Freight planning tool

Appointment Feasibility & Driver Hours Planner

Compare a proposed pickup schedule with a delivery target. This estimate combines linehaul time, handling, driver pacing, and the buffers you enter—it is advisory planning support, not legal hours-of-service advice or a dispatch release.

Build a schedule estimate

Lane names remain in this page only. Enter local dates and times with an explicit UTC offset for each end of the route; no map lookup is performed.

Pickup (origin)

Pickup location

Pickup datePickup time

Pickup UTC offsetChoose the UTC offset in effect at that location on the selected date. Initial selection: UTC+00:00; verify it for your local time.

Delivery (destination)

Delivery location

Appointment dateAppointment time

Delivery UTC offsetChoose the UTC offset in effect at that location on the selected date. Initial selection: UTC+00:00; verify it for your local time.

Appointment type

Route & operating assumptions

Route distance

Use road distance, not straight-line distance. Unit changes convert distance and speed to preserve the same assumed route pace.Operating regionEquipment

Driver setup

Defaults: solo 8 or team 14 productive hours/day. A manually edited daily-hours value is retained when switching setups.

Handling & schedule buffers

Loading time (hours)Unloading time (hours)Expected border time (hours)Domestic trips default to 0; enter an allowance if one applies.Fuel / rest / traffic / weather buffer (hours)Reefer preparation applies

Advanced: adjust driving assumptions

Defaults are conservative planning assumptions, not regulations or guaranteed road speeds. Set values to suit the route and operating plan.

Average route speed (km/h)Default is about 55 mph / 88.5 km/h. Unit changes convert rather than reset this assumption.Productive driving hours per dayEditable pacing assumption only. Does not determine legal driving or duty availability.

Time-zone and DST note: local times require the correct explicit UTC offset. During a fall-back clock change a local time can occur twice; during a spring-forward change some local times do not exist. This form does not identify a time zone or resolve DST—verify the intended offset and time with the facility.

Understanding freight appointment feasibility

Why distance alone is not enough

A map distance does not capture speed variation, road restrictions, staging, loading and unloading queues, stops, or disruptions. This planner uses a manually supplied road distance and transparent average speed so dispatch teams can adjust assumptions to the actual trip.

Solo and team-driver pacing

A solo plan and a team plan may pace differently, but one daily-hours number cannot describe a driver's legal availability. This tool applies editable productive-driving assumptions only for rough elapsed-time planning; confirm actual duty status, cycle, and jurisdiction-specific rules separately.

Hard appointments, FCFS, and windows

A hard appointment has a specific target. First-come, first-served receiving still has practical facility cutoffs, and a delivery window offers flexibility only within its stated span. Confirm check-in rules, grace periods, and receiving availability directly with the facility.

Border time, reefer prep, and operating buffer

Cross-border trips can encounter queueing, inspections, or document delays; use a route-specific allowance. Temperature-controlled equipment may need pre-cooling or washout before loading. A buffer protects a plan from normal variability but cannot guarantee an on-time arrival.

Transit time estimator Expedited freight Cross-border freight Cross-border planning checklist Reefer freight guide Request a freight quote