Which load board pays the most?
November 21, 2022
When you are trying to find jobs as a trucker, it pays to look into load boards. Without a doubt, load boards are one of the best ways to make money and to take control of your own working destiny. You choose the freight you will move, the locations you will visit, and the clients that you partner up with. However, regardless of which load board you use, you want to get one thing: paid, and paid properly. With that in mind, you might have one question in mind: which load board pays the most?
There are a few competing answers to this, and it really does just depend on when you happen to carry out your search. Truck freight rates are a market economy, and thus they change based on many outside factors. From one week to the next, you can find that the load boards which pay the most shift significantly.
The load rate pricing mechanism – how are load rates calculated?
Typically, a truck load rate is going to be calculated based on five major factors:
- The time constraints that are placed on this particular delivery – shorter deadlines, higher prices
- The kind of products and goods which are being hauled, and where they are being hauled to
- The shipper's own budget, and how willing they are to pay around or even above the market rate
- The weight of the truck load, and what kind of equipment is needed to carry out the transportation
- The ratio of loads to trucks in the area; a typical feature of any supply-and-demand industry
These are the most important factors that will determine how much you are offered for a job. Truck loads will be based on the personal judgment of the company posting the job, though, so there is not always an industry-standard rate. With that in mind, remind yourself that trucking is not an industry with a ‘flat rate’ – it is dependent on each freight load, each shipper, and each timeframe and distance covered.
On average, though, flatbed loads tend to give you the best rates back in terms of return. Flatbeds are often used for hauling construction materials, manufactured goods, and other loads that are larger than typical shipments. The challenge in moving items on a flatbed means that many shippers are willing to pay extra to get a flatbed operator involved.
Which load board pays the most?
You want to find the best jobs, of course, but you also want the best price for your time. Most truckers do not mind a bit of extra pressure and challenge in the shipment if it means getting more money in the end. In our opinion, though, there are two major competitors for the load boards which pay out the most on average:
TruckStop. TruckStop appears to have one of the most generous average payment rates. It has some of the largest numbers of registered brokers of any load board, and it becomes easy to form long-term partnerships with others. You can find jobs easily and effectively with their platform, too, and the average price can be pretty generous. The work is hard, but the rates are fair.
DirectFreight. Another highly valuable load board with the best payout rates on average, DirectFreight is worth signing up for. You can find out lots of information about any broker, ranging from their credit score to their insurance details. The average rate that you get on here is higher than average, but you should be prepared for more challenging jobs that make you work for that extra cash.
The two above load boards are, in our experience, the two load boards which pay the most. However, depending on your location, your industry, and your experience level, you might find that it is worth checking out other load boards as well. This is an ever-shifting market and industry, so nothing stays the same for too long. Generally, though, signing up to the above can produce the best average pay rates you will find for truckers.
Do you have load board tips of your own? Share them with us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter!