People often sell load boards as a way to be free. Please open the app, search for available freight, book a load, and continue on your way. Owner-operators in today’s unpredictable market feel like they have control because they don’t have to sign contracts or make long-term commitments; they just have access.
And to be fair, that access is helpful. Load boards can assist in filling in the gaps between runs, covering short hauls, or maintaining operations during slow periods.
But for drivers who use them every day, a different reality tends to show up. Payments that weren’t made. Loads that disappear after deadhead miles have already been burned. Brokers who don’t answer the phone after delivery is done. Freight was posted several times at different prices. Hours were wasted refreshing screens instead of driving.
These sad stories aren’t very common. There are structural risks in the way open freight markets work.
Data from the industry backs up what drivers are saying. The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) always finds that owner-operators say that problems with brokers, such as pressure to lower rates, late payments, and a lack of transparency, are some of their most significant problems, along with the cost of fuel and equipment. In reality, a significant number of these broker issues typically arise when freight is procured through open load boards, as these platforms often lack sufficient controls.
Understanding these hidden costs doesn’t require avoiding load boards altogether. It’s about knowing what you’re getting into when they become your main source of freight.
When a “Good Load” Starts Falling Apart
Most problems don’t start with clear signs of trouble.
A posting looks neat. The price is fair. The broker responds back to you right away. Everything seems normal until it isn’t.
The shipper may not always have a record of the broker who is listed on the rate confirmation. The DOT number doesn’t always match what’s in FMCSA’s public database. Occasionally the load is suddenly “canceled” after the driver has already driven 60 or 80 empty miles to pick it up.
Recently, freight fraud has gotten more complicated. Industry reports indicate that the number of reported freight fraud cases has grown by several times since 2020. This spike is mostly because of identity theft, impersonation schemes, and digital manipulation related to load board activity. Scammers now use stolen broker identities, fake rate confirmations, fake phone numbers, and email domains that look like they belong to real companies.
A driver on the road might think these plans are perfectly normal.
In more serious cases, criminals pretend to be carriers by booking loads, picking up freight, and then disappearing with stolen IDs. These events cause real drivers to have to deal with investigations, claims, and damage to their reputation, even if they didn’t do anything wrong.
Most drivers discover their mistake too late, having already lost fuel, time, freight, and sometimes even personal or business information.
Double Brokering: The Risk You Discover After Delivery
Some of the worst problems don’t show up until the job is done.
A driver books the load, cleans it up, and sends in the paperwork. Then they get a call saying that the broker who hired them never actually had the freight. The first broker wants answers. Payment is on hold. People start to blame each other.
The problem is double brokering, and it’s happening more and more in the spot market. Dispatch offices and factoring companies say that about 10–15% of disputed or rejected invoices now involve some kind of double brokering or unauthorized re-brokering. Most of the time, these cases are about spot loads that come from open marketplaces, where freight can go through many hands before being picked up.
From the driver’s perspective, the damage is both simple and bad. The miles were run. Someone paid for the gas. The hours were spent.
And the check never comes.
Load boards don’t take that loss. Drivers do.
When the Marketplace Itself Works Against You
Even when freight is legitimate, the mechanics of load boards can quietly undermine profitability.
In numerous locations, the number of trucks surpasses the number of loads requiring pickup. That difference makes booking a race. Brokers know that if one driver waits, another will agree to a lower rate. You lose your power to negotiate quickly.
At the same time, posted freight doesn’t always show what’s available right now. Carrier surveys and industry studies indicate that about 25–35% of load board postings are already taken or not available when a driver calls. That means about two out of three calls fail. It’s not because of bad timing; it’s because the load was never really available in the first place.
Duplicate posts and old listings make it even harder to see what’s available, which means drivers waste time looking for freight that isn’t there anymore.
Seasonal slowdowns add even more stress. When freight cycles are less busy, spot volume goes down, but truck counts stay high. ATRI surveys and carrier studies consistently show that owner-operators who mostly rely on spot-market freight have much more income that changes from week to week than those who run stable lanes or work with vetted brokers.
On paper, flexibility looks appealing, but behind the wheel, it often feels like you’re always in reaction mode.
Load boards can be dangerous in more ways than just physically or financially. They are also digital.
Platforms like Truckstop that focus on trucking security reporting have shown that small carriers are experiencing a sharp rise in cyber incidents. These attacks often begin with phishing emails, stolen login information, or fake broker communications directly related to load board activity.
Sometimes, criminals can access carrier profiles or FMCSA-related information, alter payments, or pose as legitimate businesses. Leaked credentials can access even dispatch tools and ELD-related systems.
One breach can cause operations to stop for days, settlements to be delayed, and drivers to have to spend time fixing damage instead of moving freight.
Cyber risk isn’t just a problem for big fleets anymore. It’s something that independent operators deal with every day.
Regulation Is Catching Up – Slowly
The federal government is taking action on many of these problems. FMCSA has heard a lot of complaints from carriers and is working on new broker financial security and transparency rules that will lower the risk of not getting paid and make it easier to get transaction records.
These changes matter. But they don’t get rid of the daily risks that drivers face in open spot markets. The carrier is still mostly responsible for checking brokers, protecting payments, and avoiding fraudulent freight.
So, regulation helps, but it doesn’t get rid of the hidden costs.
A More Stable Way to Run Freight
After a lot of close calls, many owner-operators come to the same conclusion: depending only on load boards means spending too much time fixing problems that shouldn’t happen in the first place.
That’s why more drivers are choosing guided dispatch and vetted freight relationships, where loads are checked before booking, brokers are checked, and someone is always on the lookout for problems instead of waiting for them to happen.
At Dexter Dispatch Services, the goal is not to give drivers too many listings. It’s to cut down on surprises.
That means checking out brokers, staying away from high-risk patterns, limiting exposure to double brokering, and helping drivers focus on real miles instead of always having to solve problems.
Stress goes down when freight is checked and decisions are backed up. The flow of cash becomes stable. And drivers can take back control of their time instead of being stuck in load board refresh loops.
The Real Cost to Consider
There is nothing wrong with load boards. But the risks that come with them are real and getting more common.
There have been more cases of fraud in the last few years. Up to a third of posted loads may disappear before a driver even makes a call. Double brokering is a major cause of invoice disputes these days. Reliance on the spot market makes income less stable and operations more stressful.
Not paying attention to those facts won’t make them go away.
It’s not about chasing every available load to run smarter today. It’s about picking systems and partners that lower risk before it gets to the truck.
Owner-operators need more than just access to another list of freight. They need predictability, fair pay, and support that keeps their business safe.
That’s what makes the difference between being busy and being in charge.
Conclusion
Using only load boards might seem like a beneficial idea, but it can hurt your profits, time, and operational efficiency in ways you might not see. From high competition and reduced rates to digital risks and unreliable brokers, the challenges are real. Dexter Dispatch Services helps owner-operators and small fleets deal with these risks by finding reliable loads, handling negotiations, and taking care of administrative tasks. By choosing smarter alternatives and professional dispatch support, you can protect your revenue, save time, and focus on growing your trucking business.