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Diagnose first

Can't find loads? Your truck isn't the problem.

When you can't find loads trucking gets expensive fast: deadhead, cheap freight, days sitting. Usually there's a reason you can fix: where you search, how far, when, or which brokers will even see you. Diagnose yours below, try the fixes, and call us if you'd rather hand it off.
Every fix on this page works without a dispatcher. Some just work faster with one.
Get my truck loaded

LOAD BOARD · 50 MI RADIUS

  • Joliet, IL > Gary, IN$310 · $1.48/mi
  • Aurora, IL > Rockford, IL$280 · $1.62/mi
  • Elgin, IL > Milwaukee, WI$390 · $1.71/mi

EXAMPLE All under a $2.10 floor. Sound familiar?

An example stuck month

How a good truck ends up with a bad month

This is an illustration built from common patterns, not a real carrier. Most drivers who tell us they can't find loads have lived some version of it.

  1. Week 1

    A 53 ft dry van, one year of authority, home in the Midwest. Monday's load board search within 50 miles shows a handful of loads, all under his floor rate. He takes one anyway to keep the truck moving.

  2. Week 2

    Delivers into a market where outbound freight is thin. Sits a day and a half refreshing the board, then deadheads 180 miles to a load that barely covers fuel.

  3. Week 3

    Drops his rate to win loads. Wins some. Brokers start offering him less on every call.

  4. Week 4

    Looks at the month: plenty of miles, not much money. Calls a dispatcher.

What went wrong: a tight search radius in a soft local market, no plan for the reload before delivering, and a rate cut that solved nothing. None of it was about the truck or the driver.

What changed: a wider radius with the next load planned before each delivery, calls to brokers who had moved his lanes before, and a floor rate he stopped breaking. The miles got shorter between paying loads.

Load drought diagnosis

Five taps to the real reason

Pick your truck, the month, your authority age, how far you search and what you've already tried. You'll get the three most likely causes for that combination, each with one fix you can try today.

01What do you drive?
03Authority age
04Search radius
05What have you tried? (any)

Answer 01, 03 and 04 to see your diagnosis.

How to find loads for my truck

Why you can't find loads for your truck, by equipment

The causes change with the rig. Here is what usually dries up each group of trucks, and where the freight tends to be instead.

  • Dry vans and reefers

    The most crowded boards in trucking, so posted loads go fast and cheap. Reefers also follow harvests that move region to region. Calling brokers directly, planning reloads early and, for reefers, hauling dry freight between seasons widen the pool.

  • 26 ft box trucks and hotshots

    Fewer full truckloads fit, so the freight hides in partials, multi-stop runs and expedited loads. Owners who only search for full loads see a thin board. Pricing each stop and combining loads on one route is where the week fills.

  • Flatbed, step deck and oversize

    Tied to construction, steel and equipment, which slow in cold months in many states. Tarps, chains and ramps you carry decide which loads you can take. Moving south in winter or toward year-round manufacturers helps.

  • Any rig in the wrong market

    Some cities ship far more than they receive and others the opposite. Deliver into a market that mostly receives freight and outbound loads get scarce and cheap. Knowing which side of a market you're on before you accept the headhaul saves days of sitting.

  • Specialized: power only, tanker, hazmat, car haulers

    Freight runs through programs, endorsements and customer relationships more than open boards. Getting approved for trailer programs, matching endorsements and building repeat customers matters more than refreshing a board.

What to try today

Seven fixes you can start before lunch

No dispatcher required. Work through these in order; most drivers find the problem in the first three. Tap each one for the how.

Load drought fixes

1/7 CHECKED

  1. Look at the last three months of rate cons. Brokers who paid you on time and moved your lanes before often have freight that never hits the board.

Useful tools: the rate per mile calculator for checking loads with deadhead counted, and the produce season finder for reefer drivers following harvests.

Before you cut your rate

Know your floor before you search

A load drought tempts every driver to drop the rate. Do this math first. It takes ten minutes and it tells you which loads are worth taking and which are just keeping the wheels turning while you lose money.

