Put a dollar figure on your empty miles and see how much extra rate per loaded mile you need to cover them.
What deadhead really costs
Empty miles burn the same diesel and wear the same tires as loaded ones, but nobody pays you for them. This calculator prices your weekly deadhead in fuel (miles divided by MPG times the diesel price) and in wear (a per-mile allowance for maintenance, tires and depreciation), then annualizes it and translates it into the extra rate per loaded mile you need just to break even on the empty running.
How much deadhead is normal
ATRI's operational cost research found average empty mileage across the industry has remained elevated at around 16 to 17 percent of total miles during the recent freight downturn. At 400 deadhead miles a week, record-level diesel prices and 50 cents a mile of wear, an operator can easily be spending over $20,000 a year running empty. That is why the deadhead question matters as much as the rate question when evaluating a load.
Cutting the number
The main tools for reducing deadhead are better load planning (booking the next load before delivering the current one), using load boards with strong lane density in your area, considering slightly lower rates on loads that reposition you into hot markets, and building direct relationships on repeatable lanes. Compare the boards in our load board guides to find ones with the best coverage where you run.
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