Aggression and refused 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 refused loads and low miles sit 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, 6.1% also mention refused loads and low miles. Read the denominator before you use the number. It is 6.1% of aggression reviews, not 6.1% of all reviews, and not 6.1% of performance reviews. Flip the pair and the share changes: 22.7% of performance reviews also mention aggression or threats. Same overlap, two bases.

That pairing is not random. Refused loads and low miles are 3.7% of all reviews. If aggression and refused freight showed up together only by chance, you would expect about 3.7% of aggression reviews to also mention refused loads and low miles. The observed share is 6.1% — about 1.6 times the chance rate. Lift is that multiplier. It is not a probability that the next person you dispatch will shout and then turn down the freight.

The tone, then the board

The write-ups talk about a bad attitude, always late, home time, the first load, a loaded trailer, left truck, abandoned equipment, a cash advance, 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 39.7% of performance 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 are not the most common companion. They are the one that tells you the board after the call went wrong.

From the performance side, an abandoned truck sits in 36.7%. Late or missed deliveries sit in 24.2%. A crash or damage sits in 14.6%. Going unreachable sits in 6.5%. A cash advance sits in 5.8%. False statements sit in 5.7%. Always name which base you are standing on.

I keep refused freight next to the threat because the packet you already buy is built for inspections and license events, not for a shouting match on the phone. A threat is usually not a filing. A refused load is never a filing. The aggression trend is in what a threat in a carrier review actually means. Late loads with refused freight is a separate pairing; that is late loads and refused freight. The clock in the same history is late loads as the week before a walk-off.

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.

Performance mentions ran 3.1% in 2018, 3.8% in 2019, 3.8% in 2020, 3.1% in 2021, 3.5% in 2022, 4.0% in 2023, 3.9% in 2024, and 4.1% in 2025. The aggression line sat high. The refused-load line stayed small and slightly up. 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 production problem. Most aggression reviews do not also mention refused loads and low miles. 6.1% 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. Refused loads sit next to that complaint. Neither one is a roadside inspection by itself.

An abandoned truck in the same review is the ending you are trying not to buy. 29.7% of aggression reviews also mention it. That is why the call is not a small personality note. It is often the last conversation before the truck is sitting somewhere.

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 not a filing. A refused load is not a filing either. Most of this pairing will not leak into the packet you already run.

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 refused the freight. 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 Tuesday’s load gets turned down. 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, refused loads ride along far above chance, and the packet you already run is designed for hours and crashes, not for the call.

What was visible before you assigned the load

The pattern I’d watch for is a previous carrier who already used bad attitude, home time, always late, or refused the freight, 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 load is not what they wanted. Home time becomes the argument. The call gets loud. Sometimes the next line is that they left the truck. Sometimes they stay and the board just keeps getting turned down. People who left cleanly can usually tell you which freight they refused and why the last call went that way. 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 no 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 refused loads in the same history, treat the first week as a supervised start, not as a full assignment.

Ask which freight they turned down, how the last dispatch call went, and what that desk will say about production. 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 Tuesday’s load holds. 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 take the freight.” Check the name on CDLScan before the spend. It takes less than a minute.

Frequently asked questions

Does 6.1% mean a threat usually comes with refused freight?

No. 6.1% is the share of aggression reviews that also mention refused loads and low miles, 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 22.7%?

Because the base changed. 22.7% of performance reviews also mention aggression or threats. Same overlap, counted from the other side. Always name the denominator.

What does lift 1.6 mean here?

Refused loads and low miles are 3.7% of all reviews. Seeing them in 6.1% of aggression reviews is about 1.6 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 bad attitude is not filed there. A refused load is not either.

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 refused load are the middle of the week.

What should I ask before I assign a load?

Which freight they turned down, how the last dispatch call went, 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.