What is a Spot Load?

A Complete and Simple Guide to Spot Loads and Spot Shipping

Learn the essentials of spot loads and spot shipping with Chill-Chain's complete and easy guide. We've simplified everything you need to know about spot loads to help you understand and navigate the spot market, making the best choices for your business, including;

  • What is a spot load?

  • Why do we need spot loads?

  • Spot load prerequisites, and

  • Where can you book spot loads?

What is a spot load?

Spot loads (also known as spot shipping, ad-hoc loads or specials) are loads that are not part of a contractual agreement (regular loads). They are widely thought of as being required at short notice.

Unlike contracted lanes with pre-agreed rates, prices of spot loads are volatile to changes in the market as they are directly related to the supply and demand of available vehicles.

An increased volume of loads needed across the industry will result in fewer vehicles being available to cover the volume in the spot market so, this will influence the spot price to be higher than usual.

You can see it clearly in the run-up to Christmas; there is an influx of volume due to all the turkeys, trimmings and other deliciousness that needs delivering within a very short time frame, so the prices of transport or spot loads around this time are therefore higher.

Why do we need spot loads?

1. Volume increases above contractual agreements

As we touched on, spot loads exist because of supply and demand driven by all of us! 

We are all the driving force behind spot loads as they are a direct relation to our ever-changing buying habits.

This can be driven by a lot of factors for example, nice weather. When we all suddenly want to enjoy the sun and have a barbecue, we rush to the shop to buy everything we need - burgers, sausages, peppers and so on.

This increase in demand for these products means the shelves become empty quicker than usual, and therefore the store will need additional deliveries of these items. These loads will fall outside of the contractual agreement or regular, steady volume the store receives. Therefore shipper’s will turn to the spot market to fill these loads.

2. Issues with existing transport arrangements

Spot loads can also arise from failing contracted loads, this could be due to a variety of factors such as delays in production, driver illness or unforeseen emergencies.

When a shipper’s usual transport is not available they will turn to the spot market to find a solution to get their stock delivered as per their agreed contract and/or service level agreement (SLA)


3. Low volume levels 

Spot loads are vital to shippers who do not have sufficient regular volume to warrant a dedicated contract. Spot loads offer a dynamic solution to fulfil their transport needs by providing a flexible and convenient way to cover their fluctuating demand without being tied to long-term commitments.

In order to benefit from a contract price the volumes generally have to; come out of the same location and be at regular intervals.   


As you can see spot loads aren’t just reserved for short-notice transport, they can be scheduled days or weeks in advance.

It’s actually becoming the norm to book spot loads as early as possible, as you are most likely to achieve a lower price than booking at short notice.

This fits in with the supply/demand theory as the earlier spot loads are booked, the supply of trucks will be greater than at a few hours’ notice!

Spot load prerequisites

None!

They can be anything you need them to be. 

Temperature controlled (from as low as -25C to +25C), no temperature at all, a few pallets (LTL), full load (FTL), with a tail lift, requiring driver assistance, multi-drop and so on.

Where can you book spot loads?

Nowadays the easiest way to book spot loads is through digital freight platforms.

Here at Chill-Chain, spot loads are one of our specialities and with our marketplace, you could post your spot load in seconds and watch quotes come through from a network of approved hauliers.

We work with hauliers from all over the UK and EU, with a variety of vehicle specifications all suited to your needs. 

If you’d like to find out more, contact us today to see how our technology can benefit your operation and unlock potential within your supply chain.