Rates & revenue
Deadhead Miles: What They Really Cost You and How to Cut Them
Deadhead miles quietly eat into your profit. Learn what empty miles really cost, how to track your deadhead percentage, and practical ways to cut them.
Every truck runs some empty miles. The real questions are how many, and whether you're paying attention to them. Deadhead miles, the miles you drive with no paying freight on board, cost you fuel, wear, and hours, and they never show up on a rate confirmation. This guide explains what deadhead miles really cost, how to measure them, and practical ways to cut them without turning down every load that requires a drive.
What are deadhead miles?
Deadhead miles are any miles your truck drives without revenue-generating freight. The most common examples are:
- Driving from a delivery to your next pickup
- Driving from home to the first pickup of the week
- Returning home empty after a one-way run
- Repositioning to a market with more freight
Some deadhead is unavoidable, since shippers and receivers are rarely next door to each other. The goal isn't zero deadhead. It's deadhead that's planned, priced in, and kept as low as practical.
What deadhead miles really cost you
The obvious costs are fuel, tires, and maintenance. The less obvious cost is time. Every hour you spend driving empty uses up your hours-of-service clock without earning anything.
For example, if you drive 150 empty miles at $0.70 per mile in variable operating cost (fuel, tires, and maintenance), that's $105 out of pocket before you count your time. At highway speeds, those 150 miles could take two and a half to three hours of drive time that you can't spend on a paying load that day. Meanwhile, your truck payment, insurance, and other fixed costs keep running whether the truck is loaded or not.
Those figures are only an illustration. Plug in your own cost per mile, which depends on your truck, your fuel prices, your insurance, and how many miles you run each month.
Why rate per loaded mile can fool you
Brokers usually talk about rate per loaded mile. What actually pays your bills is your rate per total mile, which counts both loaded and empty miles.
Here's an example with made-up numbers. They're chosen only to show the math, not to reflect current market rates.
| Example | Load A | Load B |
|---|---|---|
| Line haul pay | $1,500 | $1,300 |
| Loaded miles | 500 | 500 |
| Deadhead to pickup | 180 | 25 |
| Total miles | 680 | 525 |
| Rate per loaded mile | $3.00 | $2.60 |
| Rate per total mile | $2.21 | $2.48 |
Load A looks better on the board. Once you count the drive to pickup, Load B pays more for every mile the truck actually runs, burns less fuel, and leaves more hours on your clock. The next step is to look at where each load delivers, because the empty miles after delivery count too.
How to calculate your deadhead percentage
Your deadhead percentage shows how much of your driving is unpaid. The formula is simple:
Deadhead percentage = empty miles ÷ total miles × 100
For example, if you ran 1,000 empty miles out of 6,000 total miles in a month, your deadhead percentage would be about 16.7 percent.
Track it weekly from your ELD, GPS, or trip records. Then break it down by lane or customer. You'll often find that a few lanes or a few habits, like always heading home empty on Fridays, account for most of your empty miles.
How to cut deadhead miles
Plan the reload before you book the load
Before you accept a load, look at what freight is available out of the delivery area. A strong rate into a market with little outbound freight can cost you more on the way out than it earned on the way in.
Know which markets ship out and which ones take in
Some areas ship out more freight than they receive, while others mostly receive. Outbound loads are usually easier to find, and often pay better, in the busy shipping markets. If you're delivering into a slow outbound area, price the inbound load high enough to cover the empty miles or a cheaper reload.
Run triangles instead of out-and-back trips
A straight out-and-back trip often means one leg runs empty or cheap. A triangle, from A to B, then B to C, then back to A, gives you more chances to stay loaded. It takes more planning, but it can turn a weak return leg into a paid one.
Book backhauls early
Don't wait until you're empty to start looking. The best reloads out of an area tend to get booked first, so start calling while you're still on your way to delivery.
Set your pickup radius on purpose
A wide search radius isn't automatically good or bad. Decide how far you'll go empty based on what the load pays and what an empty mile costs you. A strong load can justify a longer drive to pickup, while an average one usually can't.
Use partials and multi-stops on the way home
A partial load headed toward home beats running empty. Partial and LTL freight can fill gaps, especially for box trucks and hotshots that are built for smaller shipments. See our box truck dispatching guide for more on that kind of freight.
Negotiate when the deadhead is long
When a broker needs a truck in a hard-to-cover spot, the empty miles to get there are a fair part of the conversation. You can ask for a rate that reflects the full trip, not just the loaded miles. Our post on how dispatchers negotiate better freight rates covers how to frame it.
Build relationships in your regular lanes
Repeat brokers and shippers in the areas you run most give you more reliable reloads. Over time, that steady freight cuts the guesswork that leads to empty repositioning.
When deadhead is worth it
Sometimes running empty is the right call. It might get you home on time, reposition you into a much stronger market, put you in place for a dedicated customer, or lead to a load that pays well enough to cover the drive. The difference is doing it on purpose, with the math already done.
How a dispatcher helps cut empty miles
Cutting deadhead comes down to planning several loads ahead, and that's hard to do while you're driving. A dispatcher watches the market, plans the next two or three loads instead of just the next one, and negotiates rates that account for the whole trip. Whether you run a dry van, a reefer, or a flatbed, route planning is part of our dispatch services. You can see the process on our how it works page.
Cut your empty miles with Aero Glide Logistics
If deadhead is eating into your weekly revenue, Aero Glide Logistics can help you plan routes and book loads that keep your truck moving. Contact us or call (214) 233-6510 to talk through your equipment, your lanes, and where your empty miles are coming from.
