Check Call (Check call)

Definition

A check call is a contact a freight broker or dispatcher makes with a carrier or driver to confirm where a load is and whether it is on schedule. It is usually a phone call, text or email made at pickup, during transit and at delivery, and the answer is passed on to the customer.

Why it matters

Check calls are how a broker finds out about a problem before the customer does. They are also one of the most repetitive jobs on a desk: every load needs several, the answer is usually that the truck is on time, and each one still has to be made, logged and relayed. A desk running a few dozen loads can spend its afternoon on them.

When check calls happen

The usual points are the morning of pickup, once the truck is loaded, once a day in transit on a multi-day move, the morning of delivery, and after delivery to ask for the signed paperwork. LTL shipments are checked less by phone, because the carrier's tracking page and the PRO number carry the status.

What replaces a check call

Three things can: carrier status sent to the broker's TMS, tracking from the driver's phone or the truck's logging device, and asking the carrier's own system directly by bill of lading or PRO number. None of them is perfect. Status feeds can run hours behind the carrier's own scan, which is why a notice sometimes reaches a customer long after the freight left the dock.

Automating the routine and keeping the judgment

The routine part of a check call is reading a status and telling someone. Software can do that for every load on every pass. The part that needs a person is what to do when the status is wrong or late: call the driver, rebook, warn the receiver. A good setup sends the customer each real change on its own and tells the team first when something looks off.