A crash mention often sits with late or missed deliveries

When a previous carrier writes about a crash or damage, the useful next question is not only whether a claim was filed. It is whether the same write-up also talks about always late, late deliveries, or missed pickups. Those two sit together more often than chance. Treat the pairing as one screen before you put someone on a live load, not as two unrelated complaints.

Among the reviews carriers left on CDLScan, 13.7% mention a crash or damage. 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, 14.2% also mention late or missed deliveries. Read the denominator before you use the number. It is 14.2% of crash-or-damage reviews, not 14.2% of all reviews, and not 14.2% of late-delivery reviews. Flip the pair and the share changes: 19.8% of late-or-missed-delivery reviews also mention a crash or damage. Same overlap, two bases.

That pairing is not random. Late or missed deliveries are 9.8% of all reviews. If a crash mention and a late-load mention showed up together only by chance, you would expect about 9.8% of crash-or-damage reviews to also mention late loads. The observed share is 14.2% — about 1.44 times the chance rate. Lift is that multiplier. It is not a probability that the next person you hire will damage a truck and then run every load late.

Damage, then the clock

The write-ups talk about a damaged truck, a damaged trailer, damaged equipment, a truck trailer, a brand new truck that did not stay that way, an abandoned truck, a left truck, a truck stop, a loaded trailer, went home, home time. On the clock side they talk about always late, late deliveries, late every, late pick, constantly late, late loads, every load. Sometimes a cash advance sits in the same week. 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 32.7% of crash-or-damage 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 crash side, the louder companions dwarf this pair. An abandoned truck sits in 36.7% of crash-or-damage reviews. Aggression or threats sit in 17.2%. Theft sits in 8.8%. Logbook and hours problems sit in 7.1%. Going unreachable sits in 6.0%. A loaded trailer sits in 5.5%. Late loads are not the most common companion. They are the one that turns a damage complaint into a service-failure problem.

From the other side, 35.7% of late-delivery reviews also mention an abandoned truck. Aggression sits in 21.0%. 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 sits in 7.3%. Always name which base you are standing on.

I keep the clock next to the crash because the packet you already buy is built for recorded crashes, not for a week of late pickups that never became a filing. A crash can leak into PSP if someone actually reported it. Always late usually cannot. Late loads as their own category are in late or missed deliveries in carrier reviews. Late loads next to refused freight is in late loads and refused freight. Late loads next to hours is late deliveries and logbook hours. Aggression next to late loads is a separate pairing; that is aggression and late loads.

The share of reviews mentioning a crash or damage ran 14.0% in 2018, 12.5% in 2019, 13.3% in 2020, 12.1% in 2021, 12.3% in 2022, 13.1% in 2023, 13.5% in 2024, and 15.1% in 2025. I stop that line at 2025. 2026 is still open. The completed series is slightly up, not a spike.

Late-or-missed-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 crash line eased, then climbed. The late-load line dipped and came back. 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 crash mention is a late-load problem. Most crash-or-damage reviews do not also mention missed deliveries. 14.2% is a heavy overlap relative to chance, not a majority.

It is also not a CSA score by itself. Crash or damage in these write-ups is an employment complaint: damaged truck, damaged trailer, damaged equipment. A recorded crash can sit next to them, and that part can show up if it was filed. Always late, late every load, constantly late — those usually cannot.

I would not read the last sentence of these reviews as the finding. Carriers reach for stay away. That is their recommendation to the next desk, not a category of behavior.

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 crash can leak into that packet if someone actually reported it. A week of late pickups, late deliveries, constantly late on every load — those are service complaints. They are not a query result unless a customer claim or an inspection wrote them down.

Previous-employer forms are not much better. Eligible for rehire can come back blank while the same desk will later write that the driver damaged a truck and was 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 load will sit. 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. Crash mentions are common enough in what carriers bother to write down, a late-load mention rides along above chance, and the packet you already run is designed for the filing, not for the clock sitting next to it.

What was visible before you handed over the keys

The pattern I’d watch for is a previous carrier who already used damaged truck, damaged trailer, always late, late deliveries, or constantly late, 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 issue a unit.

Typical sequence, built from how these reviews cluster, not from one person’s file: they start. The truck takes a hit, or the trailer does. Loads start running late. Then they go home, or they leave the truck, or they stop answering. People who left cleanly can usually tell you where the unit is and whether the damage was reported. People who are about to walk often skip the report and jump to home time.

None of that is a reason to treat every crash mention as a service failure. It is a reason to run the name before you issue either.

What to do before you issue the unit

Look the name up in what previous carriers already wrote. If you see a crash or damage and late loads in the same history, treat the first week as a supervised start, not as a full issue of keys and a solo dispatch.

Ask whether any damage was reported at the last carrier, how on-time they ran, and what that desk will say about the unit. Then make the call. Five open questions beat a rehire box.

If you already issued a truck, freeze the next live load until someone has looked. Check the name on CDLScan first. It takes less than a minute, and it is where that pairing actually sits.

Frequently asked questions

Does 14.2% mean a crash mention usually comes with late loads?

No. 14.2% is the share of crash-or-damage reviews that also mention late or missed deliveries, among reviews carriers left on CDLScan. Most crash write-ups do not include that companion. The pairing is above chance. It is not a majority.

Why is the other share 19.8%?

Because the base changed. 19.8% of late-or-missed-delivery reviews also mention a crash or damage. Same overlap, counted from the other side. Always name the denominator.

What does lift 1.44 mean here?

Late or missed deliveries are 9.8% of all reviews. Seeing them in 14.2% of crash-or-damage reviews is about 1.44 times the chance rate. Lift is that multiplier, not the odds on your next hire.

Will PSP or an MVR warn me?

Sometimes about the crash, if something was filed. Not about the late loads, unless a claim or an inspection caught them. Those reports hold inspections, recorded crashes, and license events. Always late that never became a filing is usually not there.

Is this the same problem as an abandoned truck?

Nearby, not the same. An abandoned truck sits in 36.7% of crash-or-damage reviews and in 35.7% of late-delivery reviews. Screen the walk-off separately. This pair is damage plus the clock.

What should I ask before I issue a unit?

Whether any damage was reported at the last carrier, how on-time they ran, and what that desk will say about the truck. Then read the write-ups.

Where do I check the name?

On CDLScan, before you issue the unit. Previous carriers already wrote this pairing down. You should read it while the truck is still yours.