lost to detention in one year
US for-hire trucking, 2023: $3.6B in direct costs and $11.5B in lost productivity. 39.3% of all stops had detention, adding up to more than 135 million hours.
Source: ATRI, Sept 2024Cargo theft
Fictitious pickups: the booking was right, the person was not.
A fictitious pickup is cargo theft by impersonation. Someone poses as the booked carrier or driver, collects a real load from a real dock, and disappears. Below: what it costs, the cases behind the numbers, and the checks that stop it at the gate.
stolen from freight in 2025
2,646 confirmed cargo thefts in the US and Canada, up 18%. Losses were up 60%, and the average theft was worth $273,990.
Source: CargoNet via Work Truck Online, Jan 2026of thefts are fictitious pickups
In Q3 2026, 138 of 547 thefts were fake pickups, up from 18% a year earlier. 19 thefts were worth $1M or more, and warehouses and distribution centers were the most targeted places.
Source: Verisk CargoNet, Nov 2026of cost of goods fined for a miss
Walmart's on-time, in-full rule sets a 98% target and fines misses at 3% of the cost of goods. A shipment you cannot prove is a shipment you can be fined for.
Source: Talk Business & Politics, Sept 2020Real cases: the booking was right, the person who showed up was not
An alleged theft scheme took over real carriers' identities, booked loads from brokers, and had drivers collect them at distribution centers. At least 24 shipments never arrived.
FreightWaves, Oct 22, 2026From March 2020 to September 2023, one person posed as staff at real and fictitious carriers and brokers, won loads, then redirected real drivers to warehouses he controlled. About 90 shipments, mostly liquor and copper. Five years in federal prison and $10.3M restitution.
Transport TopicsEight people were indicted in Manhattan for cloning real licensed carriers' identities from public FMCSA data. The fake carriers passed screening because they resolved to active authorities, then took freight that never arrived.
LeadingIT on the June 2026 indictmentSanto Tequila lost 24,000 bottles. Thieves made fake carrier profiles, bid on the job, hired real drivers online and redirected them from the Pennsylvania warehouse to Los Angeles. About 11,000 bottles were recovered.
CBS News, Oct 2025TAPA Americas warned of "trojan drivers": operatives hired by vetted carriers, who park at a staged break while the crew takes a high-value load. Carrier credentials and background checks come back clean.
Heavy Duty Trucking, Apr 23, 2026A legitimate carrier passed every check, then its email was hacked. Thieves sent a different truck to pick up a frozen-meat load. It was recovered, mishandled, refused, and became a claim.
FreightWaves, Apr 9, 2026How floDock answers
Detention and dwellA clock runs on every load, from gate in to loaded. You see where the hours go, and you hold the timestamps when a bill arrives.See how →Fake pickupsCarrier authority and insurance are read from FMCSA. The booked driver gets a one-time arrival pass, and the gate checks it before the truck comes in.See how →Claims and chargebacksSeal, count, condition and delivery proof are on the visit in order, with time and place. A claim meets the record.See how →AuditsGate, dock and yard inspections are recorded as they happen, so the daily or weekly audit is a search, not a scramble.See how →
The driver arrival pass
The booking sends the driver a one-time QR. No pass, no entry.
Your yard decides how strict to be: off, optional, or required. The gate refuses a missing, wrong, used or replaced pass, and a supervisor can admit with a reason that is saved.
- 1
Book
The carrier enters the driver's name, phone and e-mail.
- 2
Pass sent
One pass for that driver and that visit, by e-mail: an 8-character code and a QR.
- 3
Driver arrives
Shows the code or QR, from the e-mail or the Partner app.
- 4
Gate checks
The clerk scans or types it. An optional ID check compares the driver's name.
- 5
Used once
The pass is used up and the check-in is logged. A copy cannot get a second truck in.
Your arrival pass
Show this code to the guard at the gate.
AcceptedCheck-in logged
Riley Chen
Valid until Mon, Nov 9, 2:00 PM
No signal? The guard can also type the code from your e-mail.
