Finding freight for a hotshot is its own game. The work is expedited, often heavy or oversize, and it rides on a gooseneck or flatbed behind a one-ton dually, so you are hunting for loads too urgent or too small for a full truckload carrier to bother scheduling. That urgency is where the money is, and the boards that surface it best are the ones built deep on flatbed and expedited freight.
By Small Fleet HQ | Updated
| Company | Hotshot Loads | Monthly Cost | Free Tier | Mobile App | Best Lane Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
#1 DAT Load Board | Heavy | $45 - $200+ | Flatbed and expedited partials | ||
#2 Truckstop Load Board | Heavy | $40 - $150+ | Vetted flatbed and partial freight | ||
#3 123Loadboard | Moderate | $35 - $80 | Partial and light flatbed freight | ||
#4 Uber Freight | Moderate | Free | Booked-rate metro freight | ||
#5 LoadSmart | Moderate | Free | Booked-rate flatbed and partials | ||
#6 C.H. Robinson Navisphere | Moderate | Free | Repeat broker lanes |
Run the rate, the miles, and your cost per mile before you book. A board full of loads is no help if the math does not work.
DAT and Truckstop are the center of gravity for hotshot. Both carry deep flatbed, heavy-haul, and oversize volume plus broker credit data and lane rates, and a lot of serious operators run both at once. The smaller boards and the digital brokers earn their keep as supplements that fill an empty slot between your main runs. If you are still setting the business up, our hotshot business guide covers authority, insurance, and what to line up first.
The six options below all produce real hotshot freight, and most operators run two of them: a paid heavyweight for the bulk of the week plus a second app to backfill. Before you book anything, run the rate against your cost per mile. Hotshot can pay well, but deadhead and fuel on a dually eat margin fast, so a full board is worthless if the loads do not clear your break-even. Compare the wider field on our load boards hub.
DAT and Truckstop are the two that matter most. Both carry deep flatbed, expedited, heavy-haul, and oversize freight, which is exactly what a hotshot hauls, and both give you broker credit data and lane rates. DAT has the largest raw volume; Truckstop has Book It Now and very clean postings. Most serious hotshot operators run both. 123Loadboard, Uber Freight, Loadsmart, and the C.H. Robinson app are useful supplements to fill empty slots, but they are not where you build your week.
Yes, but with limits. Uber Freight, Loadsmart, and the C.H. Robinson Navisphere carrier app are free to use and post booked-rate flatbed and partial freight. 123Loadboard offers a limited free tier, though the useful filtering and rate tools sit behind the paid plans. DAT and Truckstop, the two heaviest sources of hotshot freight, are paid only. A workable setup is one paid heavyweight for the bulk of your loads plus a free app to backfill when you have an open slot.
Hotshot freight is expedited, time-sensitive, and usually rides on a gooseneck or flatbed trailer behind a one-ton dually. Think construction materials, steel and pipe, machinery and equipment, agricultural gear, and LTL or partial loads too small or too urgent for a full 53-foot trailer. A lot of it is oversize or heavy. The common thread is speed and flexibility: a shipper needs something moved now and does not want to wait for a full truckload carrier to schedule it. That urgency is what lets a hotshot command a rate.
It ranges from free to roughly $200 a month. Uber Freight, Loadsmart, and the C.H. Robinson app cost nothing. 123Loadboard runs about $35 to $80 a month depending on the plan. DAT and Truckstop, the two heavyweights for hotshot freight, run higher, anywhere from $40 to over $150 a month for the full toolset. Most hotshot operators pay for one of the two big boards and pair it with a free app, which covers the lane choice without stacking up overlapping subscriptions.
You can, but the margins ride on running loaded and pricing every load right. Hotshot rates per mile can be strong on expedited and oversize freight, but deadhead kills you, and fuel on a dually is heavier than people expect. The operators who do well know their cost per mile cold, refuse loads that do not clear break-even, and chase the urgent freight where the rate is worth the trip. Run the rate against your costs before you book, not after. A full board means nothing if the math does not work.
For broker freight, yes. Booking loads from brokers on DAT, Truckstop, 123Loadboard, Loadsmart, or C.H. Robinson generally requires your own MC and DOT numbers and active insurance, because you are contracting as a motor carrier. You can run hotshot leased on to another carrier under their authority, but most operators who use these boards have their own. If you do not have authority yet, our hotshot business guide covers what to line up before you start booking your own freight.
Hotshot freight looks good on the headline rate and worse once you subtract fuel. A one-ton diesel pulling a loaded gooseneck burns more than people expect, so run every load against your cost per mile and check it through the load profitability calculator before you accept. Deadhead back to a freight market is the margin killer on short expedited runs.
Still setting the operation up? The hotshot business guide covers authority, the truck and trailer, and insurance before you start booking. Weighing it against a bigger rig? See hotshot vs OTR.
