Expedited freight and hot shot trucking grow in a world of urgent deliveries-a world where time is everything. That kind of industry promises speedy answers to smaller but more critical loads, making the lives of truckers and brokers very easy or, at times, necessary to survive with a profit. And that is where load boards come in. These are online market places where shippers meet up and carriers together to efficiently fill in freight needs. There are so many of them out there, that I decided just to highlight the best load boards for expedited freight and hot shot trucking in order for you to stay ahead of the curve.
Being one of the most acknowledged and reliable load boards, DAT does offer extensive features on expedited freight as well as hot shot trucking. With a gigantic database, truckers are able to find thousands of loads on an everyday basis, with a focus on same-day delivery jobs. Amongst these, DAT also offers advanced features like real-time alerts over loads, rate data, and market analytics to help in making decisions. Another great feature is the mobile app, which allows on-road drivers to quickly check for new loads or post their availability.
Best for
All trucking types: expedited freight and hot shot loads.
Key Features: Freight matching, real-time alerts, market rate data, fuel card discounts.
Truckstop.com
Another powerhouse in the load board space, Truckstop.com is a fantastic resource for hot shot truckers seeking small loads. The company stands out with its user-friendly interface and high number of listings, particularly for expedited freight with specific filters to make locating and consolidating less painful on the part of the carrier. Load comparisons, credit checks on shippers, and fuel discounts are some of the additional features that facilitate truckers becoming safe and profitable.
–Best for: Expedited trucking, small and large carriers.
- Key Features: Comparisons of available loads, rating of brokers, and gives insight into the credit, fuel discounts.
It has become popular among hotshot and expedited truckers since it is cheap and reliable. The website specializes in focusing on several loads that include priority-high type shipments with applications featuring tools such as load planning, real-time information on market trends, and many other things. It also contains the most valuable asset in its load filtering system, which means you can find urgent or smaller loads fitting your truck’s capacity quite fast.
- Best for: Hot shot trucking, small loads, and urgent freight.
- Key Features: Load filtering, real-time notifications, load planner tools, document management.
Although uShip is not a traditional load board, it fits nicely into the expedited and hot shot trucking industries. Rather than posting loads in hopes of someone calling about them, this service promotes drivers going out to find shippers that have a need for expedited and more specialized hauls. Hot shot drivers have negotiating power due to uShip’s mechanism of bidding. It generates higherpaying loads, mostly to specialty freight. uShip also offers a mobile version of their website, which allows one to accept jobs on the move.
Best suited for: Specialized and urgent deliveries of freight; especially to owner-operators.
Key features: Bidding system for freight, direct negotiation with shippers, available on mobile.
To help truckers specialize in expedited freight, Expeditus Transport is actually providing a load board for speedy delivery. Their system is designed such that it connects truckers with shippers who require urgent transportation services. It specializes in time-critical freight and offers loads of all sizes to small trucks as well as to big ones. This platform gives real-time load alerts so that drivers can see new opportunities in good time.
Best for: Time-sensitive and over-the-road trucking only.
Key Features: Specializes in expedited shipments, real-time updates, in-depth search capability of loads.
HotShotCarrier.com
HotShotCarrier.com is a site that focuses specifically on hot shot trucking. It has loads created for trucks, flatbeds, and other specific hot shot vehicles. This is an excellent platform for finding regular work opportunities-this is usually in more rural and regional areas where hot shot is constantly in demand. The site matches carriers to brokers and shippers nationally. In this regard, hot shot drivers are always up for fresh loads.
Best for: Hot shot trucking only.
Key Features: Tailor-made loads for hot shot trucks, regional load availability, broker and shipper connections.
Freight Brokers Network Load Board
For truckers who prefer to head straight to the broker’s table, Freight Brokers Network Load Board has a good variety of expedited freight to be transported. It is ideal for carriers seeking a long-term relationship with brokers. It will provide a steady influx of rush freight and allows carriers to compete on rates, and there will be search filters by size, distance, and type of load so that hot shot truckers can easily browse the types of loads suited for their rig and time frame.
- Best for: Brokers looking to find freight to cover with existing trucking carrier connections.
- Key Features: Connections to brokers, load filtering capabilities, rate negotiation tools.
Another platform is Direct Freight Services, which provides for both hot shot and expedited freight facilities. The directness of the platform fits well with the needs of small carriers and individual truckers. For the small-time hot shot operator, the list of features includes searching for loads, route planning, and getting mobile alerts concerning new loads. Direct Freight also offers GPS tracking among its services, ensuring truckers and shippers can keep track of the delivery process-significant in expedited services.
- Ideal For: Solo owner-operator hot shot truckers.
- Key Features: Load tracking, routing optimization, GPS integration, mobile alerts.
For hot shot and expedited freight, FreightCenter connects the carriers to companies in need of expedited shipments. The platform offers freight matching services as well if one is interested in 3PL, but here, it assists the hot shot truckers with small yet highly value loads. FreightCenter provides tools to load-match, optimize routes, and conduct rate comparison real-time to ensure drivers of these trucks can find the best-paying job available quickly.
- Suitable for: Expedited freight to 3PL providers and other smaller carriers
- Major Features: You can match loads, compare rates, and find a better route
Expedited Freight, including hot shot trucking, still requires speed, reliability, and efficiency. Load boards that specialize in urgent and smaller deliveries allow truckers to maximize their returns without having to sit idle. Whether you are a smaller, independent hot shot operator or one of the larger expedited carriers, these load boards have the tools and features to keep you in the game competitively in this lightning-fast industry. Some of the most recognizable names are DAT and Truckstop.com, but specialized sites such as HotShotCarrier.com and uShip will guide you to the right load board so that truck stays on the road with a full load each time.