2.8% in 2020, 2.3% in 2021, 3.1% in 2022, 2.7% in 2023, 3.1% in 2024, and 3.9% in 2025. The abandonment line climbed. The no-notice line stayed small and rose. 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 no-notice quit. Most abandonment reviews do not also mention quitting without notice. 4.8% 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, abandoned equipment, dropped truck. A no-notice quit is the missing call. 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 truck stop.

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 missing notice are often the same afternoon.

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 at a truck stop is usually not in that packet. A quit with no call 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 without notice. 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 unit 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 no-notice quit rides along far above chance, and the packet you already run is designed for filings, not for a missing call.

What was visible before you assigned the load

The pattern I’d watch for is a previous carrier who already used abandoned truck, without notice, left truck, or dropped truck, 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. Home time becomes the argument. Then they leave the truck. There is no call, or the call comes after the unit is already sitting. Sometimes the trailer is still loaded. Sometimes they just go home. People who left cleanly can usually tell you how they turned in the truck and who they called. 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 no-notice quit in the same history, treat the first week as a supervised start, not as a full assignment.

Ask how they turned in the last truck, who they called, and what that desk will say about notice. 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 unit 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 call before they leave.” Check the name on CDLScan before the spend. It takes less than a minute.

Frequently asked questions

Does 4.8% mean an abandoned truck usually comes with no notice?

No. 4.8% is the share of abandonment reviews that also mention quitting without notice, 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 49.3%?

Because the base changed. 49.3% of no-notice reviews also mention an abandoned truck. Same overlap, counted from the other side. Always name the denominator.

What does lift 1.47 mean here?

Quitting without notice is 3.2% of all reviews. Seeing it in 4.8% of abandonment reviews is about 1.47 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 at a truck stop and a missing call are 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 missing notice is how the last desk found out.

What should I ask before I assign a load?

How they turned in the last truck, who they called, 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.