Link 01When the truck sits
Can't find loads? Check your broker setup before you blame the market
“I refresh the board all morning and everything's gone. Brokers don't call back. The ones that do want my truck for nothing.” If that sounds like your week, you're not alone, and it's rarely just bad luck.
When owners tell us they can't find loads, trucking conditions are only part of the story. Most of the time the truck is sitting because too few brokers can book it, or because something in the packet, the lanes or the rate floor is quietly filtering out offers. Those are fixable, usually faster than waiting for the market to turn.
What we hear on first calls
EXAMPLE
- “I'm set up with four brokers and two of them never call.”
- “Every load I see is already covered.”
- “They said my authority is too new.”
- “My floor is $2.50 and nothing out here pays it.”
- “I sent ten packets last month and heard back from one.”
Link 02Find your gap
How many loads short are you, and how many setups would close it?
Put in your real numbers: how many brokers you're set up with, how many offers you get in a normal week, what share you accept, and how many loads the truck needs to pay its bills. The card shows how far short you are and roughly how many more active broker setups it would take at your current pace. Then tick anything on the checklist that applies to your packet, because a setup that fails never turns into an offer.
Your numbers (EXAMPLE values to start)
Your setup gap
2.2
loads a week short, booking 1.8 of 4.
At about 1.5 offers per broker and 30% accepted, you'd need roughly 5 more active setups to close the gap.
Simple math on your inputs, not a forecast. Offers per broker vary by lane, season and equipment.
If your gap comes mostly from a low offer count, you need more setups. If you get plenty of offers but accept few, the problem is more likely lanes or rate floor, covered below. Our guide to new carrier setup walks through what brokers check in a packet.
Link 03Six reasons trucks sit
Six reasons trucks sit, and the fix for each one
None of these mean you're a bad carrier. They're the most common filters standing between a truck and the freight that exists in its area. Most trucks we talk to have two or three at once.
01
Too few broker setups
If only three or four brokers can book you, you see three or four brokers' freight. Everything else goes to carriers already in their systems.
Fix: Get set up with brokers who move freight in your lanes, then keep the setups active with regular contact. A setup nobody uses goes stale.
02
Your MC age
Some brokers won't set up an authority under a certain age. The threshold differs from broker to broker and changes over time.
Fix: Ask each broker directly instead of guessing, and start with the ones whose answer is yes. Build history with them while the authority ages.
03
Insurance limits
Brokers often ask for more liability or cargo coverage than the federal minimum, and some want specific endorsements or a reefer breakdown clause.
Fix: Read the requirements in each broker's packet, compare them with your policy, and talk to your agent before a good load comes up.
04
Safety record
Brokers check your public inspection and crash history. A thin record makes some cautious; a rough one closes doors.
Fix: Run clean inspections, fix and document violations, and keep your FMCSA record current so the phone and email on it actually reach you.
05
Wrong lanes for the truck
A flatbed in a dry van market, or a reefer in an area that ships little produce, will sit no matter how good the packet is.
Fix: Plan where the truck goes next based on what ships out of the delivery area for your equipment, not only on the best rate out.
06
Rate floor out of line
A floor set from last year or from a different lane can filter out every offer in the area you're in today.
Fix: Check the floor against what your lane pays this week with deadhead counted. Our rate per mile calculator does the math for you.
On the rate floor: check it with the rate per mile calculator using loaded and empty miles together. A floor that looks fine on loaded miles can fall apart once a long deadhead is counted, and the reverse is true too.
Check them in this order
Start with the packet and insurance, because a setup that gets rejected never shows up as a missed load; it just silently shrinks the pool of brokers who can call you. Then look at your public record: the phone number and email on file, inspections and any open violations. Next, count your active setups, meaning brokers who offered you something in the last month. Only after those three are in order does it make sense to blame the lane or the rate floor. Owners who start with the rate usually end up taking cheaper loads without fixing the reason the good ones never reached them.
