Resources
Field-tested playbooks for CDL recruiting, retention, and DOT compliance — written from data across the carriers running on Hayes.
Benchmarks · 9 min read
Recruiting, training, equipment downtime, and lost revenue add up to $8,200–$21,000 per turn. Here's the breakdown and how to model it for your fleet.
Read guideCompliance · 11 min read
FMCSA 49 CFR 391 lists 11 documents required in every driver's qualification file. Miss one and a single audit can shut you down. Here's the full list.
Read guideCompliance · 8 min read
The Clearinghouse is the single biggest source of citations in 2026 DOT audits. Here's how the three query types work and how to stay compliant.
Read guideRecruiting · 10 min read
Owner-operators search differently than company drivers. They look at three numbers, in this order: percentage, fuel surcharge, and home time. Here's the playbook.
Read guideRecruiting · 7 min read
Pre-formed teams are 4x more retentive than carrier-paired teams. Here's where they look, what they want to hear, and the screening questions that filter friction.
Read guideCompliance · 11 min read
Every recurring DOT filing, by month, with the exact form numbers and deadlines. Print it, pin it, run your fleet against it.
Read guideCompliance · 8 min read
The ELD mandate isn't new, but the audit posture in 2026 is stricter than ever. Here's the carrier-side checklist Hayes uses with our compliance partners.
Read guideBenchmarks · 7 min read
Indeed, ZipRecruiter, referrals, native job-board feeds — what each costs to produce a hired, retained driver in 2026, with the math.
Read guideSafety · 9 min read
Every roadside violation hits your CSA BASIC for 24 months. DataQs is the only way to scrub the bad ones — here's exactly how to win.
Read guideEDI · 11 min read
EDI 204 is the load tender. This is the segment-level breakdown carriers and brokers need to integrate with retail shippers and big 3PLs without VAN surprises.
Read guideEDI · 9 min read
EDI 214 is how shippers know where their load is. Hit the SLAs and you stay on the routing guide; miss them and you get fined. Here's how to automate it from ELD.
Read guideBrokerage · 12 min read
What every broker should verify before tendering the first load to a new carrier — authority, insurance, CSA, fraud red flags, and the packet itself.
Read guideBrokerage · 13 min read
Double-brokering cost shippers and brokers an estimated $700M+ in 2024–2025. Here's what fraud rings actually do, the signals you can detect at onboarding, and the in-flight controls that stop a load from disappearing.
Read guideModel the fully-loaded cost of a single CDL driver turn for your fleet.
Open calculatorSee where your recruiting spend actually lands, by source and channel.
Open calculatorEstimate quarterly per-jurisdiction IFTA tax due or credited.
Open calculatorTrue RPM and profit-per-mile from one week of revenue and costs.
Open calculatorLive job feeds pulled from every carrier running on Hayes — filtered by state, refreshed continuously.