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Fuel and Tanker Load Boards Explained
A tanker load board is a marketplace where fuel and other bulk-liquid loads are posted for carriers to bid on, and the useful ones show terminal, supplier, products and rate up front. Fuel usually goes to carriers a supplier or broker already knows, because the carrier must be carded at the terminal and hold the supplier's loading number.
How does fuel freight actually get tendered?
A load of fuel starts with a supplier or distributor who has product at a terminal and a customer who needs it delivered. The first question is which carrier can load at this rack, for this supplier, today, and that narrows the field before price comes into it.
- Terminal access. A carrier has to be carded at the terminal the product lifts from. Being carded is arranged with the terminal operator and the supplier, one terminal at a time.
- A loading number. The supplier issues a loading number that typically encodes the carrier, the terminal and the destination together. Without a valid one, the rack will typically not release fuel.
- Hazmat qualifications. Drivers need CDL endorsements for tank vehicles and for hazardous materials, and the carrier may need a federal hazmat registration (more below).
- Paperwork at both ends. The terminal issues a bill of lading at pickup, and a load may deliver to several customers as a split load, each with its own delivery ticket.
Because a poster has to check all of that before a carrier can take the load, fuel freight tends to move through people who already know the answers: the supplier's own carrier list, a distributor's regular haulers, and brokers who keep track of which carriers are carded where.
Why don't general freight boards work well for tanker loads?
A general freight board matches a load to a carrier on equipment, lane and date. For dry van, that is most of the decision. For fuel it is the start of it, because the carrier also has to clear requirements a general board does not ask about:
| Requirement | Where it comes from | What it means for a posted load |
|---|---|---|
| Shipping paper | 49 CFR 177.817, applied to bulk combustible liquids such as diesel through 173.150(f)(3) | Required, with limited exceptions. The terminal's BOL usually serves as it. |
| Tank and hazmat endorsements | 49 CFR 383.93 | Every driver who might take the load needs both. |
| Hazmat registration | 49 CFR 107.601, for bulk packaging of 3,500 gallons or more, or loads that need placards | Check each trailer's capacity and each product against both tests. |
| Carded at the terminal | The terminal operator and the supplier | A carrier not carded at the rack cannot take the load at any rate. |
| Loading number | The supplier | Issued per carrier, terminal and destination, usually after the carrier is set up with that supplier. |
The last two rows are the ones a general board cannot see. A carrier with the right trailer, endorsements and registration still cannot haul a load from a terminal it is not carded at, or for a supplier that has not issued it a loading number. So a fuel load posted to a general audience would mostly reach carriers who cannot take it.
What should a tanker load board show before you bid?
Use this as a checklist for any board, network or broker sending you fuel loads. If a posting leaves one of these out, you will be asking for it on the phone.
| Field | Why it matters to a tanker carrier |
|---|---|
| Pickup terminal | Tells you at once whether you are carded there. |
| Supplier | Tells you whether you hold, or can get, a loading number for it. |
| Products and gallons per product | Decides how the load fits your compartments. |
| Drops | One delivery or a split load, and how far apart the stops are. |
| Delivery window | Sets which terminal hours you can load in. |
| Rate basis | Per gallon, per mile or flat. Convert it to cents per gallon before comparing (see fuel hauling rates, per mile to per gallon). |
| Who tendered it | The supplier, distributor or broker you would be hauling for, and who pays you. |
| Documents expected back | The BOL and the delivery ticket, and how they are to be returned. |
"Who tendered it" matters more than it looks. FMCSA has said that merely making information about potential shippers publicly available does not require broker authority, whether or not a fee is charged, as long as the entity is not otherwise involved in any transaction between the shipper and a motor carrier. Know whose load you are hauling and who pays you.
Is a load board the same as dispatch software?
No. A board is where you find and accept the load; dispatch software (a TMS) is where you run it. Many carriers end up with both and a spreadsheet between them. The load board vs TMS entry explains the split, and load board, TMS, or spreadsheets covers what the handoff between them costs.
Do you need a load board at all?
Not always. If you haul on a dedicated contract for one or two suppliers who already keep your trucks busy, a board adds little. Boards and networks earn their keep when you have trucks to fill, want backhauls near your drops, or are adding terminals and need to find who lifts there. If you are still getting set up, how to start a fuel hauling business covers registration, carding and loading numbers in order.
Where Energy Connect fits
Energy Connect's fuel tanker load board for carriers is part of its carrier portal. Its loads are posted by companies on Energy Connect; it is not a feed of every tanker load in the country, so what you see depends on who is posting in your lanes.
On a posted load you can bid, and the poster accepts or declines each bid. A bid quoted as a freight rate can be countered; a bid priced off an index or terminal can only be accepted or declined. Once you have the load, you record dispatch, pickup, transit and delivery on it and attach the bill of lading and other delivery documents to the load. The rest is on the carrier page.
Sources
- 49 CFR 177.817: “A person may not accept a hazardous material for transportation or transport a hazardous material by highway unless that person has received a shipping paper”
- 49 CFR 173.150(f)(3): a combustible liquid in bulk packaging is still subject to the rules on shipping papers
- 49 CFR 383.93: CDL endorsements are required for tank vehicles and for hazardous materials
- 49 CFR 107.601: hazmat registration for bulk packaging of 3,500 gallons or more for liquids, or loads that require placarding
- FMCSA, Definitions of Broker and Bona Fide Agents (88 FR 39368, 2023): “merely making information about potential shippers publicly available, regardless of whether a fee is charged, does not require an entity to obtain broker authority”, as long as that entity is not otherwise involved in any transaction between the shipper and a motor carrier