Leveraging the right load board technology in 2024 is key to boosting efficiency industry-wide. Choosing the best car hauler load board that aligns with a company’s specific needs and priorities can maximize productivity, profitability, and sustainable growth in the auto transport space.
This guide explores some of the top options for the ideal car hauler load board that will meet your needs.
Quicklook: Best car hauler load boards
- Best for load availability: Truckstop
- Best for listings and bidding platform: uShip
- Best for integrated vehicle listings: Direct Freight
- Best for flexible/customizable search filters: 123Loadboard
- Best free load board for car haulers: NextLoad
Best car hauling load boards
If you’re looking for the best auto transport load board, you can’t go wrong with any of the options on this list.
Truckstop
Having a broad range of available car hauling loads posted across the continental US is an extremely valuable asset for auto transport companies and independent owner operators on the Truckstop platform.
For anyone focused on growing and streamlining a US-wide auto transport operation, the expansive load availability across Truckstop is arguably the most integral offering. It’s a true force multiplier for enabling success in the car hauling space.
Best for: Nationwide load availability
Features:
- Reputation of excellence
- Will help you break into the industry
- Large network
Benefits:
- Search by load type or truck type
- Highly rated
- Fast payment
- Market insights with Pro plan
Disadvantages:
- Pricing is high for most advanced features
- Less loads available than some competitors
Pricing:
- Basic plan:
- $39 per month
- Advanced plan:
- $125 per month
- Broker credit
- Days-to-pay feature
- Pro plan:
- $149 per month
- Real-time load boards
- Route planning
- Broker credit
uShip
uShip provides immense reach for car haulers by consolidating listings for automotive transport needs across the entire U.S. Vehicle owners in need of shipping post loads which haulers can then view and place bids on to win the business.
It allows auto shipping customers to easily access carriers and get competitive bids for their vehicle transport needs on a national scale. The tech and consolidation helps both parties efficiently find ideal matches and pricing.
Best for: Listings and bidding platform
Features:
- New listings every 30 seconds
- Nationwide listings
- Competitive bidding
- Photo uploads
- Vehicle shipment details
Benefits:
- Can find the carrier that best meets your needs
- Easy access to high quantities of shippers
- Compare rates
- Large network of carriers
- Access driver profiles
Disadvantages:
- Quotes not guaranteed
- Need to handle all communication with the carrier
Pricing:
- $0 membership fee
- $30 booking fee
- Varying service fee per transport
Direct Freight
Direct Freight incorporates car hauling needs and associated listings directly with all the other types of load postings on their broader freight platform. Auto transport loads are an integrated aspect of the board.
This feature enables carriers and drivers that handle a mixed freight and auto transport portfolio to efficiently manage both on a single platform. Being able to see all loads in one spot, whether general freight or vehicle specific, helps optimize usage of trucks and trailers across an entire fleet.
Best for: Integrated vehicle listings
Special features
- Full credit reports on brokers
- Text alerts
Benefits
- Affordable load board
- 15-day free trial before monthly subscription
- Filtering options
Disadvantages
- Quotes not guaranteed
- Reports of occasional insurance issues
Pricing
- One plan available
- $34.95 per month
123Loadboard
123Loadboard allows auto haulers to leverage robust search filtering capabilities to precisely target the types of vehicle transport loads that align to their specialties and capabilities.
Carriers can filter by specifics including vehicle types, locations, special requests, and timing/urgency.
This flexibility and customization enables auto hauling carriers on 123Loadboard to zero in on the vehicle shipment requests that best match their trailers, routes, and specializations. Rather than wasting time browsing irrelevant loads, the filters drive targeted lead matching.
Best for: Flexible/customizable search filters
Special features
- 10-day free trial
- Packed toolset, including quick pay and load planner
Benefits
- Affordable platform
- Simple to use
- Web and mobile platform
- Rate check to negotiate the best offer
Disadvantages
- PC version is not as user-friendly as the app
- Missing certain filtering options compared to other apps
Pricing
- Standard: $35 per month
- Premium: $45 per month
- Premium Plus: $55 per month
NextLOAD
NextLOAD is a free load board that both carriers and truckers can use without paying a subscription fee. The load board isn’t new. It dates back to 2014, which means you can use it with confidence knowing you’re in good company. Creating an account is fast and easy, too.
This focus on free access and usability has made NextLOAD extremely popular with auto transporters and car haulers specifically. By not charging subscription fees to carriers, NextLOAD allows small owner-operators to leverage the same tools and listings as large car hauling fleets.
Best for: Free load board
Features:
- Load board app available for desktop, iOS or Android devices
- Notifications for new quotes for posted loads
- Entirely free load board no matter how many shipments you post per month
Benefits:
- Load board from Apex
- Cost-effective, especially for shippers looking to hire carriers infrequently
- Real-time data to stay updated on industry updates
- Easy to use despite being free
Disadvantages:
- Hard to come by unique truck types on the platform
- Extremely active, which can make it challenging to keep up with
Pricing: Free
Paid vs free load boards for car haulers
Paid boards carefully check loads and carriers before posting them. This gives haulers higher quality leads and tools to work efficiently. But paid boards charge monthly fees.
Free boards let anyone post a load without checks and while they don’t charge fees, they may take more time to find good loads.
Here is a brief list of notable attributes of both:
Paid car hauler load boards
- Verified loads
- Advanced tools and tracking
- Better organization and filtering
- Less bogus listings
- Member support access
- Exclusive loads
Free car hauler load boards
- No subscription fees
- More vetting required
- Limited tools and oversight
- Potential for more ads and spam
- Manual browsing
- Revenue via ads/upsells
Paid boards offer added trust, transparency, efficiency and exclusivity to auto haulers through qualified listings, advanced software, and service guarantees. Free options still provide good leads if carriers do proper due diligence.
The importance of load boards for car haulers
Load boards play a huge role for car haulers by making lead generation and daily workload much smoother. Instead of having to cold call or hunt all over to find customers with cars that need shipping, boards provide everything in one spot.
Haulers can quickly filter to find good loads traveling to the destinations they need. This makes routing easier and efficiency better.
Load boards save tons of time over old school business hunting. They help haulers book more jobs and keep costs low. For tiny margin transporters, this is invaluable. By centralizing leads and work, boards amplify car shipping profits — they are essential platforms.
Find the best load board for auto transportation
Ultimately the ideal car hauler load board keeps things moving by balancing your risk tolerance, efficiency needs and budget.
Define your must-have features, carrier credibility standards and capacity goals, then objectively assess which model, paid or unpaid, delivers the best ROI on finding trusted loads easily.
Choosing whatever platform handles your non-negotiable daily needs, keeps administrative costs low, and can expand along your projected business growth trajectory means you find the best fit. It will enable success in 2024 and support more success for years to come.
FAQ
Yes, load boards are extremely valuable for carriers and owner-operators by aggregating tons of shipper leads onto one platform, saving immense time hunting loads independently. The transparency and tools optimize efficiency which is invaluable given thin margins in trucking.
A hotshot hauler is an independent trucker or small carrier that transports time-sensitive loads or small cargo quickly point-to-point, instead of less-than-truckload routes. Hotshot car haulers specialize in expedited, reliable transport of individual vehicles.
Carriers use load boards’ expansive listings to identify compatible freight needing to be shipped to routes where they have excess capacity, while leveraging tools like search filters to target profitable loads worth bidding on. This generates leads and operational efficiency.
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