Car hauler load boards: where car hauling loads come from and how to win good ones

How car hauling load boards work

Shippers, brokers, dealers and auctions post vehicles with the pickup and delivery locations, vehicle type and condition, dates and price, or ask carriers for an offer. Carriers search by route, filter by trailer type and vehicle, and request or book the loads that fit. Most boards connect to apps for dispatch sheets, electronic bills of lading with photo inspections, and payment. Unlike general freight boards, auto transport boards price per vehicle, and a carrier builds a full trailer from several postings along the same route.

Car hauler load boards, from their own pages

What each board publishes about itself, checked October 2026. We don't rank them.

Prices and features change; check each board's own pricing page before you sign up. Some general freight boards also carry vehicle loads, but auto transport loads concentrate on boards built for them.

Free vs paid car hauling load boards

A free board lowers the cost of getting started, which matters for a new car hauler with a wedge or a small trailer. Paid plans usually add search tools, route planning, pricing data and support. The question isn't which costs less, it is which brings you loads that pay. Track where each load came from for a month and what it paid per car and per mile. If a $140 plan brings one extra good load a month, it has paid for itself.

Setting up on a car hauling load board

1. Have your operating authority active and your insurance on file, with cargo coverage that fits the vehicles you will carry.
2. Create the account in your company's name and complete the carrier profile: equipment, trailer type, capacity, lanes and contact details.
3. Upload your certificate of insurance and authority documents for verification.
4. Install the board's driver app and learn its inspection and electronic bill of lading steps before the first load.
5. Set saved searches and alerts for the lanes you run most.

Reading a car hauling posting

A posting tells you more than the price. Look at the pickup and delivery locations and whether either is a residence, which can limit where a big rig can go. Check the vehicle types, whether each runs, the first available pickup date, and whether the price is per vehicle or for the whole order. Read the payment terms closely: cash or certified funds on delivery, quick pay or a set number of days. Finally, look at the poster's rating and history on the board. A strong price from a poster with poor payment reviews is a risk, not a deal.

Pricing per car

Work out your floor before you search. Take your cost per mile, fuel included, multiply by all the miles a load takes, including empty miles to the first pickup and between stops, and divide by the number of cars. That is the least each car must pay to break even. Anything above it is profit; anything below it loses money, however good the lane looks. Counter low postings with a specific number and a reason, such as a long deadhead or a residential delivery.

COD loads and payment risk

Many car hauling loads pay on delivery in cash or certified funds, which removes the wait for payment but adds risk. Confirm the payment method in writing before pickup, check certified checks carefully, and don't release a vehicle until you are paid as agreed. For loads paid on terms, check the broker's payment history first. If you factor, remember that COD loads can't be factored, because there is no unpaid invoice. See car hauler factoring.

How to judge car hauling loads

• Price per car and per mile: include the empty miles to the pickup and between stops.
• Fit with the trailer: vehicle sizes and weights against your deck layout and ratings.
• Pickup and delivery windows: dealer hours, auction release times, residential deliveries.
• Payment terms: cash or certified funds on delivery, quick pay, or 30 days.
• Condition: running or not, which decides whether you need a winch.
• The poster's record: ratings and payment history on the board.

Run the numbers with the car hauler load profit calculator before you accept.

Worked example: building a load EXAMPLE

A seven-car stinger in Atlanta needs a load west. On the board, a broker has three sedans going to Dallas at $520 each, a dealer has two SUVs to Shreveport at $480 each, and an auction has two cars to Houston at $560 each. Picked up on the same afternoon, the seven cars pay $3,640 with three drops along one route. The carrier calls the dealer to confirm the SUVs are ready and the auction to confirm release times before booking, because a car that isn't ready at pickup is a dry run.

How to get car hauling loads beyond the boards

• Dealers: dealer trades and lot-to-lot moves; reliability turns into repeat calls.
• Auctions: steady volume, with release rules and gate passes to learn.
• Rental and fleet companies: seasonal repositioning of large volumes.
• Brokers directly: many brokers call carriers they trust before posting.
• Private customers: higher rates, more communication, often COD.

What boards and brokers expect from you

Active operating authority, cargo insurance that fits the vehicles you carry, and a clean safety record. Federal minimum liability insurance is the floor, and brokers and shippers may require more. Source Most car haulers need a Class A CDL for their combinations. Source On the road, each vehicle needs at least two tiedowns, front and rear. Source Stinger-steer rigs can run up to the 75 ft overall length states must allow. Source Good ratings on the boards come from on-time pickups, clean condition reports and quick paperwork.

Inspection apps and electronic bills of lading

Most auto transport boards connect to apps that replace the paper bill of lading. At pickup the driver photographs each vehicle, marks existing damage on a diagram and collects a signature on the phone; at delivery the receiver does the same. The record is time-stamped and shared with the shipper and broker at once. Learn the app before your first load, and take extra photos of anything unusual. A complete digital inspection settles most damage questions in minutes. See vehicle damage report.

When to skip the board

Boards are a starting point, not a business plan. Once you have steady dealers, auctions or brokers in your lanes, direct loads often pay better, come with fewer surprises and don't need a monthly plan. Keep using the board to fill gaps, such as a backhaul or a slow week, but put your best effort into the customers who call you first. The carriers with the fullest trailers usually have a mix of both.

Mistakes car haulers make on load boards

• Booking the first load posted without checking it fits the rest of the trailer.
• Ignoring deadhead to the pickup and between stops when pricing.
• Not confirming the vehicle is ready, then paying for a dry run.
• Skipping the photo inspection at pickup, then losing the damage claim.
• Underpricing to win, then running loads that don't cover costs.

Seasons on the car hauling boards

Car hauling volume moves with the calendar. Snowbird season sends cars south in the fall and north in the spring. Auction cycles, model-year changeovers and rental fleet repositioning create surges in particular lanes. Winter weather slows open carriers in the north. Watch which lanes get busy each season in your region, and plan your trailer's position so you are in the right place when the postings arrive.

Ratings and reputation

Boards let shippers and carriers rate each other after each job, and those ratings decide who sees your requests. On-time pickups, quick communication, clean condition reports and paperwork sent the same day earn good ratings. One damage claim handled badly can cost you more loads than it cost in repairs. Treat every board customer as a future repeat customer.

Boards for different car hauling rigs

Wedge and small gooseneck trailers suit short, mixed loads of two to four cars, where boards are a steady source. Full stinger and high-mount rigs need seven to ten cars along one route, which takes more searching and more broker relationships. Enclosed carriers serve collectors, high-end dealers and private customers, often through specialized brokers. See car hauler semi trucks, car hauler capacity by trailer and enclosed car hauling.

New car haulers and the boards

New authorities often find their first car hauling loads on the boards, because established dealers and brokers want a track record first. Start with shorter runs you can deliver perfectly, collect good ratings, and ask satisfied customers for their next load directly. Keep your floor price even when you are new; winning loads below cost only teaches customers to expect it.

Working the boards while you drive

The best loads go fast, and searching boards from the cab while driving is neither safe nor legal. That is where a dispatcher earns the fee: watching the boards and broker contacts for loads that fit your trailer and route, negotiating the price per car and lining up the next load before this one delivers. Our car hauler dispatch does that, calls you before every booking, and the broker sends the rate confirmation straight to you. For the bigger picture of specialty freight, see heavy haul trucking and our hauling guide.