Texting truck drivers legally: consent, TCPA, 10DLC, STOP and quiet hours

Brokerages have texted drivers for years from personal cell phones, and nobody thought about the law. The moment a system starts sending the texts, or an automated voice starts making the calls, two sets of rules apply: the federal consent rules, and the carriers’ registration rules for business texting. Both are manageable. Both have to be done before the first message.

This is a working summary for operators. It is not legal advice; have counsel review what you adopt.

The consent rule

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act requires prior express consent before sending automated text messages or making calls with an artificial or prerecorded voice to a mobile number. Informational messages, such as load status requests, need prior express consent; marketing needs the stricter written form. In February 2024 the FCC made explicit that AI-generated voices are artificial voices under the Act, so an automated check call with a synthetic voice is covered.

For a brokerage the practical answer is written consent anyway: a clause in the broker-carrier agreement and repeated on the rate confirmation, signed by the carrier on its own behalf and on behalf of its drivers, that covers automated texts and automated or artificial-voice calls about load status, states the message frequency, says message and data rates may apply, and explains STOP and HELP. LogiPilot publishes the clause its customers use with a sample rate confirmation.

Record it. For each carrier: who confirmed the clause was in place, when, and which version of the wording. If a driver complains a year later, the record is the answer.

The registration rule

US mobile carriers require businesses that text from ordinary ten-digit numbers to register under 10DLC. The business registers a brand (its legal entity, tax ID, address, website) and a campaign (what it sends, to whom, how consent is collected, sample messages, opt-out handling) through its messaging provider. A campaign reviewer reads the website and the consent description. Unregistered traffic is blocked outright by the major providers.

What reviewers look for: the legal entity name on the website matching the registration, a privacy policy and terms that mention the texting program, a clear description of how recipients consent (a signed agreement counts, and they will ask to see the form), sample messages that identify the sender and include opt-out language, and no marketing hiding inside an “informational” campaign.

What every message must do

• Identify the sender. “This is Ping for Marrowdale Logistics, load 884201” is the pattern: the brokerage’s name, the product’s name if a vendor sends it, the load.
• Offer the way out. “Reply STOP to opt out” in the first message and periodically after; “HELP” for assistance.
• Honor STOP immediately, for that number, across every load the brokerage has with it, and confirm once. Honor HELP with who is texting and how to reach a person.
• Stay in quiet hours. Nothing between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. in the recipient’s local time is the conservative federal rule for telemarketing; operators of status programs commonly use 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. driver time so the morning check can go out before a dock opens.
• Cap frequency. Say what it is in the consent language and keep to it: a handful of texts and a couple of automated calls per load per day is a defensible ceiling.

Calls

The same consent covers automated calls, and the same courtesies apply: identify the caller, keep the call short and about the load, do not leave voicemails, retry once and stop, and treat “don’t call me” as an opt-out for calls from that moment. A driver who opts out of calls but not texts can still be texted; a driver who opts out of texts can still be called if the consent covers calls; a driver who opts out of both is a manual load.

Number choice

Texts and calls should come from the same number, so the call is not a stranger, and that number should belong to the brokerage in the driver’s eyes, not to a vendor. Brokerages using a tracking vendor typically get a number per brokerage that the vendor registers under its campaign, or register their own.

A checklist

1. Consent clause in the carrier agreement and rate confirmation; counsel has reviewed it.
2. A record per carrier of who confirmed the clause and when.
3. A 10DLC-registered number; brand and campaign approved.
4. Privacy policy and terms on the website that describe the program.
5. Every message names the sender and offers STOP; HELP works.
6. STOP honored across the account within seconds; a log of opt-outs.
7. Quiet hours and daily caps enforced by the system, not by memory.
8. Automated calls: short script, no voicemail, one retry, “stop calling” honored.