Best Load Boards for New Dispatchers
A load board is where brokers and shippers post freight and carriers search for it. DAT, Truckstop, and 123Loadboard each sell that service.
FMCSA says merely publishing potential-shipper information, even for a fee, does not by itself require broker authority when the publisher is not part of the shipper-carrier transaction.
Steps
- Read the vendor's own page for what the board does and who it is for: carrier, broker, or shipper.
- Read that vendor's current price table before you subscribe. The figures below are what those pages showed when this article was written, and the vendors can change them.
- Match the plan to the authority you are actually using. Truckstop says loads shown match the carrier's operating authority.
- Do not treat a load-board login as broker authority or as an appointment from a motor carrier.
FAQ
What is a load board?
Truckstop describes a freight load board as the link between carriers, shippers, and brokers: brokers and shippers post loads, and carriers search and book freight they can haul. DAT describes its board as the network carriers use to find loads and brokers use to find trucks.
What does DAT charge carriers?
On dat.com/load-boards, DAT listed carrier plans at $59, $149, $169, $259, and $339 per month for DAT One Standard, Enhanced, Pro, Select, and Office. Confirm the live table before you buy.
What does 123Loadboard charge carriers?
On 123loadboard.com/pricing, carrier plans were Standard $39 per month, Premium $59 per month, and Premium Plus $79 per month, each with a 10 day free trial. The page says prices are in USD and that those prices and promotions are valid for fleets of up to 10 trucks.
What does Truckstop charge?
TODO: Truckstop's pricing page shows different prices by role and equipment, including more than one Basic price in a single view. This article does not pick one number. Use truckstop.com/product/load-board/pricing.
Does posting or searching a load board make me a broker?
FMCSA's June 16, 2023 guidance says that merely making information about potential shippers publicly available, whether or not a fee is charged, does not require broker authority if that entity is not otherwise involved in the transaction between the shipper and a motor carrier.
Prices below are copied from the vendors' public pages. They are not SellDispatch prices, and they are not a ranking. Check the live page before you pay.
What a load board is
Truckstop's load board page says brokers and shippers post loads and carriers use the board to find loads they can haul. DAT's load board page separates the product into carriers, brokers, and shippers. DAT's carrier section calls it the industry's largest load board network. DAT's broker section says the DAT One network includes access to over 1.7 million trucks. Those are DAT's words on that page, not a measurement this article repeated from somewhere else.
FMCSA's June 16, 2023 guidance says internet load boards came up in the comments, and FMCSA's conclusion was narrow: merely making information about potential shippers publicly available, even for a fee, does not require broker authority if the publisher is not otherwise involved in any transaction between the shipper and a motor carrier. The notice is Definitions of Broker and Bona Fide Agents.
DAT One
On dat.com/load-boards, DAT's carrier plan table listed:
- DAT One Standard, $59/month, recommended for partial-load owner-operators
- DAT One Enhanced, $149/month, recommended for new owner-operators
- DAT One Pro, $169/month, recommended for owner-operators with 1 to 3 trucks
- DAT One Select, $259/month, recommended for small fleets with 3 or more trucks
- DAT One Office, $339/month, recommended for mid-size and large fleets with 10 or more trucks
The same page says carrier subscriptions include the DAT One mobile app, and that a Company Profile in DAT One shows inspections, insurance, and authority status pulled from FMCSA. The broker section on that page says "Starting at $159/mo." Confirm both tables on the page. DAT can change them.
Truckstop
Truckstop's load board is the board where brokers and shippers post and carriers search. Its pricing page is truckstop.com/product/load-board/pricing. That page says the loads a carrier sees match the carrier's operating authority, and that intrastate-only authority sees intrastate loads.
TODO: do not quote a single Truckstop monthly price here. One view of the pricing page showed a carrier Basic at $42/month, a dry-van Basic at $35, a reefer Basic at $42, and broker plans at other amounts. Use the price next to the plan that matches the account type you are buying.
123Loadboard
On 123loadboard.com/pricing, the carrier table listed:
- Standard, $39 per month, 10 day free trial
- Premium, $59 per month, 10 day free trial
- Premium Plus, $79 per month, 10 day free trial
The page says "No contracts. No hidden fees. Guaranteed." It also says all prices are in USD and that prices and promotions are valid for fleets of up to 10 trucks. Higher tiers on that table add tools such as credit scores and days-to-pay. Read the column you would actually buy.
Create your free SellDispatch account to keep carrier lookups and call notes together. A load board subscription is separate from that account.
Load boards and broker authority
A load board login does not appoint you as a carrier's agent and does not grant broker authority. If you dispatch for a motor carrier, the authority question is in how to become a truck dispatcher, and the carrier check is in how to find carriers to dispatch. Subscription fees are an expense, not dispatcher pay. Pay is covered, without an invented percentage, in how much truck dispatchers make.
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