Late loads and logbook trouble often share a week

When a previous carrier writes that the driver was always late, the useful next question is not only the clock. It is whether logbook and hours problems 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 compliance complaints.

Among the reviews carriers left on CDLScan, 9.8% mention late or missed deliveries. 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, 8.2% also mention logbook and hours problems. Read the denominator before you use the number. It is 8.2% of late-delivery reviews, not 8.2% of all reviews, and not 8.2% of logbook reviews. Flip the pair and the share changes: 17.6% of logbook reviews also mention late or missed deliveries. Same overlap, two bases.

That pairing is not random. Logbook and hours problems are 4.6% of all reviews. If late deliveries and logbook trouble showed up together only by chance, you would expect about 4.6% of late-delivery reviews to also mention logbook and hours problems. The observed share is 8.2% — about 1.8 times the chance rate. Lift is that multiplier. It is not a probability that the next person you dispatch will miss an appointment and disconnect an ELD.

The clock, then the logs

The write-ups talk about always late, late deliveries, late every load, late pick, constantly late, late loads, a log book, a disconnected ELD, an ELD device, hos rules, how to use the ELD, abandoned truck, left truck, loaded trailer, home time. 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 36.3% of late-delivery reviews the carrier also writes a verdict. In 32.7% of logbook 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 late-delivery side, the louder companions dwarf this pair. 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%. Walking off a loaded trailer sits in 7.3%. Logbook trouble is not the most common companion. It is the one that can leak into a filing if someone actually falsified logs.

From the logbook side, an abandoned truck sits in 36.2%. Aggression sits in 22.3%. A crash or damage sits in 21.3%. Theft sits in 15.3%. Going unreachable sits in 9.5%. Equipment or a fuel card that never returned sits in 7.4%. Always name which base you are standing on.

I keep the logs next to the clock because the packet you already buy is built for hours and inspections, not for always late. A disconnected ELD can leak into a filing. Always late usually cannot. The late-delivery trend itself is in late loads as the week before a walk-off. The logbook trend is in logbook mentions that are falling, not gone. Late loads with refused freight is a separate pairing; that is late loads and refused freight. Aggression in the same history is what a threat in a carrier review actually means.

The share of reviews mentioning late or missed deliveries 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. I stop that line at 2025. 2026 is still open. Do not smooth 2019. It is the low in the completed series, 7.2%. Then the share climbed back, and 2025 is 11.1% — not the 2018 high, not the 2019 trough.

Logbook mentions ran 5.0% in 2018, 5.8% in 2019, 6.5% in 2020, 5.5% in 2021, 5.5% in 2022, 4.6% in 2023, 4.3% in 2024, and 3.7% in 2025. The late-delivery line eased, then came back. The logbook line fell. 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 late load is a hours problem. Most late-delivery reviews do not also mention logbook and hours problems. 8.2% is a heavy overlap relative to chance, not a majority.

It is also not a CSA score. Late deliveries in these write-ups are an employment complaint: always late, late every load, missed pickups. Logbook trouble can sit next to them and leak into a filing if someone actually falsified logs. The clock itself usually cannot.

A crash in the same review is the exception. 19.8% of late-delivery reviews also mention accident or damage. That part can show up if it was recorded. The late loads that came with it usually cannot. If you treat the MVR as the whole story, you keep the wreck and throw away the 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. Always late is usually not a filing. A disconnected ELD can leak into that packet. Most of this pairing will not.

Previous-employer forms are not much better. Eligible for rehire can come back blank while the same desk will later write that the driver was always late and disconnected the ELD. 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 appointment holds. 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. Late deliveries are common enough in what carriers bother to write down, logbook trouble rides along far above chance, and the packet you already run is designed for hours, not for the clock.

What was visible before you assigned the load

The pattern I’d watch for is a previous carrier who already used always late, late every load, log book, or disconnected ELD, 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. Then the logs look wrong, or the ELD gets disconnected. 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 which loads ran late and how they ran logs. People who are about to walk often skip the freight and jump to home time.

None of that is a reason to treat every late appointment 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 late deliveries and logbook problems in the same history, treat the first week as a supervised start, not as a full assignment.

Ask which loads ran late, how they ran logs at the last carrier, and what that desk will say about on-time performance. 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 appointment holds. Those are different claims.

The 9.8% share is not a reason to treat every applicant as a late-load risk. It is a reason to stop reading a clean packet as “this person runs on time.” Check the name on CDLScan before the spend. It takes less than a minute.

Frequently asked questions

Does 8.2% mean late loads usually come with logbook trouble?

No. 8.2% is the share of late-delivery reviews that also mention logbook and hours problems, among reviews carriers left on CDLScan. Most late-delivery write-ups do not include that companion. The pairing is far above chance. It is not a majority.

Why is the other share 17.6%?

Because the base changed. 17.6% of logbook reviews also mention late or missed deliveries. Same overlap, counted from the other side. Always name the denominator.

What does lift 1.8 mean here?

Logbook and hours problems are 4.6% of all reviews. Seeing them in 8.2% of late-delivery reviews is about 1.8 times the chance rate. Lift is that multiplier, not the odds on your next dispatch.

Will PSP or an MVR warn me?

Sometimes about the hours, if something was filed. Not about the clock. Those reports hold inspections, recorded crashes, and license events. Always late is usually not filed there.

Is this the same problem as an abandoned truck?

Often nearby, not the same. 35.7% of late-delivery reviews also mention an abandoned truck. That is the ending you are trying not to buy. Late loads and logbook trouble are the middle of the week.

What should I ask before I assign a load?

Which freight ran late, how they ran logs 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.