When I load a midi track it always seems to begin around measure 3. Therefore there's silence for the first few seconds of playback. I'd like to have the song start at measure one. I've tried a couple ideas such as deleting that initial couple of measures but the midifile always defaults back to measure 3 and I always have that gap of silence. Any suggestions?

Does this happen when you load only a particular MIDI file or with every file? Do you load your file(s) by dragging from browser or by opening (File->Open)?

This seems to happen whenever I import a midifile using sonar platinum. It just starts at measure 3. I can live with it, but it'd be better if I could have the song start right from press to play on measure 1.
 

It's still not clear how you import your file into Sonar but looks like we are talking about some particular file. Some MIDI files start with blank measures.

With Sonar open, I go to file - import - midi ... that's how I start. I guess the midifiles I've imported probably do have blank measures. I just wondered if there was a way to eliminate those blank measures and start at measure one. No big deal ... thanks Soundwise (watched your youtube video ... wow, great guitar playing)

You should always OPEN a midi file if it is a complete song composed by someone else. Otherwise you loose important data. 
Use ATL A to select all, drag the song ( tracks) to where you want them..Zoom in and use snap to 1/8 note.  Never start at zero. MIDI needs a few ticks to get going. It's OK to put the count in at the first 1/4 note of measure one. But never have a note on absolute zero. 

Just checked - some my MIDI files load at measure 1, but the MIDI events (those that trigger sounds) start at measure 3. So this is normal. To automate routing, tempo and program change load your MIDI files via the File->Open dialog (Ctrl+O), or double-click the desired midi file (if it is associated with Sonar).
PS thanks!

Thanks for your input on helping me out with this. I'll follow those steps next time I begin another midifile project. Good to know.