Load board
A load board is an online marketplace where brokers and shippers post available freight and carriers search for loads matching their equipment and location.
Last reviewed · by the Fleetchart team
Load boards are the primary source of spot freight for small carriers. Postings show origin, destination, equipment type, weight and often a rate or a rate range.
Working a board well is a time-consuming job. It is the reason dispatch services exist: a driver searching a board at the end of a drive is competing against people doing it full time from a desk.
Booking the next load before delivering the current one is the single biggest lever on deadhead, and it is the part that is hardest to do while driving.
For example, say a board shows a load at $1,800 for 600 miles, which is $3.00 a mile. The truck is 150 miles from the pickup, so it actually turns 750 miles, and the pay is $1,800 ÷ 750 = $2.40 a mile. Another post at $1,500 for 550 miles is only 25 miles away. That one pays $1,500 ÷ 575 = $2.61 a mile turned, so the lower posted rate is the better load.
Posted rates are a place to start talking, not the final number. Check every post against your own cost per mile before you call.