  1. 1

    Add up a month of fixed costs. Truck and trailer payments, insurance, permits, phone, ELD, parking. Divide by the miles you run in a normal month.

  2. 2

    Add your running costs per mile. Fuel, tires, maintenance reserve and tolls. Fuel is usually the biggest single line.

  3. 3

    Add what you need to pay yourself. A real wage per mile, not whatever is left over.

  4. 4

    That total is your floor. Then count deadhead: a load's rate divided by loaded plus empty miles has to clear it.

EXAMPLE floor EXAMPLE

Fixed costs
$0.62/mi
Fuel and running
$0.88/mi
Driver pay
$0.60/mi
Floor
$2.10/mi

A $1,000 load with 400 loaded and 80 empty miles pays $2.08 a mile all-in, just under this floor. Close enough to take on a dead Friday, not on a Tuesday. Run your own numbers in the cost per mile calculator.

Off the board

Where the loads that never hit the board come from

A lot of good freight is covered before it's ever posted. If you only search the boards, you only see what's left. Here is where the rest moves.

  • Brokers who already know you

    A broker with a load on your lane calls the carriers who ran it well last time. One clean delivery can turn into a weekly load if you stay in touch.

  • Posted trucks

    Brokers search for available trucks, not just the other way around. A posted truck with clear equipment and dates gets calls you'd never find by searching.

  • Repeat and dedicated freight

    Shippers and brokers with steady lanes prefer carriers they don't have to vet every week. Dedicated lanes pay for reliability more than for the lowest rate.

  • Reloads in the delivery city

    Asking the receiver's broker or the local brokers what ships out of that market often turns up a load before it posts.

Where a dispatcher helps

The same fixes, done for you, while you drive

Every fix above takes phone time, and phone time is what you don't have at 65 miles per hour. A dispatcher works the brokers, plans reloads a day ahead and holds your floor rate, all while you're on the road. You still see every load first and say yes or no, and the broker sends the rate confirmation to you.

Broker calls all day

Including the ones you'd never have time for between stops.

Reloads planned early

Your next load lined up before you deliver this one.

Floor rate held

Cheap loads stay off your phone unless you ask.

Still deciding? Compare doing it yourself with a desk in dispatcher vs load board, or read why rates matter as much as volume in dispatch for better rates.

No loads, owner operator edition: straight answers

Q01Why can't I find loads for my truck?
Usually one of a few reasons: you're only working the load boards, your search radius is too tight, your authority is too new for many brokers, the season has moved freight away from your region, or your truck needs partials and multi-stop loads that don't show up as full truckloads. The diagnosis tool on this page narrows it down.
Q02Should I lower my rate to get loads?
Rarely. Dropping your rate wins loads you would have lost money on, and it trains brokers to offer you less. Know your cost per mile, set a floor that covers it including deadhead, and fix how and where you search before you cut. A slow day costs less than a month of loads under cost.
Q03Should I change lanes to find freight?
Sometimes, if your home region is weak for your equipment this time of year. Rather than abandoning your lanes, plan a loop: take a load into a stronger market, run there for a few days, and plan the load home before you leave. That keeps home time while following the freight.
Q04When is freight slow in trucking?
It depends on the equipment and region. Construction-related flatbed freight often slows in winter in cold states, reefer volume follows produce harvests that move through the year, and many lanes soften after holiday retail peaks. Watch your own lanes week to week rather than relying on one national rule.
Q05Why can't I find reefer loads?
Reefer freight follows the food it hauls. When produce season ends in one region, volume shifts to another, and carriers who stay put see fewer loads and lower rates. Reefers can also haul dry freight between seasons, which many owners forget. Following the harvest and staying open to dry loads usually fixes a reefer drought.

More reading: reefer loads and load boards, reefer dispatch and 26 ft box truck dispatch.

Hand the search to the desk.

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Get my truck loaded