As a truck driver who has hauled loads through my carrier for other carriers, such as UPS, Fedex, DHL, and others, I can offer some background behind what this driver is saying. Five points comes to mind that may corroborate this driver’s points or not, either increasing or diminishing his credibility.
The relevant points are:
1. “Tickets” or “Sheets” are a fundamental part of the client’s paperwork, whether it is UPS, Fedex, and others. These tickets list the basic information of the load including in and out times, the details of the load including quantity of containers or pallets, the signature of the driver, the employee verifying the load and seal, and the signature of the person accepting delivery of the load. There is also a computer record associated with this client generated ticket. I actually have a copy of a ticket from DHL I’m looking at now.
2. Depending on the policy of the direct carrier, either these tickets are used as a Bill of Lading, or more often, for legal protection, the carrier’s bill of lading (BOL) is required by the carrier agreeing to transport the shipment. This BOL will include terms of service, terms of cargo insurance, and other details related to the shipment. The BOL provides the legal basis for a carrier to get paid for transporting freight.
3. Hours of service requirements, whether using electronic or paper logs require the BOL number to be entered. Given the age and apparent experience level of this driver, and assuming his electronic logging device was working correctly, it is unlikely this driver has an exception from regulations that require the use of electronic logs. Therefore, electronic logs were probably used. The electronic logging program I use will not let you submit finished logs without the BOL number entered.
4. Proof of delivery in the form of a carrier or customer signed BOL and in the case of extra services performed, a separate accessorials form, is signed and submitted to the carrier for billing and payment. Getting the signature of the party receiving the shipment is so fundamental to the delivery process, it is almost never contested by the receiver, even in the case of cargo damage. The only exceptions would be along the lines of wrong delivery address. Even in cases of the right delivery address but an actual load refusal, a signature with printed name along with an appropriate notation would be obtained. In any event, such as situation the driver described would require the driver to call his dispatch, regardless of day of week or time of time before leaving that location.
5. Electronic logging devices automatically record the time the vehicle is in motion and when it is not. When the driver is not driving, he inputs the appropriate status of duty such as on duty - pretrip inspection, on duty - loading, on duty - unloading, off duty, and sleeper berth. The carrier must maintain each driver’s hour of service records for legal and audit compliance for at least 6 months, I believe.
The information this driver has relayed should be discussed further and cross referenced with legally required records to determine the ultimate value of his statements concerning possible election fraud involving the distribution physical ballots. Another area to review is the normal distribution patterns of intrastate mail for each state in question.
Edit: Came across a UPS ticket for a delivery I’ve been involved in. Although delivery is authorized without obtaining a signature should no UPS employee be on site, whenever an employee is on site a signature from a “Destination dispatcher” is always obtained.