Load count

Load count on dump and construction jobs

On per-load work, the load count is your invoice. It's also where most disputes start: the contractor's foreman counts 18, your tickets say 20, and nobody wrote down the time of the last two.

Your count, from signed tickets

20 loads

Contractor's count

18 loads

Rate

EXAMPLE $95 per load

Money in dispute

$190 for one truck, one day

Over a 5-day week, same gap

$950

EXAMPLE numbers. The fix is paperwork, not arguing.

How to protect it:

• Get every ticket signed at the drop, with the time and a printed name.
• Photograph each ticket before you pull out.
• Text the site contact your count at the end of each day and fix gaps while memories are fresh.
• Keep the scale tickets with the delivery tickets they match.

A blank form with every field is in our haul ticket template, and how many loads a day a loop should produce is in dump truck cycle time.

Shipper load and count (SLC)

On a van or reefer load, you often can't watch the freight go on. If you didn't see it loaded or couldn't count it, write "shipper load and count" (SLC) on the bill of lading before you sign. It records that the count came from the shipper, not from you, which can matter if the receiver reports a shortage. It comes up most on live loads and sealed trailers.

Load count on load boards

On a load board, "load count" can also mean how many loads are posted for a lane or equipment type, a quick read of how busy a market is. A high count with low rates still isn't a good market; see finding loads for how our desk reads the boards for the equipment we dispatch.

Related: live load, bill of lading, haul ticket template.