The best flatbed load board will help you connect with shippers and ideal routes to earn revenue and select the most profitable jobs based on your expertise and equipment. Load boards are essentially an online marketplace that helps connect shippers, brokers, and carriers.
For truckers, it puts them in control of their hours, distance traveled from home, wages, and load types. Although each trucking company is unique, you’ll find valuable work on load boards and save immense time in comparison to sales calls and back and forth email communication. Here’s a look at the best load board for flatbed trucks.
Quicklook: Best Flatbed Load Board
- Trucker Path – Find Loads
- Direct Freight – Find Loads
- Truckstop.com
- 123Loadboard – Find Loads
- Convoy – Find Loads
- ComFreight – Find Loads
6 Best Flatbed Load Board Options
Start finding high-quality work that fits your truck, interests and geography by reviewing these leading flatbed load board options.
Trucker Path
Trucker Path features many great tools and options to help flatbed truckers and carriers find ideal work. With a large user base and plenty of daily loads posted, it’s no big surprise that Trucker Path is a leading flatbed load board.
Location: Nationwide
Services:
- 30-day rate check
- Fuel surcharge calculator
- Bid visibility
- Capacity indicator
Special Features:
- Check broker credit scores to validate who you’re working with
- Large user base
- More than 800 broker companies use the service
Benefits:
- Free flatbed load board app in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store
- Approximately 150,000 loads posted per day
- Three pricing tiers to meet your business needs
Disadvantages:
- Brokers often don’t include the price for each load
Pricing:
- Two options:
- Annually: $199.99 per year
- Monthly: $16.67 per month
Direct Freight
Direct Freight is one of the older load boards available to truckers. But it has kept up with modernization and features despite its decades in the business. You’ll find robust features and plenty of daily loads posted, but you’ll also find a heftier price tag compared to other load boards.
Location: U.S. and parts of Canada
Services:
- 300,000 daily loads posted
- Full credit reports
- Load and truck searching
- Days to pay
- Booked and pending load review
- Weather reports based on routes
- Information on broker authority, bond and insurance
Special Features:
- Robust filtering system
- Custom alerts
- Weather notifications based on route
- Check broker credit scores
Benefits:
- Largest set of features
- Text alerts
- Turn-by-turn routing
- Document storage and sharing
Disadvantages:
- Quotes are not guaranteed
- Pricey compared to other load board options
Pricing: Prices start at $34.95 per month
Truckstop.com
On any given day, you can see as many as 80,000 flatbed loads completed using Truckstop.com. With in-depth broker insights, you’ll know who you want to work with and what jobs to pass on. Get the free app to take your load board with you anywhere.
Location: Nationwide
Services:
- Deep broker insights for better pricing and negotiation
- Charts showing demand in an area to aid in negotiations
- Fuel efficiency planning and tools
- Instant booking
- In-depth broker insights
- Load filtering and notifications
Special Features:
- Leading streamlined load booking experience
- More than 600,000 brokers
- Instant load booking from anywhere
- Credit checks for brokers
- Days-to-pay data on brokers
Benefits:
- Negotiate load pricing to get the best deal
- View load level rates and compare
- Fuel efficiency routing
- IFTA tax calculations
Disadvantages:
- To get helpful features, you’ll need to pay for an expensive plan
- Fewer daily loads available compared with the competition
Pricing: Plans start at $39 per month per user
123Loadboard
The flatbed load board company called 123Loadboard offers a robust feature set tailored to meet the needs of your specific truck and load preferences. You’ll find excellent tools to help you increase the profitability of your business while planning for upcoming loads and negotiating the best rates. Although it isn’t the largest load board out there, it is one of the more feature-rich options.
