Freight loads available: where to find loads, and which ones to take

How do trucking companies find loads?

Every carrier, from one truck to a large fleet, finds freight the same few ways. The difference is the mix. A new owner-operator might book nearly everything from load boards. An established small fleet might get most of its loads from a handful of brokers who call first, plus a shipper or two. Large carriers run mostly on contract freight from shippers. Most carriers move toward more relationships and fewer cold postings over time, because relationship freight tends to be steadier and pay better.

Here's each source, what it's good for, and what to watch. Each one links to a deeper guide.

• Load boards

  Good for: seeing the most spot freight in one place, quickly. Watch: postings that are already covered, rates the whole market sees, and fake or double-brokered postings. See how load boards work and free load boards.

• Carrier apps and marketplaces

  Good for: booking in the app at a price shown up front, often for a broker's or shipper's own freight. Watch: take-it-or-leave-it prices and authority-age requirements. See digital freight marketplaces.

• Freight brokers

  Good for: loads offered by phone or email before they're posted, once a broker knows your truck. Watch: getting comfortable with one broker whose rates slip. Vet every broker.

• Shippers directly

  Good for: no broker margin and repeat freight. Watch: slow to win, strict on service, and billing is on you. See our direct shippers list guide.

• Government freight

  Good for: steady freight for qualified carriers. Watch: registration, security and service requirements are strict. See military freight.

• Reloads near delivery

  Good for: a short empty run, because the load starts near your delivery. Watch: taking a weak reload just because it's close.

How to get loads for a semi truck, step by step

If you're starting from nothing, the order matters. Brokers and apps check your authority, insurance and safety records before they'll give you a load, so get those right first.

• +Get your paperwork ready. Operating authority, insurance certificate with the right limits, W-9, and a carrier packet you can send in minutes.
• +Know your floor. Know what a mile costs you and the lowest all-in rate you'll accept. The trucking cost per mile calculator does it from your bills.
• +Pick your lanes. Start with lanes near home and areas that ship a lot of freight for your equipment, so the next load is easier to find.
• +Search the boards and apps. Use them to find spot loads and to learn which brokers post your lanes.
• +Vet every broker. Check authority and registration on FMCSA's public records before you call.
• +Call, ask, counter. Ask what the posting leaves out, then counter from your floor.
• +Deliver well and stay in touch. On-time loads, check calls and clean paperwork are what make a broker call you first next time.
• +Keep a list. Brokers who paid on time, lanes that worked, shippers you'd haul for again.

Building broker relationships that bring loads

The steadiest source of loads for most small carriers isn't a board. It's a short list of brokers who know the truck and call first. Those relationships start on the board: you book a load from a broker, deliver it well, and the next time they have freight on your lane, you're on their list. After a few good loads, some brokers will offer freight before posting it, and often at a better rate, because a reliable truck is worth more to them than an unknown one.

What earns a place on that list is ordinary and repeatable: on-time pickup and delivery, a call ahead when something changes, check calls without being chased, signed paperwork sent the same day, and a clear yes or no instead of accepting and backing out. Ask each good broker which lanes they move most and when. Note it down. Over a few months, that list becomes a map of where your next loads are likely to come from.

Finding loads by equipment

Where loads come from depends on what you pull. The same search habits apply, but each equipment type has its own best sources and its own seasons.

• +Dry van. The biggest pool of freight on every board, and the most competition. Relationships and reload planning matter most.
• +Reefer. Produce, meat, dairy and frozen goods, with strong seasonal swings by region. Know the growing seasons on your lanes.
• +Flatbed and step deck. Building materials, steel, machinery and energy. Freight follows construction and manufacturing, and many loads come from brokers who specialize in open deck.
• +Box truck. Partials, pallet runs, final-mile and expedited freight, often per load. Search partials and straight-truck equipment types, not just full loads.
• +Hotshot. Oilfield, agriculture, equipment and construction loads, often urgent. Long empty runs between loads are common, so plan the next one early.
• +Power only. Pre-loaded trailers and drop freight, often from broker and shipper apps that supply the trailer.

