In this paper, a new metaheuristic algorithm is developed to sizing optimization of truss structures with discrete variables. The proposed algorithms namely search and rescue optimization algorithm (SAR), imitates the exploration behavior of humans during search and rescue operations. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated using several discrete truss design problems and the obtained results compared with the results of other optimization algorithms. The comparisons demonstrated that the best averages and standard deviations of results were obtained by SAR for all the studied problems and the proposed algorithm outperforms the other compared optimization algorithms in terms of finding the optimized weight of the truss (accuracy). According to the numerical results, it can be concluded that SAR is a very efficient and robust algorithm for designing truss structures with discrete variables.