Power Only
You already have the trailer. What you need is a tractor, a qualified driver and the operating authority behind them — without buying a truck or hiring a fleet to get it.
Who Supplies What
In a power only move the split is clean. You supply the trailer and everything about its condition and registration. The carrier supplies the tractor, the driver, the operating authority and the liability insurance that goes with running on public roads. We arrange the match and put the interchange terms in writing before the trailer is coupled.
The arrangement earns its keep in four situations: running a drop and hook programme where trailers sit loaded at your dock waiting for power; repositioning empty equipment that has drifted to one end of a network; taking delivery of trailers you have just bought or leased; and covering overflow when your private fleet is at capacity but your trailers are not. In each case you are buying the scarce part — drivers — and keeping the part you already own working.
| Supplied By You | Supplied By the Carrier |
|---|---|
| Trailer, roadworthy and legal | Tractor and qualified driver |
| Current annual inspection | Operating authority and liability cover |
| Registration and plate | Fuel, tolls and hours-of-service compliance |
| Loading and securement inside | Pre-trip inspection and safe operation |
| Seal and paperwork | Tracking and delivery confirmation |
Operational Safeguards
Interchange Terms Agreed First
Who is responsible for physical damage to a trailer the carrier does not own is a question best answered before the coupling, not after. We confirm trailer interchange arrangements as part of setting the load up.
Coupling Compatibility Checked
Kingpin setting, upper coupler condition, fifth wheel height, glad hand and seven-pin connections all have to match. A tractor that cannot legally or physically couple to your trailer is a wasted dispatch.
Realistic Pre-Trip Expectations
The driver is legally responsible for the condition of a trailer they have never seen. If it fails their pre-trip, they cannot move it — so we tell you what will be inspected before the truck is sent.
What Stops a Power Only Move
Almost every failed power only dispatch comes down to the same thing: the trailer was not ready to be inspected. Federal rules require every commercial trailer to pass a periodic inspection at least once every twelve months, with proof carried on the equipment. A trailer sitting in a yard with an expired inspection decal cannot legally be pulled onto a highway, regardless of what is loaded in it or how urgent the move is.
Beyond the inspection, the driver's pre-trip covers the items that put equipment out of service at roadside: tyres with legal tread and correct pressure, brakes within adjustment limits, functioning lights, reflectors and mud flaps, an operable landing gear, and a sound upper coupler area. Any one of these can stop the move at your gate. Walking the trailer yourself the day before dispatch catches nearly all of them.
| Pre-Trip Item | Common Failure |
|---|---|
| Annual inspection | Decal or documentation expired |
| Tyres | Tread below limit, flat spots, mismatched duals |
| Brakes and air system | Out of adjustment, leaking lines, seized shoes |
| Lighting and reflectors | Dead lamps, corroded seven-pin socket |
| Landing gear | Bent leg or seized crank after long standing |
| Registration | Plate expired on equipment parked for months |
Getting the Most From It
Load Before the Truck Arrives
The entire point of drop and hook is that the driver couples and leaves. A pre-loaded, sealed trailer turns a two-hour dock appointment into a fifteen-minute stop.
Pair Repositioning With Revenue
If empty equipment has to move anyway, tell us the corridor. Sometimes the reposition can be matched with a load going the same direction rather than run empty.
Say What the Trailer Is
A reefer needs a driver who can run the unit; a flatbed needs one carrying securement gear; a tank needs an endorsement. Trailer type changes which drivers can take the job.
You Have the Trailer. We Have the Driver.
Tell us the trailer type, where it sits and where it needs to be. We will confirm coupling compatibility and interchange terms before anything is dispatched.