Hotshot Load Boards: Free and Paid, Compared

These boards aren't a separate kind of board. Brokers post hotshot, partial and flatbed loads on the same boards they use for semi freight, and the hotshot work is in how you search. This guide compares free and paid boards with prices taken from each provider's own page, shows how to set up a hotshot search that returns loads your trailer can actually take, and lists the red flags that cost new carriers money.

How hotshot loads show up on load boards

A broker posts a load with an origin, destination, pickup date, equipment type, weight, length, and sometimes a rate. Hotshot loads usually appear under one of these:

• Equipment type "hotshot", where the board has it, or flatbed and step deck for loads a gooseneck can take.
• Partial or LTL, meaning the load doesn't need the whole deck. Many hotshot loads are partials posted for semis.
• Power only, when the shipper's trailer just needs a truck. Check your hitch, ratings and insurance before booking these.

The posted weight and length are where a hotshot search lives or dies. A 20,000 lb flatbed load is a fine semi load and an impossible one for most pickups.

A hotshot search that returns usable loadsSetup

EquipmentHotshot, flatbed, step deck

Full or partialBoth

Max lengthYour deck, e.g. 32 ft

Max weightTrailer GVWR minus trailer empty weight

Origin radius100 to 150 mi

Age of postingLast 2 to 4 hours

On a non-CDL setup, the weight filter is the one that matters most. Take your trailer's GVWR from its VIN plate, subtract what the trailer weighs empty, and use the result as your maximum. Our hotshot weight limits guide explains how to read both numbers.

Free vs paid hotshot load boards

Prices below come from each company's own pricing page on October 21, 2026. They change often, so check before you buy. We list them alphabetically; none of them pays us or partners with us.

How we'd judge a board for hotshot work:

1. Load count that fits. Run the same search for a week and count loads under your weight and deck length in your lanes. That number matters more than the size of the board.
2. Filters. Weight, length, partial and equipment filters, plus saved searches and alerts.
3. Broker data. Credit scores and average days to pay save you from slow payers.
4. Rate data. Seeing what a lane has paid recently is your best tool when you negotiate.
5. Phone app. You'll do most of your searching from the cab.

Free boards are a fine start. Paying makes sense once a board's extra loads or broker data earn back the subscription, which you can only see by counting.

Load board apps on the phone

Most hotshot searching happens on a phone between loads, so the app matters as much as the website. What to look for in a hotshot loads app:

• Saved searches with your weight and length limits built in, so you're not re-entering them at every stop.
• Alerts when a new matching load posts. Hotshot loads move fast, and the first carrier to call often gets it.
• One-tap calling and the broker's MC number on the load, so you can check them before you call.
• Rate per mile shown both loaded and with your empty miles to pickup.

Whichever app you use, compare loads by rate per total mile, not the posted rate alone. The hotshot load profit calculator does that math with your fuel, tolls and empty miles.

Post your truck, not just your searches

Most boards let you post your truck as available: where you are, when you're empty, your equipment, deck length and how much weight you can take. Brokers search those postings when a load needs a truck fast, which is exactly the kind of freight hotshots win.

A good truck post is specific. "Hotshot, 32 ft gooseneck with ramps, up to 6,000 lb, empty in Abilene TX Thursday 8 am, headed east" gets calls; "hotshot available" doesn't. Update the post every time your plans change, and take it down when you're booked so brokers don't waste a call.

Red flags on load boards

Freight fraud has grown along with the boards. Before you book with a broker you don't know:

• Check the authority. Look up the broker's MC number on FMCSA and confirm active broker authority. Brokers must keep a $75,000 surety bond or trust fund on file (49 CFR 387.307).
• Match the contact. The email domain and phone on the load should match the broker's real company. Fraudsters copy real brokers' names and MC numbers.
• Watch the rate. A rate well above everything else in the lane is a warning, not a gift.
• Pickup changes. A broker who changes the pickup address after booking, or asks you to pick up somewhere not on the rate con, is a reason to stop and call the real broker's main number.
• Never share logins. No legitimate broker needs your load board, ELD or FMCSA account password.
• Get it in writing. No rate confirmation, no load.

Our guide to hotshot freight brokers goes deeper on vetting brokers and reading a rate con.

Load boards for non-CDL hotshots

Non-CDL hotshots use the same boards with tighter filters. Set the weight limit to your trailer's real payload, search partials, and favor shorter decks where your trailer allows. Expect fewer usable loads per search than a CDL rig sees, and judge a board by how many it returns, not how many it lists.

Loads that come through brokers you already know are often the best ones for a non-CDL rig, because the broker knows your limits. Steady broker relationships, and hotshot contracts with a shipper, are how many non-CDL carriers get off the board over time.

Load board subscription or dispatcher?

A board gives you access. A dispatcher gives you time: someone else searches, calls, negotiates, checks the broker and plans your reload. Which is better depends on how you want to spend your day.

• Board alone fits drivers who enjoy the search and negotiation and have time for it between loads.
• Dispatcher fits drivers who would rather drive, or who are losing loads because they can't answer the phone while driving.

Dispatch is a percentage of what you haul rather than a monthly fee, so it costs nothing in a week you don't haul. Wherever you get your freight, our hotshot loads page covers where it comes from and how to land your first loads on a new MC, and the what is hotshot trucking guide covers the basics if you're still deciding.