Location: Nationwide
Services:
- Load planner helps you review upcoming loads and plan routes
- Review routes and optimize fuel and toll costs
- View credit scores to work with reputable brokers
- Look up average industry rates to ensure fair negotiations
- Quick pay through the load board ensures timely payments
Special Features:
- Loads based on GPS location or input your city and ZIP code
- Reviews on brokers
- Check last payment date for brokers
- Industry price averages
- Set up alerts based on your truck
Benefits:
- App available for Android and iPhone
- Tools to reduce empty miles
- Search by highest-paying loads
- Turn-by-turn truck routing
Disadvantages:
- Fewer loads available compared to other services
- Occasional mobile app glitches
Pricing:
- Get started with a 10-day free trial
- Plans start at $35 per month
Convoy
Convoy offers a leading service for helping the shipping industry focus on sustainability and caring for the planet while still transporting goods from one place to another. With helpful tools that reduce fuel costs and emissions, the company is making a difference while helping truckers manage their business.
Location: U.S. with border service to Canada
Services:
- Convoy QuickPay
- TruckYeah Savings, including factoring and fuel cards
Special Features:
- Convoy QuickPay ensures timely payments
- View shipper and broker reviews and ratings
- Streamline bookkeeping with valuable features
- Track arrival times via GPS
- Automated alerts for new loads that match your criteria
Benefits:
- Maximize earnings based on lanes you enjoy or find profitable
- Boost profits with tools, such as fuel efficiency routing
- Load payments within 48 hours
- 24/7 customer service availability
Disadvantages:
- One of the most expensive load boards in the industry
- Stiff competition for loads
Pricing: Plans start at $100 per month
ComFreight
ComFreight is primarily a payment service that helps brokers and carriers complete timely invoicing and payments. However, the company also offers a load board to aid brokers and carriers in working together effectively.
Location: Nationwide
Services:
- Match trucks to loads
- Bid on loads
- HaulPay
- Trending market rates
Special Features:
- Public or group postings
- Timely payments through the load board
- Bid with confidence thanks to insights on market rates
Benefits:
- Digital factoring service included
- Free web and mobile app
- Truck and load matching
Disadvantages:
- Not nearly as many loads
- Carriers report issues with getting paid
Pricing: Free
What Is a Flatbed Load Board?
A flatbed load board allows you to find work specifically designed for your flatbed truck. You can select your geography and gain greater insights into the profitability of various loads and fuel efficiency based on load weight and other details.
Many load boards allow you to filter results based on your truck type and other details. While most load boards have flatbed truck filtering, some do not, which is why you have to look for specific load boards with flatbed options.
How Does a Load Board Work?
Load boards are online marketplaces where shippers or brokers can post loads with details about weight, geography and more. Then, carriers or owner-operators can review the load details and bid on the project.
These online marketplaces allow for back and forth between the load poster and carriers interested in taking on the work for effective negotiations. This can help truckers manage their expenses and maximize their earnings.
Some load boards allow for payment directly through the system. You might also find route optimization tools and fuel calculations to aid in managing your business.
What to Consider With Load Boards
Some load boards offer greater value than others. Learn more about what to look for when signing up for a load board.
Pricing
The price of your load board will directly impact your bottom line. The more you spend on the load board, the less money you’ll see in your bottom line.
However, paying for a valuable load board can be a worthwhile expense when you maximize the tool and its added features. Weigh the pros and cons of the load board features with the per-month fee to see if it’s right for you.
Unique Features
Unique features will help you run your business with ease. Some features you might want to watch for may include the following:
- Custom alerts
- Weather notifications
- Simplified rate negotiations
- A streamlined load booking experience
Network
The larger the network, the more loads and options you’ll find. Review the network and types of loads posted near you for even greater insights into whether the load board is ideal for you. Some load boards experience higher volumes of work in various areas of the country.
Finding Valuable Flatbed Loads
Ultimately, you need a tool that helps you find valuable flatbed loads and maximizes every mile you drive your truck. The best flatbed load board can help you do that while managing a profitable business.
FAQ
Trucker Path is a leading load board for flatbed trucks. You can use the service through a browser window or the mobile app to manage your business from anywhere.
Most load boards allow you to filter jobs based on whether you have a flatbed truck or another trailer type. Before signing up, make sure you can view loads based on these details.
Typical flatbed rates range from $2.71 to $3.31 per mile. But final rates will depend on the weight of the load, the distance you’re hauling it, and more.