Post-grant operations
Load boards vs brokers vs direct shippers
Every load a carrier hauls arrives through one of three channels: a load board you search, a freight broker who calls you, or a shipper you invoice directly. The freight is often the same; what changes is who stands between you and the money, what the channel costs, and how long it takes to open.
By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Jul 22, 2026
What each channel actually is
Load boards
A load board is a marketplace subscription: you pay the vendor's published monthly price and search freight posted mostly by brokers. Entry plans on the boards we track run from $39 to $54 per month on the vendors' own pricing pages, and every one of those list prices can change without notice. It is the only channel that works on day one of a new authority, which is why finding loads with a new MC starts there, and why the two biggest boards get their own comparison.
Freight brokers
A broker is a federally registered intermediary that holds shipper freight and arranges carriers to move it. You sign the broker's carrier agreement, haul under a rate confirmation, and invoice the broker on its payment terms. The broker's compensation is the spread between the shipper's price and your rate; that spread is private to each deal, and no agency publishes it. Board freight and broker freight are largely the same loads reached two ways: the board shows you a broker's posting, while a relationship gets you the call before the posting.
Direct shippers
A direct shipper relationship removes the intermediary: your company contracts with the business whose freight it is, at a negotiated rate, often on a recurring lane. There is no subscription and no spread, but there is a sales cycle, insurance and compliance vetting run by the shipper, and the working capital burden of invoicing a customer that may pay slowly. It is the channel that takes longest to open and the one most carriers are ultimately building toward.
The gates a new authority hits first
The channels do not open at the same speed, and the published rules explain why. Some freight programs publish a hard minimum authority age: Amazon Relay requires a DOT number active for at least 180 days. Individual brokers set their own carrier setup rules; most verify authority status, insurance, and safety data before tendering a first load, and any waiting period a broker applies to new MC numbers is set by that broker, not by FMCSA.
Published direct programs sit in between the channels and print their own bars: Amazon Relay requires a DOT number with interstate authority that has been active for a minimum of 180 days, plus a valid MC number, before a carrier can enroll. Relay's published insurance minimums include commercial general liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, auto liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence, and cargo coverage of at least $100,000, which sit above the FMCSA filing minimums most new carriers start with.
Brokers run the same checks less formally: authority status, insurance filings, and the safety record behind your MC number, all pulled from the public FMCSA record before the first load is tendered. A clean, verifiable record opens the broker channel faster than any sales pitch.
How the three combine in practice
This is not a decision between three options; it is a sequence. Most new carriers start on the boards because boards are open on day one at a published price. Board loads hauled well turn into broker relationships, because the broker on the other side of a clean load remembers the carrier who delivered it. Broker freight builds the service record and lane knowledge that a direct shipper pitch eventually stands on. Each channel feeds the next one.
One role gets confused into this list constantly: the dispatcher. A dispatcher searches the same boards and calls the same brokers, but does it on your authority, for a fee, as your agent. Whether that arrangement is legal help or unlicensed brokerage depends on exactly how it is structured, and what a dispatcher legally is draws that line.
Frequently asked questions
Are load boards and freight brokers the same thing?
- No, but they overlap. A load board is a subscription marketplace where loads are posted; a freight broker is a licensed company that arranges specific shipments. Most of what you see posted on a board was put there by a broker, so booking off a board usually still means working under a broker’s carrier agreement and payment terms.
How much does each channel cost?
- The board channel has a published price: entry plans on the boards we track run from $39 to $54 per month on the vendors' own pricing pages. Brokers charge carriers no subscription; their compensation sits in the spread between what the shipper pays and what you are offered. Direct shippers cost neither, but they cost sales time, and no agency publishes numbers for either of those margins.
Do direct shippers pay more than load board freight?
- There is no published, neutral dataset that settles this, so treat any blanket percentage you read as marketing. Structurally, a direct relationship removes the intermediary spread and the rate is whatever you negotiate; whether that beats the spot market depends on the lane, the season, and how badly the shipper needs coverage.
Can a brand-new authority get direct shipper contracts?
- Nothing in the regulations prevents it, but the published gates sit against you at first. Some freight programs publish a hard minimum authority age: Amazon Relay requires a DOT number active for at least 180 days. Individual brokers set their own carrier setup rules; most verify authority status, insurance, and safety data before tendering a first load, and any waiting period a broker applies to new MC numbers is set by that broker, not by FMCSA.
Is a dispatcher one of these channels?
- No. A dispatcher works for you, finding and booking freight on your authority for a fee, usually on the same boards you could search yourself. A dispatcher is a service you hire, not a freight source, and the legal line between dispatchers and brokers matters enough that we cover it separately.
Sources
Primary statutes and official agency pages this guide relies on. Laws and fees change, so confirm against the current source before you act.
- DAT Load Boards: Plans and Pricing · DAT Freight & Analytics
- Truckstop Load Board Pricing · Truckstop
- 123Loadboard Plans and Pricing · 123Loadboard
- Amazon Relay: Requirements to Haul Amazon Freight · Amazon
Haul Handbook publishes educational information about trucking registration and compliance requirements. This is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Rules, fees, and deadlines change; confirm with the agency before you file or pay.