How to get loads for your truck, from day one to direct freight
Steve Woods · Lead Dispatcher, TruckSprint
Steve Woods leads the TruckSprint dispatch desk and reviews every guide we publish. How we research and update guides.
Updated October 2026
Quick answer
To get loads for your truck, start with spot load boards and brokers who work with your equipment and authority age, keep your carrier packet ready, and answer fast. Over months, turn good brokers into repeat freight and add direct shippers or contractors near home. A dispatcher can do the searching and calling for a fee.
Every carrier's first problem is the same: the truck is ready, the authority is active, and the phone is quiet. I'm Steve, lead dispatcher at TruckSprint. Finding freight is what our desk does all day, for eleven kinds of trucks. Here's how it works when you do it yourself.
The six ways freight reaches a truck
| Source | Speed to first load | Rate control | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spot load boards | Fast | You negotiate each load | New carriers, filling gaps |
| Direct broker relationships | Builds over months | Repeat rates, less haggling | Steady weeks |
| Direct shippers and contractors | Slow to win | Contract or agreed rates | Dump work, local and regional |
| Carrier programs and power-only pools | Depends on approval | Program rates | Power only, dry van |
| Local networking | Slow, then steady | Agreed per job | Home every night |
| A dispatch service | Fast | Negotiated for you; you approve | Carriers who'd rather drive |
No single source does it all. Most carriers who stay busy use two or three at once.
Which sources fit your truck?
A dump truck owner and a reefer owner shouldn't follow the same playbook, and a six-week-old MC can't do what a three-year carrier does. Pick your setup; the matcher puts the sources in the order we'd work them.
Load source matcher
01Spot load boardsSTART HERE
Brokers post loads; you call or book. Fastest way to see what's moving today.
What it takes: A board subscription, quick calls, and rates you've checked against your cost per mile.
02A dispatch serviceSTART HERE
A desk that works boards, brokers and contacts for you and sends offers to approve.
What it takes: A fee on loads hauled. Pick one that sends every load to you first and puts the rate con in your hands.
03Carrier programs and power-only pools
Programs that tender trailers or loads to qualified carriers through an app.
What it takes: Meeting each program's requirements (authority age, insurance, safety). Rules change; read the current terms.
04Direct broker relationships
A handful of brokers who know your truck and call you first with repeat freight.
What it takes: Reliable deliveries, fast paperwork and staying in touch between loads. Builds over months.
05Direct shippers and contractors
Freight straight from the company that ships it, or from contractors for dump work.
What it takes: Insurance they accept, invoicing, often a credit check and a track record. Slow to win, steady once you have it.
06Local and regional networking
Yards, pits, warehouses and job sites near home: the freight that never hits a board.
What it takes: Showing up, a card, and being the truck that answers. Best for home every night.
A rule of thumb from how we work, not a ranking of companies. Your lanes and market decide in the end.
What brokers check before they book you
New carriers often lose loads in the 20 minutes after they say yes, while the broker's setup team looks them up. Know what they check:
| Broker check | What they look for | How to pass it |
|---|---|---|
| Authority status | Active, not pending or revoked | Wait for active before calling |
| Authority age | Some require 30, 60, 90+ days | Ask before you negotiate |
| Insurance | On file with FMCSA, limits they require | Send the COI with them as holder |
| Safety record | Inspections, out-of-service rates | Clean pre-trips, clean inspections |
| Carrier packet | W-9, authority letter, COI, NOA if factoring | Keep a ready-to-send packet |
| Identity checks | Phone, email and address match FMCSA | Use a business email and keep records current |
The packet itself is a checklist we cover in carrier packet checklist. Send it the minute a broker asks.
Working load boards like a dispatcher
A load board is only as good as the habits behind it.
- Search before the truck is empty. Look for the next load while you're loaded, starting a day out. Good freight goes early.
- Search wider than your drop. Include deadhead of 50 to 150 miles, then judge the load by all-in rate per mile, not loaded rate. The rate per mile calculator does the math.
- Call, don't just click. Have your MC number, truck, availability and target rate ready. Ask about stops, appointment times and detention before you talk price.
- Counter with a reason. "I can do it at $2,100, I'm empty 60 miles out" gets better answers than "can you do better?"
- Track what you booked. Rates, brokers, days to pay. In a month you'll know which brokers to call first.
Which boards to use depends on your equipment and lanes; compare features on each board's own site. Our load boards guide covers what to look for without ranking anyone.
Building direct shipper freight
Direct freight pays steadier and cuts out the broker's margin, but nobody hands it to a new carrier. It's earned.
- List the shippers that fit your truck. A reefer looks at produce sheds and food distributors; a flatbed at building supply yards and steel service centers; a dump truck at contractors, pits and paving companies; a 26 ft box truck at furniture, appliance and distribution businesses.
- Find the right person. Shipping, logistics or the owner. Ask what lanes they ship and how often.
- Offer something specific. "I run a 53-ft reefer out of Fresno to Phoenix twice a week" beats "I have a truck."
- Be ready for their checks. Insurance certificate, W-9, references, sometimes a credit application.
- Win the trial load. On time, clean paperwork, a heads-up before any delay. That's the whole sales pitch.
Equipment changes the playbook
- Dump trucks live on contractors, pits and paving companies, mostly local, often hourly or per ton. Boards play a small part.
- Oversize and specialized loads come through brokers and shippers who know permits and routes; relationships matter more than boards.
- Car haulers have their own boards and dealer and auction networks.
- Power only runs on trailer pools and carrier programs as much as boards.
- 26 ft box trucks find local and regional freight, final mile and partials. We dispatch 26 ft box trucks only, nothing shorter, and no cargo vans or sprinters.
If the phone is still quiet after a few weeks of this, look at the setup before blaming the market: authority age, insurance limits, equipment fit and rates. Our can't find loads page walks through that diagnosis.