Turnload · Guide
Semi-trailer sharing between carriers needs a neutral handover.
An idle semi-trailer, standing at a depot, a terminal or a customer’s yard with no tractor attached, could be earning on another carrier’s lane. Semi-trailer sharing between carriers is easy to describe. It gets hard the moment the unit leaves your yard: someone else has it, and you need to know who, in what condition, and who pays if it comes back damaged. Turnload is built for that part.
What trailer sharing between carriers needs to work
Six things have to be in place before an owner lets a trailer go to another company.
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You can see which units are idle
Nobody can share a trailer they don’t know is free: which unit, where it stands, since when, and until when it’s available. The data usually exists already, in your telematics or yard records. It just never leaves your company.
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The move fits lanes you already run
A trailer released in Genoa only helps if it ends up near where you need it next. Sharing works through one-way and repositioning moves on your own road and sea lanes, not by sending units wherever someone else wants them.
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Custody passes at a clear moment
Trailer interchange between carriers needs one recorded point where custody changes hands, with time and place, confirmed by both companies. Without it, every dispute starts with two different stories.
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Condition is recorded at both ends
Photos and a condition report at pickup and at return, signed off by both sides, so every dent has a date and a name next to it.
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Liability and billing are settled between the two carriers
Who answers for the unit during the move, and who invoices whom, has to be agreed before the trailer rolls. Side agreements by phone and email hold up with two or three partners. Beyond that they break.
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You share only your own idle equipment
No prices, no customers, no order book. The carrier taking your trailer this week may bid against you for a load next week, so what you expose has to stop at the unit itself.
Trust is the bottleneck, not matching
61% of suppliers and 58% of retailers agree that lack of trust between partners is the biggest challenge to collaboration (CHEP Europe, n.d.).
CHEP runs pallet and container pools, so it has a stake in companies working together.
The figure comes from retail supply chains, but it carries over to trailers. Finding a match is the easier part. Your TMS and telematics already track the trailers you own, and they stop at your company’s edge. What they don’t handle is what happens between two companies: custody, condition, liability and settlement. That workflow decides whether an owner says yes.
How Turnload handles a shared trailer
Turnload matches idle semi-trailers to a return load or a repositioning move. It sets the terms and keeps the handover record. The hire itself is signed between the two carriers.
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Flag
Mark which trailers are standing, where, and since when. Nobody sees your prices, customers or order book.
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Match
Turnload looks for a return load or a repositioning move on the lanes you already run, by road or by sea.
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Hand over
You and the other carrier sign the hire directly, on terms you both already know. Photos and timestamps at pick-up and return show who had the unit, and in what condition.
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Get paid
The trailer earns on days it would have spent parked, and you see utilisation per unit in your own numbers.
Turnload is not an insurer and does not replace your policies. What it gives both sides is the signed record: who had the unit, from when, and in what condition. Which cover applies during a move is one of the first things we go through with each fleet.
Turnload is opening to a first group of fleets. You pay for each trailer you put in. The trailers you keep out cost nothing.
Want to see what standing trailers cost you today? Calculate the capital tied up in idle trailers.
Approaches compared
Most fleets combine several of these. Each one solves a different problem.
| Approach | Built for | Where it is strong | For a trailer you own that stands idle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freight exchange | Filling your truck on the way back | A large, fast market for loads when your tractor and driver are free | Needs your own tractor and driver on the spot |
| Rental marketplace | Putting a unit on hire for a set period | You set price and period, and the platform brings renters to you | Suits long stays in one place. Check the return terms and who carries damage liability |
| Relay network | Handing loaded trailers between carriers mid-route | Long corridors with driver-hour pressure, with handover protocols already in use | Designed around trailers that are loaded and moving |
| Renting instead of owning | Covering peaks without buying | No capital tied up in units you need only at peaks | Replaces the next trailer you would buy, not the ones you already own |
| Turnload | Paid moves for trailers you own, on days they would stand | Matching on your lanes, with one set of terms and a shared handover record for both carriers | The case it is built for |
Questions
Who is liable for the trailer while another carrier has it?
Under the shared terms, the carrier who takes the trailer answers for it from pick-up until you sign off the return, including time in port and at sea. The condition record from both ends shows who pays for any damage.
Do I have to share prices or customer data?
No. Only your own idle equipment: which trailer, where, and since when.
Is this the same as cutting empty kilometres?
No. Empty kilometres measure trucks driving without a load, which freight exchanges and route planning already work on. This page is about trailers that stand still with no tractor attached.
Does it replace my TMS or telematics?
No. It adds the part between two companies that those systems don’t cover.
Sources
- CHEP Europe. (n.d.). Transport orchestration. Brambles. https://www.brambles.com/chep-europe