Reduce deadhead miles: an empty mile still wears the truck you are paying for
Every empty mile burns fuel, wears tires and takes value out of a truck you are still paying for, and none of it is paid. To reduce deadhead miles you need two things: a real cost on each empty mile, and reloads planned before you deliver.
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Dollars a broker pays you for an empty mile. Your fuel, tires, repairs and the truck's value pay for it instead.
The deadhead sheet
Enter your monthly miles, your running cost per mile and the value your truck loses per mile, then slide your share of empty miles. The sheet shows what empty miles cost you each month. Then switch on the cheap load question to compare a low-paying reload close by with a longer deadhead to a better load.
Empty miles a month
1,500 mi
Full cost per mile
$1.07
What empty miles cost a month
$1,605
EXAMPLE loads and assumptions; put in your own numbers. Real decisions also weigh where each load leaves you next.
Get your real cost per mile from the trucking cost per mile calculator, and check single loads in the load profitability calculator.
What is deadhead, and what does it really cost?
Deadhead is any mile the truck runs without a paying load: to the first pickup, between a delivery and the next pickup, and home at the end of a trip. Most owners count only the fuel. The full cost per empty mile also includes tires, repairs and maintenance, and the value the truck loses with every mile on the odometer.
On a financed truck that last part matters. The payment is fixed, but the value drops with miles, loaded or not. An empty mile costs nearly what a loaded one does and pays nothing.
How much deadhead is normal?
There is no single right number. It depends on your rig, your lanes and the markets you deliver into. A truck running between strong freight markets can keep empty miles low; a truck delivering into areas that receive more freight than they ship will run more. Specialized rigs often run more empty miles because fewer loads fit them.
Rather than chase an average, track your own share of empty miles for a month and price it with the sheet. Then cut the biggest empty runs first.
Cheap load or empty miles?
This is the decision that costs owners the most money without them noticing. A reload close by at a low rate looks bad on a rate sheet. A better-paying load 180 miles away looks good. But the far load carries 180 empty miles at your full cost per mile, and the cheap one carries almost none.
The toggle in the sheet puts both on the same line: rate times loaded miles, minus our fee, minus the full cost of every mile, loaded and empty. Sometimes the cheap load wins. The other question is where each load leaves you, because a cheap load into a strong market can set up the next good one.
Deadhead planning: how we plan reloads
Cutting empty miles is mostly about timing. Here is how we work:
- We look for the reload while you are still loaded, not after you deliver
- Every load is priced with its empty miles included, against your floor
- We avoid sending you into markets that receive far more than they ship, unless the load pays for the way out
- Short empty moves to strong markets are planned on purpose, not by accident
- The last load of a trip points toward home
Where empty miles hide
| Empty run | Common cause | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| To the first pickup | Loads booked with no thought to where the truck sits | Book from the truck's real location |
| Between loads | Reload found only after delivery | Plan the reload before delivery |
| Out of a weak market | Delivering where freight does not leave | Price the way out before booking in |
| Home at the end | No load pointed toward home | Plan the last load first |
Empty miles on a financed truck
If you own the truck outright, an empty mile costs fuel, wear and a little value. If you are paying a loan, it costs the same plus something harder to see: every mile pushes the truck's value down while the balance comes down on its own schedule. Run enough empty miles and you can owe more than the truck is worth for longer than you planned.
That is why the sheet asks for value lost per mile. Put a number on it, even a rough one, and empty miles stop looking free.
Straight answers on empty miles
Can you get my empty miles to zero?
No one can. Every truck runs some empty miles to a first pickup or home. The goal is fewer, shorter and planned empty miles, each one priced into the load that needs it.
Does my rig change the deadhead math?
Yes. Specialized rigs often run more empty miles because fewer loads fit them, so planning matters more. The math stays the same: full cost per mile against what the loaded miles pay.
Your call on every load and every empty mile
- 1Dispatcher finds and negotiates
- 2Broker sends the rate con to you
- 3You sign it, or you say no
Every load comes to you with the rate, the stops and the empty miles to reach it. If you say yes, the broker sends the rate con to your email in your company name, and you sign it.
If the empty miles are too long for the rate, say no. It costs you nothing, and we keep looking.
What dispatch costs
7% of gross while your MC is under 6 months, 5% for one truck after that, 4% for two or more. The fee is on gross load revenue only, so empty miles never carry a dispatch fee, and there is no setup fee or minimum.
See every detail on the pricing page.
- 7%MC under 6 months, any fleet size
- 5%1 truck, MC 6+ months
- 4%2+ trucks on one MC, MC 6+ months
- Of gross load revenue. No setup fee, no minimums, month-to-month, 30 days notice, no haul no pay.
Deadhead questions
What is deadhead in trucking?
How much does deadhead cost per mile?
How much deadhead is normal?
Should I take a cheap load to avoid deadhead?
Do I have to take the loads you find?
Stop paying for miles nobody pays you for
Tell us your rig and your lanes. A dispatcher calls you back with a reload plan.