SITTING AT A TRUCK STOP, REFRESHING THE BOARD?
Can't find loads? Here's why trucking freight dries up, and how to fix it
You bought the truck expecting the hard part to be the driving. Instead it's the waiting: loads that vanish before you call, brokers who won't set up a new MC, and rates that don't cover the trip back. You're not imagining it, and you're not the only one.
This page walks through why carriers can't find loads, what empty miles actually cost, and an example of one owner's week before and after a real plan. If you want a desk doing the searching for you, every load still comes to you to approve.
What do you run?
Get my truck movingCH 02
Five reasons loads dry up for owner-operators
01Your authority is new
Some brokers won't load an MC until it has a few months of history, and others want extra paperwork first. If most of your packets come back with a polite no, this is usually why. It gets better with age and with clean deliveries.
02You're in the wrong lane
Some markets ship far more freight than they receive. Deliver into a market where more trucks arrive than loads leave, and you'll fight everyone in town for the few loads out. Where a load ends matters as much as what it pays.
03Your rate floor doesn't match the market
Your floor should come from your cost per mile, not from last year's rates. If the market sits below your cost for weeks, chasing it down loses money. Waiting for a better lane, or moving to one, often pays more.
04You don't have enough broker setups
Every broker needs your packet before they'll load you. If you're set up with five brokers, you only see their freight. Carriers who find loads easily tend to be set up with many brokers in their lanes.
05You're searching at the wrong time, in one place
The best loads on a board often go within minutes of posting, and many never get posted because brokers call carriers they know first. One board, checked between drives, sees only the leftovers.
A slow week is often two or three of these at once. The good news is that each one has a fix, and none of the fixes is “take cheaper loads.”
CH 03
What empty miles really cost you
When loads are hard to find, carriers start deadheading farther to get them. It feels like progress because the truck is moving. The meter shows what it costs.
Put in your own numbers: empty miles in a normal week, loaded miles, and your cost per mile. If you don't know your cost per mile, use a conservative guess for now and work out the real figure later. Fuel, the truck note, insurance, maintenance and tires all count.
A carrier running 450 empty miles a week at $1.25 a mile spends about $560 a week driving for nobody. Cut that in half and the savings can pay for a lot of dispatch fees. That's the honest math behind backhaul planning.
CH 04
One owner's week, before and after a plan
EXAMPLE This is a made-up example, built from the kinds of weeks drivers describe. The numbers are round and simple on purpose. Meet Ray, a dry van owner-operator with a four-month-old MC based near Atlanta.
BEFORE: RAY DISPATCHES HIMSELF
- Monday: three hours on one load board. Takes a cheap load to Miami because it's the first broker who calls back.
- Tuesday: delivers in Miami. Nothing out of Miami pays. Waits overnight.
- Wednesday: takes a low load north just to leave Florida. Deadheads 140 miles to the pickup.
- Thursday: sits most of the day waiting on a broker setup that needed one more document.
- Friday: one short load toward home, then home for the weekend with Monday unplanned.
Three loads, a lot of empty miles, and most of the money lost in Florida.
AFTER: RAY WITH A PLAN
- Friday before: Monday's load is lined up, from a broker already set up.
- Monday: a load to Charlotte instead of Miami, a market with freight out. Ray passed on Miami when the desk showed him the reload problem.
- Tuesday: the Charlotte reload was booked while he drove; short deadhead.
- Wednesday to Thursday: a two-day run west and a reload back toward Atlanta.
- Friday: home on time, next Monday already planned.
Same truck, same driver. The difference is where each load ended and how many brokers could load him.
The point isn't that a dispatcher makes freight appear. It's that the week is planned from the end of each load, not the start. Ray could do that himself with more broker setups and more time, and some drivers do. Many would rather drive.
If Ray's week looks familiar, our guide to rookie truck driver mistakes covers more of the traps new owners fall into, and the load profitability calculator shows whether a single load is worth it before you say yes.
CH 05
Where loads actually come from
Owner-operators who say they can't find loads are usually looking in one place. Freight reaches carriers through four channels, and steady trucks use more than one.
Load boards
The fastest way to see a lot of freight at once, and the most crowded. Every truck in the area sees the same posts, so the best ones go quickly and rates get pushed down. Useful, but rarely enough on its own.
Brokers, by phone and email
Many brokers call carriers they already know before they post a load, or send lane lists to their regular trucks. Once you're set up and you've hauled for a broker cleanly, you start seeing freight that never hits a board.
Repeat lanes
When you deliver the same lane well, the same broker or shipper tends to ask again. Repeat freight is the most reliable kind, and it often pays better because the broker knows you'll show up.
Direct shippers
Hauling straight for a shipper cuts out the broker's margin but takes time to build, usually with insurance, references and a track record. It's a goal for later, not a fix for this week.
A dispatcher mostly helps with the first three: more boards watched, more brokers set up and called, and repeat lanes built on purpose. Direct shippers come later, and when they do, those customers are yours.
CH 06
What changes when a desk finds the loads
- More setups. We send packets to brokers that fit your lanes, including the ones that work with new authorities.
- More eyes. Several load boards plus direct broker calls, during the hours you're driving or sleeping.
- Planning from the end. Before you say yes, we check where the load leaves you and what's available out of there.
- Negotiation. We counter on every load the market supports, so you're not stuck with the posted rate.
- Your call. You still say yes or no to every load, and the rate con still goes to you.
The fee is a percent of gross on loads you haul: 5% for one truck past six months of authority, 7% while your MC is newer. A week the truck sits costs you nothing in dispatch fees, which keeps our attention on getting it moving.
Not sure a dispatcher is worth it compared to a load board subscription? We wrote a fair comparison: dispatcher vs load board. And if your MC is brand new, start with our page on dispatch for new authorities, because the first months work a little differently.
CH 07
Questions about finding loads
CH 01Why can't I find loads for my truck?
Usually it's one of five things: a new authority some brokers won't load yet, lanes with more trucks than freight, rate expectations that don't match the market, too few broker setups, or searching only one load board at the busiest hours. Most carriers have two of these at once. Fix the setups and the lanes first.
CH 02How do new owner-operators find loads?
Load boards are the start, not the whole answer. New carriers also get freight by setting up with brokers who work with new authorities, calling brokers directly about lanes they post often, building repeat business with the brokers they haul for cleanly, and over time finding direct shippers. A dispatcher does all of that at once.
CH 03Should I lower my rate to get loads?
Not below your cost per mile. A cheap load can make sense if it gets you out of a dead market to a strong one, but taking cheap freight as a habit teaches brokers your floor and loses money on every mile. Know your cost per mile and count deadhead before you lower anything.
CH 04How far should I deadhead for a load?
There is no single right number. Compare the all-in rate per mile: the rate divided by loaded plus empty miles. A short deadhead to an average load often beats a long deadhead to a great one. Also look at where the load ends, because a strong market to reload from is worth extra empty miles.
CH 05How fast can a dispatcher get me a load?
It depends on your broker setups, your authority age, your equipment and the market that week. If you already have setups and an older authority, offers can start quickly. New authorities usually take longer. We won't promise a date, but we start searching and setting up brokers the day your paperwork is ready.
Get your truck moving again
Tell us what you drive and where you're stuck. We'll start with broker setups and a plan for next week, and every load still waits for your yes.