Aggression and late loads often share a week

When a previous carrier writes that it ended in a shouting match, the useful next question is not only the tone. It is whether loads were already running late in the same file. Those two show up together far more often than chance. Treat that pairing as a retention screen before you dispatch, not as two separate complaints.

Among the reviews carriers left on CDLScan, 13.9% mention aggression or threats. 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, 14.9% also mention late or missed deliveries. Read the denominator before you use the number. It is 14.9% of aggression reviews, not 14.9% of all reviews, and not 14.9% of late-delivery reviews. Flip the pair and the share changes: 21.0% of late-delivery reviews also mention aggression or threats. Same overlap, two bases.

That pairing is not random. Late or missed deliveries are 9.8% of all reviews. If aggression and late loads showed up together only by chance, you would expect about 9.8% of aggression reviews to also mention late or missed deliveries. The observed share is 14.9% — about 1.52 times the chance rate. Lift is that multiplier. It is not a probability that the next person you dispatch will shout and then miss a window.

The call, then the clock

The write-ups talk about a bad attitude, always late, late deliveries, late pick, late loads, constantly late, left truck, a loaded trailer, home time, the first load, a truck stop, return truck. 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 37.2% of aggression reviews the carrier also writes a verdict. In 36.3% of late-delivery 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 aggression side, the louder companions dwarf this pair. An abandoned truck sits in 29.7%. A crash or damage sits in 17.0%. Late or missed deliveries sit in 14.9%. Logbook and hours problems sit in 7.3%. Theft or money games sit in 6.9%. Drugs or alcohol sit in 6.3%. Refused loads and low miles sit in 6.1%. Late loads are not the most common companion. They are the one that shows up on the customer’s clock before the walk-off.

From the late-delivery side, an abandoned truck sits in 35.7%. Aggression or threats sit in 21.0%. A crash or damage sits in 19.8%. Refused loads and low miles sit in 9.1%. Going unreachable sits in 8.8%. Logbook and hours problems sit in 8.2%. A loaded trailer walk-off sits in 7.3%. Always name which base you are standing on.

I keep the clock next to the threat because the packet you already buy is built for inspections and recorded crashes, not for a shouting match on a late pick. A missed appointment is usually not a filing. A bad attitude is not a filing. The pairing in a carrier write-up is employment memory. Most of that memory never becomes a query result.

The aggression trend is in what a threat in a carrier review actually means. Refused freight next to the threat is in aggression and refused loads. Late loads next to the logs are in late loads and logbook trouble.

The share of reviews mentioning aggression or threats ran 13.2% in 2018, 14.6% in 2019, 11.2% in 2020, 12.0% in 2021, 14.7% in 2022, 14.0% in 2023, 12.6% in 2024, and 15.1% 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.

Late-delivery mentions ran 12.8% in 2018, 7.2% in 2019, 11.4% in 2020, 9.6% in 2021, 8.9% in 2022, 8.6% in 2023, 9.9% in 2024, and 11.1% in 2025. The aggression line sat high. The late-load line never left. 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 threat is a late load. Most aggression reviews do not also mention late or missed deliveries. 14.9% is a heavy overlap relative to chance, not a majority.

It is also not a CSA score. Aggression in these write-ups is an employment complaint: a bad attitude, a shouting match, a threat on the phone. Late loads can sit next to that complaint and cost you a customer. The call itself usually cannot show up in a packet you already buy.

An abandoned truck in the same review is the ending you are trying not to buy. 29.7% of aggression reviews also mention an abandoned truck. The threat and the late pick are often the middle of that 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 bad attitude is usually not a filing. A late delivery is usually not a filing. Most of this pairing will not be in that packet.

Previous-employer forms are not much better. Eligible for rehire can come back blank while the same desk will later write that it ended in a shouting match and they were always late. 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 pick will hold. 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. Aggression is common enough in what carriers bother to write down, late loads ride along far above chance, and the packet you already run is designed for filings, not for the week.

What was visible before you assigned the load

The pattern I’d watch for is a previous carrier who already used bad attitude, always late, late pick, or home time, 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 dispatch phone.

Typical sequence, built from how these reviews cluster, not from one person’s file: they start. The first week has a late pick. The call gets loud. Home time becomes the argument. Sometimes the next line is that they left the truck. Sometimes they stay and the clock just keeps missing. People who left cleanly can usually tell you why the last load ran late and how the last call went. People who are about to walk often skip the freight and jump to home time.

None of that is a reason to treat every hard call 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 aggression and late loads in the same history, treat the first week as a supervised start, not as a full assignment.

Ask how the last dispatch call went, why loads ran late at the last carrier, and what that desk will say about on-time. 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 pick will hold. Those are different claims.

The 13.9% share is not a reason to treat every applicant as a threat risk. It is a reason to stop reading a clean packet as “this person will run on time.” Check the name on CDLScan before the spend. It takes less than a minute.

Frequently asked questions

Does 14.9% mean a threat usually comes with late loads?

No. 14.9% is the share of aggression reviews that also mention late or missed deliveries, among reviews carriers left on CDLScan. Most aggression write-ups do not include that companion. The pairing is far above chance. It is not a majority.

Why is the other share 21.0%?

Because the base changed. 21.0% of late-delivery reviews also mention aggression or threats. Same overlap, counted from the other side. Always name the denominator.

What does lift 1.52 mean here?

Late or missed deliveries are 9.8% of all reviews. Seeing them in 14.9% of aggression reviews is about 1.52 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 shouting match and a late pick are usually not filed there.

Is this the same problem as an abandoned truck?

Often nearby, not the same. 29.7% of aggression reviews also mention an abandoned truck. That is the ending you are trying not to buy. The threat and the late load are the middle of the week.

What should I ask before I assign a load?

How the last dispatch call went, why loads ran late at the last carrier, 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.