Wrong code five times locks it for 15 minutesDriver changed? The booker resends and the old QR stops workingEvery send, scan, refusal and override is in the log
At the gate: who showed up?
The booking says one thing. The gate checks the rest.
BookedArrived
CarrierPeachtree FreightPeachtree FreightMatch
TrailerTRL3305TRL3305Match
DriverOn the bookingDifferent personHold
Tractor plateOn the bookingNot on fileHold
A mismatch is flagged before the trailer moves, and the driver, plate and trailer photos are saved with the visit.
On the dock: how long did it really take?
Every minute on site has a timestamp.
Gate in08:02
At the door08:4139 min waiting for a door
Loading starts08:50
Loaded10:121 h 22 min loading
Gate out10:312 h 29 min on site
For a 3PL, this is the answer to "who held the truck?" when a detention bill or a customer complaint arrives.
Detention, with proof
Waiting time becomes a number you can defend.
GeneralFreight & documentsDwell & chargesDocuments
Free time, tier breakdown, and accrued charges for this visit. Policy comes from site rules and any partner overlay.
StatusFree time
Elapsed units0
Free units remaining3
Chargeable units0
Accrued total0.00 USD
Tier breakdown
StepFromToUnitsRateAmount
1120100.000.00
Gate-out. The charge is locked at 200.00 USD and does not change afterwards.
Free time, tiers and supervisor adjustments are all on the visit. At gate-out the charge locks, so the invoice cannot drift.
At the gate: no retyping
A photo of the bill of lading fills in the fields.
The BOL reference, material, unit and PO number come from the photo. Trailer number and licence plate can be read the same way.
Put your own numbers in
What a missing record could cost your yard.
Change the inputs. The sums are shown, and the assumptions are yours.
Detention exposure a year$0
Claims and chargebacks a year$0
At your assumed share, a year$0Exposure x your share
At the gate
Six checks that make a fake driver stand out.
- 1Match the bookingCarrier, trailer and driver on the booking must match the truck that arrives. A different driver or an unknown plate is a stop, not a shrug.
- 2Send a one-time pass to the booked driverAn 8-character code and a QR, valid for that visit only. A copy cannot bring in a second truck.
- 3Check the carrier against FMCSAAuthority, out-of-service status and insurance against your threshold. Necessary, but not enough alone, because cloned carriers can resolve to a real authority.
- 4Make exceptions leave a trailA supervisor can admit a truck without a pass, with a reason that is saved on the visit.
- 5Capture who came and what leftDriver, plate, trailer and seal recorded with timestamps at gate in and gate out.
- 6Keep the record for the claimIf a load does go wrong, you hold the evidence that shows who was admitted, when and on whose authority.
Questions
What people ask about fictitious pickups.
What is a fictitious pickup?
A fictitious pickup is cargo theft where someone poses as the carrier or driver booked for a load. The booking looks real, a truck arrives, the paperwork looks right, and the freight leaves with the wrong person. Verisk CargoNet counted 138 of 547 thefts in Q3 2026 as fictitious pickups, about 25%.
How do thieves pull it off?
Common routes are cloning a real carrier's identity from public registry data, hijacking a real carrier's email, bidding on loads under a fake carrier and hiring a real driver, redirecting a driver after pickup, and placing an operative as a driver at a vetted carrier.
Why do carrier checks alone miss it?
A cloned or hijacked carrier can resolve to an active authority with valid insurance. The check has to include the person who arrives and the booking they claim to be on.
What stops a fake driver at the gate?
Match the truck, carrier and driver to the booking, ask for a one-time pass sent to the booked driver, check the carrier against FMCSA records, require a logged reason when a supervisor admits someone without a pass, and keep photos and timestamps of who came and what left.
What is the floDock driver arrival pass?
When a carrier books a visit and enters the driver's name, phone and e-mail, floDock sends that driver a one-time pass with an 8-character code and a QR. The gate scans or types it. A yard can set it to off, optional or required, and every send, scan, refusal and override is logged.
See the driver arrival pass on your own flow.
Tell us about your gates and docks. We will walk through booking, pass, gate check-in and the record it leaves.
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