What is no-touch freight? What it means, and what to do when it turns into touch

No-touch freight is the normal deal for most truckload freight: the driver brings the truck, someone else handles the freight. It's also a promise that sometimes breaks at the dock, when a receiver hands the driver a pallet jack. This guide explains what no-touch means, how it differs from touch freight and drop and hook, what to confirm before you accept a load, and how to handle a no-touch load that turns into touch.

Switch between the three ways a load gets handled below. Each shows who does the work, an EXAMPLE dock time, and what it usually pays.

No-touch, touch and drop and hook

• No-touch, live: the truck waits at the door while the facility's crew or a lumper loads or unloads. The driver checks the count and signs.
• Touch, or driver assist: the driver helps load, unload, count, stage or sort the freight, sometimes with a pallet jack, sometimes by hand.
• Drop and hook: the driver drops one trailer and hooks another. Nobody touches the freight while the truck waits, and the visit can be short.

Each one costs a different amount of time, and time is money for a truck. Drop and hook is usually the fastest, a live no-touch load sits in the middle, and driver assist can take hours of physical work.

What to confirm before you accept

Ask the broker, and read the rate con, for answers to these:

1. Is the load no-touch at both pickup and delivery?
2. If not, what exactly is the driver expected to do, and is there driver assist pay?
3. Is it live or drop and hook?
4. Will there be a lumper, and is it reimbursed?
5. What are the free time and detention terms?

A load that says "no-touch" on the posting but nothing on the rate con is a risk. The rate con is what counts if there's a dispute.

When no-touch turns into touch

It happens: the receiver has no crew available, the lumper service isn't there, or the dock staff simply expect the driver to unload. Before you touch anything:

• Call or message the broker, explain what you're being asked to do, and ask for driver assist pay in writing.
• Note the time you were asked and the name of the person asking.
• Decide with the facts: unloading a floor-loaded trailer by hand is hours of work and an injury risk. You can refuse unpaid work; the delay is then the facility's problem, and detention terms may apply.

How touch freight affects pay

Touch work takes time and energy that a no-touch load doesn't. A load that pays well on a per-mile basis can turn poor once you add two or three hours of unloading. Put the real dock time into the load profitability calculator to see profit per hour with the touch time included, and compare it with the same load as no-touch.

Waiting costs too. Even on a true no-touch load, trucks often wait a long time for a door or a crew, and detention terms on the rate con decide whether that wait is paid. Our guide to detention in trucking explains when the clock starts, and our page of truck detention statistics (coming soon) collects the research on how long trucks wait. Facilities that use lumpers or crews often publish their own appointment and wait-time rules; see our warehouse detention policy template (coming soon).

Safety on the dock

No-touch rules exist partly for safety. Docks are busy places with forklifts, uneven dock plates and heavy freight, and drivers who unload by hand risk strains, falls and crush injuries, often without the training or equipment the dock crew has. If you do assist, wear proper footwear and gloves, use the facility's equipment only if you're trained on it, and never stand between a forklift and the trailer. A carrier's insurance and a driver's health both depend on not treating every dock as a do-it-yourself job.

No-touch freight trucking companies

Many carriers, and many company driver jobs, advertise no-touch freight as a benefit, because it means less physical work and fewer injuries. If you're choosing a job or a lane, ask what share of loads are truly no-touch, and what happens when they aren't: is there driver assist pay, and does it reach the driver?

What to check and document

Driver assist sits on the list of accessorials in our guide to accessorial charges in freight.

Most dry van freight is no-touch, until it isn't. Our dry van dispatch desk confirms handling terms before you book and steps in when the dock changes them, and you approve every load. Send an application.