The comment regarding the laws of how long one can drive vs the delivery time demands of the company, is 100% accurate and sheer insanity.
I came from the expedited freight industry. I have done both Over the road and local (courier) work. As the title indicates, it’s time sensitive freight needed asap. It’s very easy to over come the “impossible” delivery requirements with team drivers (two licensed drivers in the truck) one drives, one sleeps. They can literally run 24/7 for 5 days.
If a team is not available to run the load they can cross dock it if it’s a straight truck load (switch it from a driver who is out of hours to one that just woke up) or if it’s a trailer load, they can drop and hook it (switch tractors/drivers).
They ONLY time a expedited load can become a problem is if a driver can not deliver it on time traveling at posted speed limits. (IE 60 MPH speed limit, 120 miles to delivery point, 90 minutes to do the delivery)
Since I am not the one driving the truck, I can’t speak to all your points. However, I am fully aware of the team driving aspect and my guy’s company do not have that option.
The biggest issue he runs into regarding delivery time vs mandatory non-driving times, is the freakin unions!
Case in point, he has been sitting at a site ALL morning waiting to be unloaded, steel, when it’s his turn the union crew announce it’s lunch time and off they go.
The expected arrival time for his next appointment will not be met, so do tell, how does a driver accommodate this without monkeying with the books?!!