Link 04A reloaded week
A week that reloads instead of restarting
Trucks that sit often book one load at a time, then start the hunt from zero on delivery. A planned week looks different: each drop is chosen partly for what ships out of that city next. Drag the EXAMPLE loads into the week and watch deadhead, gross and rate per mile change as the chain holds together or breaks.
Try swapping the higher-paying Denver to Kansas City load for the loop through Salt Lake City and Phoenix. One looks better on Monday. The other usually looks better by Friday.
Plan the week
EXAMPLEMon
Kansas City to Denver
605 mi · DH 15 · $1,700
Tue
Denver to Salt Lake City
520 mi · DH 20 · $1,450
Wed
Thu
Fri
Offers not booked
Salt Lake City to Phoenix
660 mi · DH 25 · $1,600
Phoenix to Albuquerque
420 mi · DH 10 · $1,050
Albuquerque to Kansas City
790 mi · DH 30 · $1,850
Denver to Kansas City
605 mi · DH 15 · $1,100
- Loaded mi
- 1125
- Deadhead
- 35
- All-in RPM
- $2.72
- Gross
- $3,150
- Fee (5%)
- $158
- Net after $1.65/mi costs
- $1,079
Link 05Monday morning on our desk
What our desk does on a Monday morning for a truck that's been sitting
Fix the packet first
We go through your W-9, authority letter, certificate of insurance and carrier profile line by line. Names and numbers have to match your FMCSA record exactly, and the insurance limits need to meet what the brokers in your lanes ask for. A clean packet turns more sent setups into approved ones.
Pick the brokers worth setting up with
We look for brokers who actually move your equipment in your lanes, check each one's public authority and bond, and confirm the phone and email match the record. Then we send packets, follow up, and track which ones go active. Writing to brokers well matters too; see how to email brokers.
Plan the lanes
Where you are, where you want to be by the weekend, and what ships out of each stop along the way for your trailer. We plan the next two or three loads together, so the truck isn't restarting from scratch on every delivery.
Get on the phone
Board posts are a starting point. We call brokers on posted loads, ask about freight they haven't posted, and counter on rate, detention and payment terms. Every offer comes to you to confirm or refuse, and the rate con comes straight from the broker to you. We can't promise a load count or a rate, and anyone who does is guessing. What we promise is the work.
The first two weeks, honestly
The first days go into the packet, the broker list and your rules: floor rate, home time, lanes you like and lanes you refuse. New setups take anywhere from minutes to several days depending on the broker, and some will say no, especially to a young authority. While those come through, we book with the brokers who already have you on file. By the end of the second week you should know which setups are active, what your lanes are paying and whether the gap is closing. If it isn't, we tell you why, in writing, in your weekly report.
Link 06What it costs
No haul, no pay
The fee is a percentage of the gross rate on each delivered load we dispatch: 7% while your MC is under 6 months, 5% after that, and 4% per truck for fleets of two or more. Lumper reimbursements aren't counted. No setup fee, no minimums, month-to-month. Full breakdown on what we charge.
- “Why pay a percentage when I'm already short on loads?”
- Because you only pay on loads that deliver. A week with no loads costs you nothing, so our income depends on fixing your gap.
- “Will you just book me cheap freight to keep me moving?”
- No. You set the floor, you confirm every load, and you can say no to any offer without penalty. Cheap loads hurt us too.
- “Do I give up my brokers?”
- No. They stay yours, and so does the rate con. See how we work for the whole flow.
Link 07FAQ
No loads for my truck: common questions
Questions carriers ask
Why can't I find loads for my truck?
How do I find loads for my truck without a load board?
Is the freight market the problem or my setup?
How many brokers should I be set up with?
Do you charge if you don't find me loads?
Can you help a box truck find loads?
Close the gap before next week
We fix the packet, add the right broker setups and plan the lanes. You confirm every load.