How to Get Your First Loads With a New Authority: The 90-Day Playbook

Your authority just went active. Congratulations. Now comes the part nobody warned you about: half the brokers won't return your calls because your MC number is brand new.

This is normal. Every carrier you admire started exactly here. Here's how to work through it.

Start with load boards, today

DAT and Truckstop will take you from day one, as long as your authority is active and your insurance is on file. Post your truck, search your lanes, start calling. The rates won't be the best you've ever seen, but revenue beats sitting. Your goal in week one isn't premium freight. It's a moving truck and a clean record.

Find the brokers who say yes

Plenty of brokers work with new authorities. They're not always the biggest names, but they're out there. When you call, lead with what matters to them:

• Your equipment type and location
• That you have your authority and insurance active and verifiable
• Your direct phone number and a promise to communicate
• References if you have any (former employer, anyone)

Have your carrier packet ready to send before you call: your authority letter, your insurance certificate, and your W-9, in one file you can send in minutes. A broker with a load on the table will not wait on your paperwork. The carrier who sends the packet first gets the load.

Then deliver like your business depends on it, because it does. On time, every time. Check calls without being asked. Paperwork same day. One claim or late delivery in your first 90 days can follow you far longer than it should.

Brokers that will set up a new authority

Here is the free list, eighteen names long. Every sign-up link and phone number comes from the broker's own site. Where a broker publishes its minimum, the table says so. Where it does not, the table says that instead, and anything that rests on carrier reports is labeled as reports. The list runs in the order you can use them, soonest first, and the last rows are on it so you can plan, not so you can call them this week.

For accuracy, please check each broker's own website for the most recent update. Requirements change, and the broker's current page is the final word. We last checked this table in October 2026.

Read the table the way a broker would. No minimum published does not mean guaranteed approval. It means the broker has not posted an age floor, so your packet, your insurance limits, your equipment, and your safety record decide. Expect thin freight and low rates from the big brokers at first. You are not there for the money yet. You are there for completed loads on your record.

Three big names are deliberately not in the table. Nolan Transportation Group, Arrive Logistics, and Hub Group all publish no authority minimum, and you will see them on other lists. The reports about them conflict too much to print a number: the same broker is described as 30 days in one place and a full year in another. Call them and ask. Just do not plan your month around a number nobody can confirm.

One standing warning about this list. Brokers change these rules without announcing it, and a broker on this list can still turn you down for another reason. Treat the table as your starting call list, not a promise. Confirm the current rule when you sign up, and if a broker tells you its minimum has changed, believe the broker.

Protect your cash flow

New carriers get paid slow and spend fast. Two tools help:

Quick pay. Many brokers offer payment in a day or two for a fee, commonly 2 to 3% of the invoice, and the fastest options cost more; brokers in the table above publish examples up to 6% for next-day pay. That's still usually cheaper than full factoring, and there's no contract. Use it freely in the beginning.

Factoring. If quick pay isn't enough, factoring (selling invoices for near immediate cash) keeps fuel in the tank. It's expensive, so treat it as a bridge while you build reserves, not a permanent arrangement.

Build the reputation that unlocks everything

Here's the timeline most new carriers experience:

Every clean load shortens that timeline. Brokers talk. A carrier with 90 days of perfect service gets recommended in group chats you've never seen.

Takeaway: Your first 90 days aren't about maximizing revenue. They're about maximizing reputation. The money follows the track record, and the track record starts with load number one. Ask any established carrier and they'll tell you the same thing: the brokers calling them today are the ones they impressed when nobody knew their name.

What not to do

Don't lie about your authority age. Don't double broker a load to cover it. Don't accept freight you can't legally or safely haul just to get moving. Shortcuts in month one become the reason you're still struggling in month twelve. Run clean, run legal, and let the calendar do its work.