Texas is the largest freight market in the United States. It's also one of the most rate-friendly for owner-operators if your dispatcher knows the difference between a Laredo cross-border haul, a Permian flatbed, and a DFW retail run. We dispatch all three — and the cotton, the cattle, and the petrochem in between.
Each city is its own freight micro-market. We dispatch in all of them and route you toward whichever one fits your equipment and home base best.
Alliance + Mesquite intermodal anchor a sprawling DC ring along I-35. Amazon, Walmart, Target — every major retailer has a TX distribution center anchored in DFW. Dry van rates outbound to LA and the Northeast hold up through most of the year.
America's petrochem capital. Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals move imports inland; outbound petrochem and chemical freight goes nationwide. Outbound to Atlanta is a steady high-paying van + flatbed lane.
#1 US land port by trade value. Mexico cross-border drayage and t-call freight is its own ecosystem — constant demand for capacity Mon–Fri. Outbound from Laredo to Chicago is one of the most consistent dry van lanes in the country.
When oil tops $70/bbl, Permian flatbed rates run $0.50–$1.00 above the national flatbed average. Hotshot oilfield direct work pays even more — $4,000+ single-day runs are routine on rig-up demand.
Secondary border crossing — manufacturing maquiladora trade. Less hectic than Laredo but steady cross-border drayage and dry van outbound to Phoenix and Albuquerque.
The Permian Basin is the highest-paying flatbed and hotshot freight in the country when oil prices cooperate — rig-up, drilling pipe, frac sand, and crude moves at premiums you'll never see in DFW or Houston freight. The trade is location: you have to be in the basin, you have to take direct calls at 2am, and you wear out tires on bad lease roads. We dispatch owner-operators who want to live in that market specifically.
Laredo is the other Texas anomaly. The cross-border ecosystem (drayage from Mexico, t-call interchange to long-haul carriers, direct loads from maquiladoras) operates on its own clock and its own rate logic. Drayage is short-haul money; t-call interchange is per-load money; direct cross-border long-haul is by-the-mile. Confusing for solo dispatchers; profitable when handled right.
The rest of Texas — DFW retail, Houston petrochem, San Antonio distribution — runs on national freight logic. We mix all of it for the average TX-based driver: ~60% national van/flatbed, 25% in-state distribution, 15% specialty (Permian or Laredo) when capacity allows.
Apply now and a US-based dispatcher will call you within the hour to walk through onboarding. No contract. No setup fee. Just better loads.