Define Drop & Hook
Topic 27781 | Page 1
Welcome, and congrats on getting your career started.
Drop and hook is taking an empty trailer to a customer parking it and picking up a loaded trailer there and heading out. Seems it should go pretty smoothly. Well sometimes it does, and other times it doesn’t. There can be a variety of reasons it can go bad. Never assume a drop and hook will be a quick in and out.
A side note, layover and detention pay is normally a drop in the bucket to what you can earn rolling.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
To add on to what PJ said drop and hook can also include dropping off a loaded trailer for empty or loaded trailer for another loaded trailer.
In theory you shouldn't have to wait on them to load or unload a trailer while you are there. But it doesn't always work that way.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
Welcome to the forum Artsy.
"Drop & Hook" by definition is a physical description that has many variations, "the trailer currently hooked to the tractor is "dropped" (un-hitched) and placed in a lot or on a dock door. Another trailer is then picked-up, either loaded or empty".
It's possible that it can involve wait times/delays, but typically no where near as long if the stop is a "live" load or unload.
As a Walmart Dedicated driver, a common scenario for me is to drop a fully or partially loaded trailer at a Walmart store dock, hook to an empty (usually parked on the same dock or near-by) and depart. Many times I am dispatched with a final stop at a vendor, called a back-haul. Most of the time it's "drop and hook", but the inverse of what occurs at a store; thus dropping an empty and picking up a loaded trailer for the return trip to the DC.
Do you have your CDL , or are you entering school.
Depending on your answer, if you haven't already we advise investing time in reviewing, reading and studying these links as you prepare for trucking as a career:
- Truck Driver's Career Guide
- Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
- High Road CDL Training Program
- CDL Practice Tests
Good luck!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
You still need to pretrip every trailer. I went to do a drop and hook at one of our drop yards and spent an hour securing the load properly and retarping.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
You still need to pretrip every trailer. I went to do a drop and hook at one of our drop yards and spent an hour securing the load properly and retarping.
Great point and oh so true.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
And sometimes you get the double drop. This is when you have to drop your trailer in the same dock door as the trailer you are picking up. Still not a quick and easy task. You first start by dropping your trailer out of the way and then hook to the new trailer. Pull the new trailer out and drop it also out of the way. Then go get the original trailer and drop it in that loading dock. Then go get the new trailer again.
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Mornin’ Truckers! My Q is basically does D&H ever involve layovers or detentions? The very nature of the words would lead one to think no, but I woke up wondering this today. Haha Starting my new career next week, so excited. Starting in DryVan but aspire to get to haz-tank.
Dryvan:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.