What load boards are available for bulk freight?

One question we often hear from potential new members is, "What load boards are available for bulk freight loads?" There are several, and I want to explain them all with full transparency and without bias. To provide some context, it might be helpful to start with the origins of load boards and then move to the present.

The first load board, to my knowledge, was DAT, which originally stood for "Dial A Truck," back in the 1990s. I wasn’t in the industry at the time, but from what I’ve heard from veteran truckers, there were kiosks in truck stops where drivers could check for available loads. These kiosks displayed information on an AS400-type screen—picture a black background with a blinking green cursor. DAT primarily focuses on general freight (van, reefer, and flatbed loads), but they do offer options for bulk freight as well. Today, DAT likely represents the largest share of general freight(van, reefer, flatbed) loads posted.

The next major load board to emerge was Truckstop.com. Like DAT, Truckstop.com primarily catered to the general freight sector but also included options for bulk freight. Interestingly, after we launched BulkLoads, we often received referrals from Truckstop.com for companies seeking bulk freight services. In return, if someone came to our platform looking for van, reefer, or flatbed loads, we would recommend Truckstop.com. Our goal has always been to help users find the right fit, even if it meant directing them elsewhere.

In the early 2000s, a load board specifically for bulk freight called Hoploads.com was introduced. It was the first to cater exclusively to the hopper bottom, end dump, walking floor, belt trailer, pneumatic, and liquid tanker markets. In fact, Hoploads was the first load board I encountered when I started at Bartlett Grain in 2005 to post grain loads. It quickly became widely adopted across the grain industry.

Around the same time, 123LoadBoard entered the scene, aiming to compete with DAT and Truckstop.com in the van, reefer, and flatbed sectors. Another attempt to focus on bulk commodity loads was AgShippers.com, though it never seemed to gain significant traction.

In 2011, BulkLoads.com was launched to compete in the bulk commodity space, offering a platform tailored to this specific market.

Over the past decade, larger freight companies, both trucking and brokerage firms, have launched their own external and internal load boards to attract owner-operators. For example, JB Hunt introduced Carrier360 as a standalone load board, CH Robinson has its own internal platform, and Convoy and Uber Freight are other tech-driven startups that have entered the load board space. Additionally, apps like Trucker Path have also ventured into offering load board capabilities.

I'm sure there are others that have launched, and perhaps some are still in operation, but these are the ones I’ve heard of over the years that, in my opinion, have garnered the most interest from shippers, brokers, and carriers alike. I won’t go into pricing details here, as some platforms offer monthly, quarterly, or yearly subscriptions with full access, while others have tiered memberships or charge a fee or percentage for loads booked through their platform.