ENTRY 01 / CAN'T FIND LOADS
Can't find loads? Trucking has four usual reasons. Find yours first.
If you can't find loads, trucking advice online jumps straight to "use more load boards" or "hire a dispatcher". Start somewhere else. A truck that sits is almost always one of four problems: rate, lane, MC age or paperwork. This page helps you tell which, gives you things to try today, and is honest about when a dispatcher helps and when it won't.
- Rate
- Lane
- MC age
- Paperwork
The four reasons a truck sits. Most weeks it is one of them, sometimes two. Rarely all four.
ENTRY 02 / QUICK ANSWERS
How to find loads for my truck: the short answers
Q01Why can't I find loads as an owner-operator?
Usually one of four things: your minimum rate sits above what your lanes pay this week, you are in a market with more trucks than freight, your MC is too new for many brokers, or your carrier packet isn't approved with the brokers posting the freight. Each has a different fix, so find which one it is before changing anything.
Q02Is my rate too high?
Compare it with the market, not with last year. In August 2026, DAT's national averages were about $2.89 a mile all-in for vans, $3.38 for reefers and $3.54 for flatbeds. If your floor is far above your equipment's average, most loads won't clear it. If it is close, price probably isn't the problem.
Q03How long does it take a new MC to get loads?
Some brokers book new authorities from the first day, many want 30 to 90 days of history, and some want longer. The first weeks are usually thin. Getting packets approved early with the brokers that do take new carriers is the fastest way through it.
Q04Why can't I find loads for my truck type?
Some equipment depends on fewer shippers and more local relationships: car haulers, dump trucks, hazmat tankers and oversize rigs often find less on the big boards. A 26 ft box truck competes with many small carriers on short loads. For those, direct broker and shipper contacts matter more than board searches.
Q05How do dispatchers find loads?
Through the same load boards you can use, plus broker relationships built over many carriers' loads, direct shipper contacts, and timing: calling on a load before it is reposted, or asking a broker what is coming next week. The real difference is hours spent and lane knowledge, not secret boards.
Q06Should I just lower my rate to get loaded?
Only to a number that still covers your costs. Dropping below break-even keeps the truck moving while the business shrinks. A short load that repositions you into a better market is often a smarter cut than a cheap long one.
ENTRY 03 / FLOOR-RATE CHECK
Is your minimum rate the reason the truck is sitting?
Put in the lowest all-in rate you will accept and your equipment. The gauge compares it with the latest national average from DAT. A national average is a rough guide, not your lane, but a floor far above it explains a lot of empty days.
Your floor
NATIONAL AVERAGE $2.89/mi ALL-IN
Your floor is 10% under the national average. Finding loads shouldn't be the problem, but check that the floor really covers your costs; it may be leaving money behind.
A NATIONAL AVERAGE, NOT YOUR LANE. NOT A PROMISE OF LOADS.
For reference, DAT reported national line-haul averages of $2.19 for vans, $2.61 for reefers and $2.70 for flatbeds in August 2026, with average fuel surcharges of 70, 77 and 84 cents a mile on top. Lanes swing far above and below those numbers.
Don't know your floor? Work it out from your own costs with the break-even rate calculator. A floor built from your costs is one you can defend to a broker and to yourself.
SOURCE: DAT NATIONAL AVERAGES, AUGUST 2026, PUBLISHED SEPT 15, 2026
ENTRY 04 / WHAT TO TRY TODAY
No loads, owner operator edition: six things to do before you call anyone
Work through them in order. The first two cost nothing and fix the most common causes; the last four take a few calls and some patience, but they are what separates a truck that runs every week from one that waits on the board. You don't need a dispatcher to do any of these. They are what our desk does first when a new carrier tells us the truck has been sitting, and most of them cost nothing but time.
1. Check the floor against the market
Use the check above. If your floor is well over your equipment's average, look hard at your costs with the break-even rate calculator before cutting it. Sometimes the floor is right and the lane is wrong.
2. Look at where the truck is sitting
Some markets ship far more freight out than in, and some are the opposite. If you keep delivering into places with nothing coming back, plan the reload before you accept the inbound load, even if the inbound pays a little less.
3. Widen the search, carefully
Search a larger radius for pickups, and include partial and multi-stop loads if your equipment allows. Count the deadhead to reach them in the all-in rate, so a wider search doesn't turn into paying to drive empty.
4. Call, don't just click
Many good loads are booked by phone before they sit on a board for long. Call brokers on loads that are close to your floor and ask what they can do. Ask what they have next week on the same lane. Brokers remember carriers who deliver and pick up the phone.
5. Fix the paperwork that blocks you
An expired certificate, a wrong certificate holder, a missing W-9 or a pending notice of assignment will stop a broker from releasing a load to you. Check your packet before you blame the market.
6. Time the week
Board activity changes through the week and around holidays and month-end. Being empty on the wrong day of the week in a weak market costs more than a slightly lower rate on a better day.
Our guide on how to get loads as an owner-operator goes deeper on boards, direct shippers and building a broker list of your own. If the whole market is soft rather than just your corner of it, dispatch in a slow freight market covers what changes when rates fall everywhere.
When a dispatcher helps, and when it won't
A dispatcher can't create freight. If the whole market is paying under your break-even, no desk will fix that, and anyone who promises otherwise is selling you something. Here is where a desk does make a difference.
It helps when
The freight exists but you don't have the hours to find it; you keep getting stuck in poor reload markets; your packets aren't approved with enough brokers; or you take first offers because there is no time to counter.
It won't help when
Your costs are so high that no market rate covers them, the truck is down more than it runs, or your authority and insurance aren't active and in good standing.
Still deciding whether to keep the load board or hand it off? Dispatcher vs load board puts the two side by side with the time you spend on each.
How our desk finds loads for a truck that has been sitting
Floor and costs first
We confirm your floor covers your costs and set the deadhead you will accept, so we only chase loads that make you money.
Lane plan, not one load
We look at where the next load leaves you before you sign it, so one good rate doesn't strand the truck for two days.
Brokers who book your truck
Packets go out to brokers that book your equipment and MC age, so loads reach you instead of being lost to setup delays.
Every load still reaches you as a rate con in your company's name to sign or refuse. The fee is 5% of gross on loads you haul (7% while your MC is under 6 months, 4% for two or more trucks), with no setup fee and no contract. A truck that sits costs you nothing in dispatch fees.
Let's get the truck moving again, above your floor
Apply in about a minute. We start with your numbers and your lanes, then the first rate con lands in your inbox.
Your floor · EXAMPLE
Van avg all-in · EXAMPLE
Flatbed avg all-in · EXAMPLE