Can't find loads? Check the paperwork before you blame the market
A sitting truck feels like a market problem, and sometimes it is. But most stuck carriers we talk to have a blocker a broker can see and they cannot: an authority flag, an insurance filing that never posted, a packet error. Run the finder below before you drop your rate a single cent: every check is free, takes minutes, and shows you exactly what the brokers see when your packet lands.
The blocker finder
Open each one that might apply. Every item shows the fix and the official place to verify it, free, right now.
01. Your MC is younger than the brokers' minimums
Why it blocks you Many brokerages auto-decline authorities under 60, 90 or 180 days. Your packet is not rejected; it is filtered before a human reads it, and nobody emails you about it.
The fix Stop pitching brokers that cannot say yes. Work the ones that take new MCs, run clean loads, and re-send packets as you age past each threshold. The new authority dispatch page is the full plan for this stage.
02. Your insurance is not showing in FMCSA's system
Why it blocks you Brokers check FMCSA's public Licensing & Insurance records, not your word. If your insurer's filing has not posted, you look uninsured even with a card in the glovebox.
The fix Look yourself up in the L&I system. No active filing listed? Call your agent today and ask when the federal filing was submitted; it is their job, but it is your truck sitting.
03. Your authority is not actually active
Why it blocks you Pending, involuntary revocation for an insurance lapse, or a reinstatement that never finished: all of them read as NOT AUTHORIZED to every system a broker uses.
The fix Check your status in SAFER right now; it takes one minute. If it is not ACTIVE, the fix is with FMCSA, and no amount of load board time changes that.
Check your MC status (guide)
04. Your packet has a quiet error
Why it blocks you A COI that expired last Tuesday, a W-9 name that does not match your MC, a missing signature page: setups stall silently and the freight goes to the next truck.
The fix Re-check your three core documents today: COI current and matching your legal name, W-9 matching exactly, authority letter attached. Boring, decisive, free.
MC number lookup (guide)
05. You factor, but brokers have no NOA
Why it blocks you Without your notice of assignment, broker setups stall at accounting: they do not know who to pay, so they would rather not start.
The fix Send the NOA with every packet, first page, not on request. Your factoring company reissues it in minutes if you cannot find it.
06. Your floor rate is above what the lane pays this month
Why it blocks you Markets move. A floor set in a strong quarter quietly turns into a wall in a soft one, and the loads stop reaching your phone.
The fix Price the lane, not your memory of it: check what your recent offers actually clustered around, count deadhead into the math, and decide with numbers. Sometimes holding the floor is right and sitting a day is the cost; make it a decision instead of a surprise.
EXAMPLE diagnosis, for illustration
A box truck carrier calls: three weeks active, zero loads, convinced the market is dead. The finder takes four minutes. SAFER: ACTIVE, fine. L&I: no cargo filing showing; the agent submitted the federal filing late and never said so. Packet: COI lists the old personal-name insured, not the LLC. Two phone calls later both are moving, and the market is suddenly not dead anymore. Nothing about this story is unusual; that is the point of running the checklist before the discounting starts.
What to try today, in order
Honest self-help, no application required. This list is the same one our desk runs on a stuck truck:
- 01Run the blocker finder above top to bottom. Paperwork first, market last, because paperwork is free to fix and the market is not yours to fix.
- 02Verify yourself in SAFER and L&I exactly the way a broker sees you. Two minutes, two links, and you know whether the problem is visible from outside.
- 03Post the truck where it is, not where you wish it were, with a clean note: equipment, dimensions, ready time. Vague postings get skipped.
- 04Call two brokers you have hauled for before anything else. A reload from a past broker beats a cold posting every day of the week.
- 05If the lane is genuinely dead, deadhead math beats hope: a 100-mile reposition to a living market often out-earns a day of waiting where you are.
- 06Still sitting tomorrow? That is the moment a desk earns its fee: we run this list all day, across every truck we dispatch, with broker contacts you have not met yet.
If the load boards themselves are the time sink, the load board alternative page shows the difference between shopping the boards yourself and having them worked for you.
What handing it over costs: 5% of gross standard, 7% while an MC is under 6 months, 4% per truck for fleets. No setup fee, no contract, and no haul still means no pay, which matters most in exactly the weeks this page is about.
Q-01Why can't I find loads with a new MC?
Mostly broker authority-age filters: many auto-decline MCs under 60 to 180 days, so your packet is filtered before anyone reads it. The fix is working brokers that accept new authorities and building clean history until the stricter ones open. Check the insurance and packet blockers too; new carriers often have two problems stacked.
Q-02How do I check if my insurance shows on FMCSA?
Search yourself in FMCSA's public Licensing & Insurance system at li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov: it lists the active filings brokers verify. If your policy is missing or shows cancelled, call your agent about the federal filing immediately. A card in the truck means nothing to a broker if the filing has not posted.
Q-03How long does it take a new MC to get loads?
With paperwork clean and brokers chosen correctly, first loads commonly book within the first week or two of active authority; the better-paying relationships open over the following months as you clear broker age thresholds. Anyone promising a full calendar in week one is selling, not dispatching.
Q-04Should I lower my rate to get loads?
Not as a reflex. First rule out the blockers above, because no discount fixes an invisible insurance filing. If the lane has genuinely softened, reprice to what it pays now with deadhead counted, and decide your floor deliberately. Panic pricing sets a precedent brokers remember.
Q-05What do I do when my truck is sitting?
Run the order above: blockers, SAFER and L&I check, clean posting, calls to past brokers, then deadhead math toward a living market. Sitting is expensive, but random motion is too. If you want the list run for you every day, that is literally the job we do.
Fix the blockers once. Then never shop the boards alone again.
We run this diagnosis on every truck we take on, then keep it loaded. 5% standard, no contract, every load your call.