1. Confirm the load and appointment
- Verify pickup and delivery addresses, dock or gate instructions, appointment times and contact numbers.
- Confirm trailer type, seal requirements, cargo handling, total weight and any dangerous-goods paperwork.
- Check whether the consignee requires a reference number, safety equipment or a specific entrance.
2. Build a truck-legal route
- Check height, length, weight, axle and seasonal restrictions that apply to the vehicle and load.
- Identify low clearances, weight-restricted roads, construction, closures and border crossings before departure.
- Choose a safe backup route. Recheck conditions before changing routes during the trip.
3. Calculate realistic travel time
Start with distance and a conservative average speed for the actual route. Then add time for the pre-trip, traffic, fuel, inspection stops, required breaks, parking searches, loading, unloading and gate delays. A map's car ETA is not a truck schedule. Keep the plan within the hours-of-service limits that apply to the trip.
4. Plan fuel and stops
- Estimate fuel use with a reserve instead of planning to arrive nearly empty.
- Choose stations with commercial access, suitable turning space and the fuel or DEF the unit needs.
- Place meal and rest stops where they fit the legal log plan—not after the available hours run out.
5. Reserve a parking plan
- Select a primary legal parking location near the end of the available driving period.
- Add at least one backup location before reaching the area.
- Do not count a shoulder, ramp or customer property as parking unless it is legal and permission is confirmed.
When the trip falls behind
Decide early while there is still a safe place to stop. Compare your updated arrival estimate with the appointment and your remaining legal driving and on-duty time. If the original plan no longer works, contact dispatch or the customer, choose a truck-legal alternative or an earlier safe parking location, and update the ETA. Never try to recover lost time by speeding, skipping an inspection or pushing past a required rest period.
- Road closure: Check an official road-conditions service and verify the replacement route suits the truck's dimensions and load.
- Long wait at pickup: Record time correctly, reassess available hours, and tell dispatch before the next appointment becomes unrealistic.
- Parking full: Use the backup you identified earlier; do not leave the search until the last available minutes.
For Ontario highways, Ontario 511 provides current road information. It does not replace posted signs or confirmation that a route is legal for your vehicle.
6. Check weather across the whole route
Conditions at the destination may be very different from the departure point. Review warnings along the corridor and allow extra time for poor visibility, strong wind, snow or freezing conditions.
Environment Canada weather and alerts ↗
7. Prepare the paperwork and communication plan
- Place bills, permits and crossing documents where they can be reached safely while stopped.
- Know whom to call for a delay, breakdown, rejected load, route restriction or hours problem.
- Report delays early with your location, cause, revised safe estimate and next planned update.
A useful delay update is: “At [safe location], delayed by [reason]. Revised ETA [time], subject to conditions. Next update at [time].” Send it while parked or through an approved hands-free workflow that complies with local law and company policy.
Before releasing the brakes
Truck-legal primary route and backup checked.
Driving, on-duty time and required breaks fit the plan.
Fuel and legal parking locations selected.
Traffic, road closures and weather checked.
Related Rig Toolbox guides
Interactive pre-trip inspection · Winter trucking preparation · Truck stops and parking · Border document checklist · Ontario ELD information
Official planning sources: Ontario 511 highway conditions and Environment and Climate Change Canada weather alerts. Check current local rules and your carrier's instructions before departure.