It should be no surprise that Houston is a hot-spot to find hot-shot trucking loads. (pun intended). It is the fourth largest city in the US and is home to the #6 ranked port in the US by total TEUs.
With the abundance of hotshot trucking loads in warehouses and easy access to major transportation hubs, there is no shortage of shippers in Houston, Texas. The city never runs out of shippers in a rush to move their time-sensitive loads from point to point with reliable hot shot truck drivers.
Whether you’re driving a bumper pull, gooseneck, or lowboy trailer, you have to know where to look for hot shot freight in Houston, Texas.
These are the top 5 places to find the highest paying and consistent hot shot loads for your trucking company:
Texas bound with a load of crated machinery. 
#cnc #cncmachinery #industrialmachinery #trucking #shipping #logistics #freightbroker #machinery #Transportation #freight pic.twitter.com/Kkwo2EcLWh
— MLT Logistics, LLC (@MLTLogisticsLLC) April 2, 2020
1. Warehouses
Houston continues to experience record-high volumes of equipment and merchandise imported by sea, air, and rail. As a result, the city now has huge growth in the warehouse sector.
As a hot shot trucker, do your best to network and get to know the warehouse owners and staff in your area.
Most warehouses don’t have any trucking equipment and find themselves stuck when customers need their freight relocated.
By making yourself known as a reliable hot shot driver, warehouses will be happy to refer you to their customers in need.
2. Stevedore Companies
A stevedore company manages the unloading of ship cargo, and they are great places to ask for hot shot cargo.
Being home to the 5th busiest port in North America, Houston has no shortage of stevedore companies unloading large breakbulk cargo from steamships on a daily basis.
After disembarking from its ocean trip, most cargo only needs to travel a short distance to its new home at a local Houston warehouse.
For moves like these, getting to know a few stevedoring companies can give you the first choice of many hot shot loads like mining equipment, construction equipment, vehicles, machinery, and more.
Ports are well known for charging a lot of money to store cargo, so shippers will pay top dollar to have their hot shot freight moved from the stevedore right onto your hot shot trailer.
3. Load Boards
Load boards are a useful tool for any hot shot trucker to book good paying loads with reliable shippers.
A good load board allows you to browse loads in your area by different filters, so you always know what to expect.
Look for a hot shot load board with a high rating from other Houston truck drivers to make sure it is reputable.
Some of the most well-known load boards for hot shot freight are truckstop.com and DAT.
It’s slim pickings out there for hotshot freight this week. Found one partial, now time to find another and take it back home to Texas!#LuxgisticsInc #Trucking #HotshotTrucking #FreightTransportation #TruckingLife #TruckersLife #TruckDrivers #Truckers #KeepTruckin #FlatbedLife pic.twitter.com/XxI07yEc32
— LUXGISTICS INC. (@LuxgisticsInc) June 5, 2019
4. Calling Freight Brokers
Hot shot loads can be hard to come by, and the busiest hot shot truckers know that having reliable freight brokering can make staying loaded easy and profitable.
The best way to get high-paying hot shot freight is by finding a reliable freight broker in the Houston area.
They have access to customer records and a strong network of shippers all over Texas that can help keep your trailer full.
Just be sure to properly vet any broker you decide to work with by checking their credit score and, if possible, an in-person meeting.
5. Oil companies
Texas’ oil and gas industry makes up 35% percent of the entire state’s economy. When anyone is pulling that much oil out of the ground, you need a lot of heavy machinery to do it.
Oil field businesses often hire Houston hot shot carriers for smaller loads they need moved around the oil field or delivered to remote areas.
Since oil drilling is a fast-paced and profitable industry, field managers are not afraid to pay top dollar to have their freight moved quickly.
That makes oil companies an excellent source for hot shot truckers to find consistent loads in Houston.
Hot shot trucking is fast and unpredictable. Freight has been moving faster than ever. If you want to get involved in this profitable niche of trucking, take advantage of all 5 of these hot shot load sources, and you will see how much faster you get your hot shot business to take off.