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No-touch, drop and hook, live unload: what freight terms mean for you

The words in a job ad that decide how hard your day really is.

Two jobs with the same pay can feel completely different because of how the freight moves. These are the terms you will see on our job pages and what they mean for your day.

Drop and hook

You drop a loaded trailer at the customer and hook a different one, usually already loaded or empty, without waiting at the dock. It saves hours. Ask what percentage of loads are drop and hook; "mostly" can mean 60% or 95%.

Live load / live unload

You back into a dock and wait while the customer loads or unloads the trailer. You do not touch the freight, but you wait. Ask whether detention pay starts after one or two hours.

No-touch freight

Someone else handles the freight. You may still help count pallets or sign paperwork. Most no-touch jobs are a mix of drop and hook and live unload.

Driver unload / touch freight

You move the freight yourself, usually with a pallet jack (manual or electric), a liftgate or a roller, sometimes a hand truck. It is common on store deliveries and bakery routes. It usually pays extra per stop or per unload. Ask how many stops per day and how heavy a typical load is.

Tailgate delivery

You bring pallets to the back of the trailer and store staff take them from there.

Preloaded / slip seat / assigned truck

• Preloaded: the trailer is loaded before your shift, so you hook and go.
• Slip seat: you share a truck with other drivers on other shifts.
• Assigned truck: the truck is yours; often you can keep your things in it.

Backhaul

After delivering, you pick up a return load instead of going back empty. More pay on mileage jobs, sometimes more stops.

Every job on our site lists how the freight loads and unloads, so you can filter for what your body and your schedule can handle. Browse no-touch jobs.