Deadhead Miles: How to Work Out What Empty Miles Cost You

Deadhead is driving with an empty trailer, or no trailer at all. Most of the time, it's the run from where you dropped your last load to where you pick up the next one. Nobody pays you for those miles, but your truck burns the same fuel, wears the same tires, and uses the same hours as it does loaded. This guide shows how to put a dollar figure on empty miles and how to compare loads fairly when the deadhead is different.

Three numbers that tell you what deadhead costs

1. Deadhead percentage

Deadhead % = deadhead miles ÷ (loaded miles + deadhead miles)

This is the share of the trip you drive for free. Track it across a month, too. Your total empty miles divided by your total miles tells you how much of your driving goes unpaid.

2. Cost of the empty miles

Cost of deadhead = deadhead miles × your cost per mile

Use your all-in cost per mile, not just fuel. An empty mile still costs you your truck payment, insurance, tires, and maintenance, spread over the miles you run. If you don't know your cost per mile, work it out first with the cost per mile calculator.

3. Effective rate per total mile

Effective rate = (posted rate × loaded miles) ÷ total miles

This is what the load really pays for each mile you drive. It's the number to compare to your cost per mile, and the number to use when comparing loads with different deadhead.

Worked example

You're empty. A load is posted at $2.75 a mile for 480 loaded miles. The shipper is 135 miles away. Your cost per mile is $1.85.

• Total miles: 480 + 135 = 615
• Deadhead %: 135 ÷ 615 = 22.0%
• Cost of the empty miles: 135 × $1.85 = $249.75
• What the load pays: $2.75 × 480 = $1,320.00
• Effective rate: $1,320 ÷ 615 = $2.146 per mile you drive
• Trip cost: 615 × $1.85 = $1,137.75
• Profit: $1,320 − $1,137.75 = $182.25

The posted $2.75 is really $2.146 once you count the drive to the shipper. It still beats your $1.85 cost, but there's a lot less room than the load board suggested.

How far is too far?

You can turn the question around and ask how many empty miles a load can carry before it stops paying. Divide what the load pays by your cost per mile. That's the most total miles it can cover. Take away the loaded miles, and what's left is your deadhead limit.

• $1,320 ÷ $1.85 = 713 total miles
• 713 − 480 loaded = 233 empty miles, at most

Past about 233 miles of deadhead, this load loses money. That's the break-even point, not a target. You still want a profit on top.

Comparing a far load with a near one

Here's a second load on the same board: $2.40 a mile for 450 loaded miles, and the shipper is only 20 miles away.

• Total miles: 450 + 20 = 470
• What the load pays: $2.40 × 450 = $1,080.00
• Effective rate: $1,080 ÷ 470 = $2.298 per mile
• Trip cost: 470 × $1.85 = $869.50
• Profit: $1,080 − $869.50 = $210.50

The load posted $0.35 lower pays more per mile you drive ($2.298 against $2.146), and leaves more profit ($210.50 against $182.25). It also takes 145 fewer miles, which means less time on your hours-of-service clock and less wear on the truck.

Ways to cut deadhead

• Look for the next load before you deliver. Search around the receiver, not where you are now.
• Know your lanes. Some areas ship far more freight out than they take in, and the other way around. A great rate into a market with little outbound freight can mean a long empty run afterward. Count those miles when you judge the load that takes you there.
• Use the effective rate, not the posted rate, when you negotiate. Tell the broker how far you are from the shipper. It's a fair reason to ask for more.
• Track your deadhead % every month. If it creeps up, your cost per mile didn't change, but your pay per mile did.

Deadhead after delivery

This guide counts empty miles to the shipper. The empty miles after delivery belong to your next load, or to this one if you know you'll have to run empty to get out. Either way works, as long as every empty mile gets counted somewhere.

Run your own numbers in the deadhead calculator. To find the lowest rate that covers a trip's deadhead, use the break-even rate calculator. To add tolls, fuel surcharge, lumper fees, and detention, use the load profit calculator.