Texas Truck Dispatch for Owner-Operators

Texas moves more freight by truck than any other state. In the federal Freight Analysis Framework, trucks hauled about 1.36 billion tons out of Texas origins in 2022, and nine of every ten of those tons never left the state. For an owner-operator, that means two Texas markets in one: a huge local and regional network, and a smaller but valuable flow of freight heading north and west.

Our dispatchers book Texas loads remotely, by phone and email, for dry van, reefer, flatbed, box truck, hotshot and power only. Here's how the state's freight works and where it pays to run.

Texas freight at a glance

The border figures come from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics 2025 border crossing release, and the tonnage from the Freight Analysis Framework, which BTS builds with the Federal Highway Administration.

What Texas ships, and what it means for your trailer

Much of Texas truck tonnage is fuel, natural gas liquids and chemicals in tankers, which we don't book. Set those aside and the freight that fits our equipment looks like this, by FAF6 truck tons originating in Texas:

• Nonmetal mineral products (cement, concrete products, glass and similar): about 133 million tons. Mostly flatbed and dry bulk, much of it short haul for the state's construction market.
• Mixed freight: about 48 million tons. This is retail and grocery distribution, the backbone of dry van and power only work.
• Other foodstuffs: about 41 million tons, the core of Texas reefer and food-grade van freight.
• Animal feed and cereal grains: about 55 million tons together, tied to the state's cattle and dairy country.
• Wood products and plastics and rubber: about 27 and 25 million tons. Plastic resin from Gulf Coast plants often moves in bags on pallets, good dry van freight.

Leaving Texas, the busiest truck destinations by tonnage are Oklahoma, Louisiana, California, Arkansas and Michigan. Coming in, the biggest senders are Oklahoma, California, Louisiana, Arkansas and Ohio. By weight, about 161 million tons arrive from other states for every 132 million that leave, so outbound loads are the scarcer side of most interstate lanes.

Where the freight moves: the big Texas corridors

The Texas Triangle of Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio to Austin holds most of the state's warehouses. Loads inside the triangle are short and frequent. Loads leaving it are longer and harder to find, which is where a dispatcher's broker contacts matter most.

Reloading out of Texas

Texas is easy to get into and harder to leave on a good rate. A few patterns hold most of the year:

• Laredo pays to leave. Northbound freight from Mexico funnels through Laredo and up I-35, so van trucks there usually find outbound loads. The catch is waiting on cross-border paperwork and appointments.
• Houston reloads well for van and flatbed, thanks to the port and the plants along the Ship Channel.
• The Rio Grande Valley is a reefer market in winter and spring, when Mexican produce crosses at Pharr. Outside those months, reefers often run dry freight out.
• West Texas is a long way from anything. El Paso and the Permian Basin can mean 300 or more empty miles to the next load. Book into them only when the rate covers the run back out.

When the outbound market is soft, your dispatcher may suggest a short run to Dallas or Houston to reload rather than waiting. Our guide to cutting deadhead miles explains how we weigh that.

Equipment that works in Texas

Texas seasons to plan around

• Late fall through spring: Mexican produce season at Pharr, which the bridge marks with a season kickoff each fall. Reefer demand in the Valley climbs, and so do waits at the cold docks.
• June to November: Atlantic hurricane season. A Gulf storm can shut Houston and Beaumont for days, then flood the market with relief freight.
• Summer heat: Reefer units and tires work hardest from June to September. Schedule maintenance before it, not during.
• Oilfield cycles: Hotshot and flatbed demand in West Texas follows drilling activity, which moves with oil prices, not the calendar.

Our seasonal freight calendar shows how these fit with national peaks.

Texas trucking rules owner-operators hit

• TxDMV number for intrastate work. If you haul inside Texas only, in a truck or combination over 26,000 lbs, you need intrastate operating authority from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, with at least $500,000 in liability for most carriers. Interstate carriers with a USDOT number and MC authority run under federal rules. The TxDMV number page has the details.
• Fuel tax. Texas diesel tax is 20 cents a gallon on the IFTA matrix for the 4th quarter of 2026, among the lowest in the country. Our IFTA calculator uses it.
• Toll roads. Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin all have toll roads billed by plate or TxTag. Ask brokers whether tolls are covered before you route through them.
• Oversize loads. Texas issues a lot of oversize permits for oilfield and wind freight. We don't book oversize, so your dispatcher keeps you on legal loads.

Texas checklist: authority, the border and the run back

• Check whether the load is interstate or intrastate. A Laredo to Dallas run on a load that started in Mexico is interstate. A Houston to San Antonio load that never leaves Texas may need TxDMV authority.
• Ask about cross-border paperwork and appointment times on any Laredo pickup, and how long the last few trucks waited.
• Price West Texas and Panhandle deliveries with the run back out included, since the next load can be hundreds of miles away.
• Confirm toll coverage on loads into Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin, where toll roads are common.
• In hurricane season, check the Gulf forecast before booking into Houston, Beaumont or Corpus Christi.

Dispatch in Texas with us

Texas is easy to get into and harder to leave on a good rate, so your dispatcher plans the run out before you deliver. Laredo, Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth warehouses are the usual reload points, and West Texas loads are priced with the empty miles back.

For today's national rate picture, our monthly rates report shows what van, reefer and flatbed are paying.

Major Texas freight hubs get their own pages: Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Laredo. Running across state lines? See our pages for Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas, or the other states we dispatch in.