Table of Content
Short answer
There is no public national index of hotshot rates per mile, so any single “average” you read is someone’s estimate. What a hotshot load pays depends on your equipment, the lane and the market at both ends, the deadhead to reach it, the weight, how urgent it is, fuel, and whether it is spot or contract freight. The number you can control is your floor: your all-in cost per mile, spread over loaded miles only, grossed up for any percentage fee, plus the margin you need. Below the floor, the load loses money no matter how it looks on the board.
This guide is about pricing a load: what moves the rate and how to set the lowest rate you will accept. It is not about what a hotshot driver takes home at the end of the year. For the basics of the business, start with what hot shot trucking is.
Why there is no single hotshot rate to quote
The big load boards publish lane rate averages, but not for hotshot as its own class. DAT’s load board plans page lists average spot market rates “for every lane you search” with the equipment named as van, reefer and flatbed. Hotshot loads are posted under flatbed, partial or a hot shot type depending on the board, at weights and lengths that differ from a 53 ft load, so a flatbed lane average is a reference point, not your rate. We looked for a published hotshot rate index on November 2, 2026 and did not find one we could cite, which is why this article has no market rate figures.
What moves the rate on a hotshot load
| Factor | How it shows up in the price |
|---|---|
| Equipment | Deck length, gooseneck or bumper pull, ramps, and your real payload decide which loads you can take at all. Fewer trucks able to haul a load means more room to price it. |
| Lane and market | Outbound from a market with more loads than trucks, you have leverage. Into a market with few loads, you are paying for the next empty run. |
| Deadhead | Empty miles to the pickup burn fuel and time like loaded ones and pay nothing. A load that pays well per loaded mile can pay badly per total mile. |
| Weight | A load near your payload limit burns more fuel and wears the truck more than a light one over the same miles. |
| Urgency | A load that has to deliver on a tight window, or that a shipper could not cover, is worth more to the broker than a load that can wait a day. |
| Fuel | Your cost per mile moves with diesel. The EIA weekly diesel price is a public check on which way it is going. |
| Spot or contract | A spot rate is priced for one load today. A contract or dedicated rate is agreed for a period, which trades some upside for steadier work. |
Truckstop shows the market side of this on its home page: a “hot market” means more loads, less capacity and stronger negotiating power for carriers, and a “cool market” means the reverse. Its map highlights where outbound spot rates have risen or fallen over the last four days. Use it to judge the lane, not to set your floor.
Start from your cost per mile
Your floor is built on your all-in cost per mile: fixed costs like the truck and trailer payments, insurance and permits, plus running costs like fuel, tires, maintenance and your own pay, divided by the miles you actually run. We cover how to work that number out in know your CPM before you chase high paying loads. The steps below assume you already have it.
Turn cost per mile into a floor for one load
- Count total miles. Deadhead to the pickup plus loaded miles. If the delivery city is a poor place to reload, add the expected empty miles out of it.
- Price the trip at cost. Total miles times your all-in cost per mile.
- Add the margin you need. A dollar amount per load or per mile, decided before you look at the board.
- Gross up for percentage fees. If a dispatch or factoring fee is taken as a percentage of gross, divide by one minus that percentage. Adding the percentage on top undercounts it.
- Divide by loaded miles. Brokers quote per loaded mile, so that is the number to compare with the offer.
A worked example with made-up numbers
Every input below is hypothetical, chosen to show the arithmetic. None of it is a market rate or a typical cost. Put your own numbers in.
| Step | Hypothetical input or result |
|---|---|
| All-in cost per mile | $1.40 (hypothetical) |
| Deadhead to pickup | 100 miles (hypothetical) |
| Loaded miles | 400 miles (hypothetical) |
| Trip at cost | 500 miles × $1.40 = $700 |
| Break even per loaded mile | $700 ÷ 400 = $1.75 |
| Margin you want on the load | $150 (hypothetical) |
| Percentage fee on gross | 5% (hypothetical) |
| Gross needed | ($700 + $150) ÷ 0.95 = $894.74 |
| Floor per loaded mile | $894.74 ÷ 400 = $2.24 |
Two things show up in this example. The 100 deadhead miles alone move break even from $1.40 to $1.75 per loaded mile. And treating the 5% fee as “$850 plus 5%” gives $892.50, which leaves you about $2 short, because the fee is taken from the larger gross. On a bigger load or a higher fee the gap grows.
Using the floor when a broker calls
- Quote above the floor, not at it. The floor is where you walk away, not where you open.
- Price the reload, not just the load. A rate that clears your floor into a dead market can lose money once you add the empty miles out.
- Ask what changed. If the load was posted earlier and is still open, or the pickup is today, the urgency is on the broker’s side.
- Recheck the floor when costs move. A new insurance renewal, a tire set or a week of higher diesel changes the number.
Holding the floor has a cost too: an empty day, or a broker who stops calling. We weigh that trade in rate floor vs broker relationship.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average hotshot rate per mile?
We did not find a published hotshot rate index to cite on November 2, 2026. DAT’s plans page lists lane averages for van, reefer and flatbed. Treat any single hotshot average as an estimate and price each load from your own floor.
How do I calculate my minimum rate per mile for hotshot?
Multiply total miles, deadhead included, by your all-in cost per mile. Add your margin. Divide by one minus any percentage fee. Then divide by loaded miles to get the floor per loaded mile.
Should I count deadhead miles in the rate?
Yes. Empty miles cost fuel, wear and time like loaded ones. Brokers quote per loaded mile, so spread the cost of the deadhead over the loaded miles before you compare offers.
Why do two hotshot loads on the same lane pay differently?
Weight, deck length needed, urgency, how many trucks can take the load, and the market at the delivery end all move the price, even when the miles are the same.
Is a spot rate or a contract rate better for hotshot?
Neither is better in general. A spot rate can be higher when the market is hot and lower when it cools. A contract rate is steadier. Either one is only worth taking if it clears your floor.
