Urgent freight, legal hours
Expedited dispatch for the part that has to be there today
Hotshots, 26 ft box trucks and tractors moving urgent parts and equipment. We confirm the deadline works on your hours before we say yes to the broker, price the run on every mile, and call you before anything is booked.
Before we accept a hot load
- 1Deadline checked against your real hours
- 2Piece, weight and dimensions confirmed
- 3Securement and deck fit checked
- 4Rate priced on loaded and empty miles
- 5You approve, you sign the rate con
Who ships expedited specialty freight
Oil and gas
Pumps, valves, gearboxes and tools for sites that lose money every hour they sit idle. Loads often go to remote locations with site check-in rules, so arrival details matter as much as speed.
Construction
Replacement parts for equipment on a job, materials that missed a delivery, and machines needed to keep a crew working. Short notice and job-site access are the usual challenges.
Agriculture
Parts for combines and tractors during planting and harvest, when a broken machine can cost a farmer the window. These runs peak in the busy seasons and often head to rural destinations.
Manufacturing adds another stream: a production line waiting on a part, or freight that missed a scheduled truck. Some of it fits a hotshot, some a 26 ft box with a liftgate, and the larger pieces need a tractor and flatbed or van.
Which rigs we book for expedited work
Hotshots carry most one-piece urgent loads: parts, pumps and small equipment on a gooseneck, often to places a big truck can't reach easily. See our hotshot dispatch for the rig itself.
26 ft box trucks carry urgent palletized freight that must stay dry, with a liftgate for receivers without a dock.
Tractors with vans or flatbeds take the large urgent loads, and team drivers can run nearly around the clock when a deadline is beyond what one driver can legally do.
We don't dispatch cargo vans, sprinters or boxes under 26 ft, including for expedited work.
How we book a hot load
Expedited loads move in minutes, so the checks have to be fast and they can't be skipped. We confirm the pickup time, the delivery deadline and the route, run the trip against your hours, check the piece's weight, size and securement, and negotiate a rate that reflects the urgency.
Then we call you. You hear the deadline, the miles, the piece and the rate in one short call, and you say yes or no. After your yes, the rate confirmation comes straight to you to sign. If you say no, there is no fee and no penalty.
Urgent loads tend to pay more per mile because the shipper is paying for speed. The return trip rarely is urgent, so we plan the backhaul while you are still running, and we price the run with the empty miles included. The hotshot rate calculator shows the same math for your own loads.
When to say no to a hot load
Urgent freight comes with pressure, and pressure is how drivers end up running past their hours or loading a piece they can't secure. A good expedited dispatcher turns down loads, or renegotiates them, more often than you might think.
We pass when the deadline only works by breaking the hours rules, when the piece is heavier or bigger than your deck can legally carry, when the shipper can't confirm the part is ready, or when the rate doesn't cover the empty miles to get there and back. In each case we tell the broker why, and often a later deadline or a team truck saves the load for someone.
You can always say no yourself, too. If you are tired, the weather is bad or the route worries you, that is a good enough reason. There is no penalty and no fee on a load you pass on.
Team runs and long deadlines
One driver can only cover so many miles before a 10-hour reset. When a part has to cross the country overnight, the answer is two drivers in the same truck, swapping while the other rests. Team expedited pays for that, but it needs two qualified drivers and a sleeper.
If you run as a team, tell us on your card. We book the long, tight deadlines to teams and keep the shorter urgent runs for solo trucks, so nobody is set up to fail a delivery or a log.
Cancellations and waiting
Hot loads get cancelled when the part turns up elsewhere or the machine gets fixed. We ask for cancellation pay on the rate confirmation when you have already moved toward the pickup, and we log waiting time at the shipper, because an urgent load that sits at the dock for three hours isn't urgent for the driver alone.
What expedited shippers expect
A quick yes or no, an honest arrival time, updates without being chased, and a clean delivery with photos. Many expect tracking by phone or ELD. When they get that, they call the same carrier the next time a line goes down, which is how a hotshot or box truck builds steady urgent work.
We send the updates and handle the calls while you drive, so the shipper hears from someone at every step and you can keep your eyes on the road.
Expedited work also rewards being reachable. Tell us the hours you are willing to take a call and how far you will run on short notice. A truck that can roll within an hour of the call gets offered the best urgent loads; one that needs a day to prepare is better matched to scheduled freight, and we plan it that way.
The expedited fee
The fee follows the rig, not the urgency. Hotshots and 26 ft box trucks pay 7% of gross at any authority age. Tractors pay 5% for one truck on an MC older than 6 months, 7% while the MC is under 6 months, and 4% per truck in fleets of 2 or more while that limited-time rate lasts.
Nothing to pay up front, no minimums, and a quiet week costs nothing. All tiers are on the dispatch fee page.
Expedited dispatch questions
01What is expedited freight dispatch?
Booking time-critical loads, usually a machine down, a line stopped or a missed shipment, and moving them direct with no consolidation. The dispatcher finds the load fast, confirms the deadline is legal on your hours, checks the piece and its securement, negotiates a rate that reflects the urgency and calls you before booking.
02Do hotshots run expedited loads?
Yes, a lot of them. Hotshots are built for one-piece and partial loads that need to move today, such as parts, pumps and small equipment for oilfield, construction and farm customers. Their size lets them leave quickly and reach job sites a full tractor-trailer can't. Payload and deck length decide which urgent loads fit.
03Do you dispatch cargo vans or sprinters for expedited?
No. We dispatch 26 ft box trucks, hotshots and larger equipment only. We don't take cargo vans, sprinter vans or box trucks shorter than 26 ft, even for expedited work. If you run a 26 ft box with a liftgate, a lot of urgent freight still fits, and we can book it.
04How do you keep hot loads legal on hours?
We run the trip against the driver's real available hours before we accept a deadline: driving time, the 14-hour window, the 30-minute break and the 10-hour reset if the trip needs one. If the deadline only works by breaking the rules, we tell the broker it needs a team or a later delivery, and we don't book it on you.