What freight rates tell you about where loads are

Rates and load counts move together. When a region has more loads than trucks, posted rates rise there, and loads are easy to find. When trucks outnumber loads, rates fall and postings dry up. Watching where rates are strong for your equipment tells you where loads are plentiful this week, and where you might want your truck to end up. Our guide to freight rates explains what moves them.

How to judge the loads you find

There are always freight loads available. The question is which ones are worth taking. Run every load through the same quick check before you book.

• +All-in rate. The pay divided by loaded plus empty miles. Is it at or above your floor?
• +Time. Appointment windows, live load or drop, and stops. How many hours will it really take?
• +The broker. Authority, registration, payment record and any red flags like rates far above the lane or pressure to book in minutes.
• +Terms. Detention, layover, lumper and fuel terms on the rate confirmation.
• +Where it leaves you. What moves out of the delivery area for your equipment? A load into a dead market can cost you the next day.

The load profitability calculator runs the money side of that check in a minute. If two loads are close, the one that leaves you nearer to good freight is usually the better choice.

Finding partial freight loads

Partial loads are shipments that don't fill a trailer but are too big or too urgent for LTL. They're common for box trucks, hotshots and vans with room to spare. Two partials going the same way can pay more than one full load, if the stops and timing work. Search for partials on the boards, and ask brokers who post your lanes whether they have partials too.

Price each partial on its own first, with its share of the miles and its own stops. Then check whether a second one fits on the route. Our guide to partial loads covers how to combine them without losing a day.

When loads are hard to find

Some weeks the boards look empty and every posting pays under your floor. That's usually a market, lane or timing problem, not a sign you're doing it wrong. Loads are seasonal, and some areas have far more trucks than freight at certain times of year.

• +Widen the search. A bigger radius, a different delivery region, or partials alongside full loads.
• +Search earlier. Look for the reload while you're still loaded, not after delivery.
• +Reposition on purpose. A short, cheaper load into a stronger market can beat waiting. See cheap loads to reposition.
• +Call brokers you know. Ask what they have coming, not just what's posted.
• +Follow the season. Some freight, like produce, moves by region and month.

Our page on what to do when you can't find loads goes through the causes in more detail. For the highest-paying freight types and what they demand of the carrier, see highest paying freight, and for urgent loads at premium rates, expedited freight rates.

How to book freight loads safely

Fake loads and double brokering are real risks when you book from postings, especially from brokers you don't know. A fake posting can lead to unpaid work, stolen cargo liability or a demand for money up front. A few checks stop most of it.

• +Look up the broker's authority and registration on FMCSA's public records, and confirm the phone and email match the registration.
• +Be wary of rates far above the lane, pressure to commit in minutes, and contact only through messaging apps.
• +Never pay anything up front to get a load.
• +Read the rate confirmation before you sign, and make sure the broker named on it is the one you checked.
• +Call the broker back on the number from their registration if anything looks off.

Our guide to load board fraud and fake load scams covers the warning signs in detail.

A week of loads, planned instead of chased

Carriers who rarely struggle to find loads usually aren't luckier. They plan a few days ahead. Before the week starts, they know where the truck is heading on the first load and roughly which markets they'd like to be in by Wednesday and Friday. Each load is chosen partly for its rate and partly for where it leaves the truck.

In practice that looks like this. On Monday, while the first load is in transit, they search for loads out of the delivery city for Tuesday, and call two or three brokers who move freight there. By the time the trailer is empty, the next load is booked. If nothing good shows up, they decide early whether to wait, take a short load toward a stronger market, or deadhead, instead of making that call tired at a truck stop at 9 p.m.

It also helps to know when loads appear. Many brokers post the next day's freight in the afternoon and evening, and many shippers release loads early in the week. Watching your lanes at the same times each day for a couple of weeks shows you the rhythm, and you'll be calling while others are still searching.

Finding loads yourself or with a dispatcher

Every source on this page is open to any carrier. A dispatcher doesn't have secret loads. What a dispatcher adds is hours and habits: someone working the boards, the apps and broker contacts all day, vetting each broker, countering every load and planning the reload while you drive. Whether that's worth a fee depends on how many hours finding loads takes you now and what those hours are worth. Our guide on how dispatchers find loads opens up the process.