Reduce deadhead miles by booking the reload before you deliver
The way to reduce deadhead miles is to decide them before you drive them. Most empty miles are set long before the wheels turn. They come from where the last load leaves you: a receiver with no freight nearby, no reload booked and no place to park. Our dispatch desk plans the next load while you are still hauling this one, so the empty run after delivery stays short and the night ends at a stop that was planned. You still say yes or no to every load.
One delivery, two very different evenings
Here is one EXAMPLE delivery at 15:00, with two ways the evening can go. In the first, there is no reload. You search the boards at the dock, give up on the local market, drive empty toward a busier one, and look for parking in the dark. In the second, the reload was booked a day earlier, the pickup is a short drive away, and the night's stop is already named.
Put in your own cost per mile and move the EXAMPLE distances. The card shows what the difference costs on a single delivery.
EMPTY-MILE NIGHT · EXAMPLE DELIVERY 15:00
Outcome A: no reload lined up
- 01 Deliver, empty
- 02 Search boards at the dock
- 03 Drive empty toward freight
- 04 Hunt for parking after dark
- Empty miles
- 180
- Cost at your rate
- $162
- Time
- 4h 36m
Outcome B: reload booked before delivery
- 01 Deliver, empty
- 02 Short run to the pickup
- 03 Load or hook
- 04 Planned stop, named in the offer
- Empty miles
- 25
- Cost at your rate
- $23
- Time
- 0h 30m
Planning the reload saves 155 empty miles, $140 at your cost per mile and 4h 06m of the day, on this one delivery.
One delivery does not sound like much. Multiply it by the number of times a week a load ends without a plan, and the empty miles start to look like a second fuel bill. The hours matter as much as the money: an hour and a half of empty driving and parking search comes out of the same 14-hour window the next load needs.
The parking search is the part drivers mention most. Ending a day empty, in an unfamiliar area, after the stops have filled, is how a driver ends up on a ramp or a shoulder. A planned reload usually comes with a planned stop, because we choose both at the same time.
How we plan reloads: before delivery, not after
This is the order a reload gets planned on our desk. The work starts when you accept a load, not when you unload it:
Look at the delivery market first
Before we pitch a load, we look at the freight around the receiver. A great rate into a dead market is often a bad load.
Start the search on pickup day
Once you are loaded, we start looking for the next load near the delivery, while there is still time to choose.
Match the timing
The reload has to pick up after you unload and fit your hours, with time for the drive between.
Keep the empty run short
We compare reloads by the empty miles to reach them, not just by their rate.
Plan the night with it
The stop goes with the reload: near the pickup, or on the way, inside your hours, with a backup.
Tell you the trade-off
If the closest reload pays less, we show you both options and the numbers, and you decide.
Where empty miles come from
- Dead markets
- Some areas take in more freight than they ship out. Loads into them pay well, and the trip out is the cost.
- Late searching
- The best reloads are booked early. Searching after you unload leaves the leftovers, or a long run to find more.
- Bad timing
- A reload two days away is not a reload. Waiting or running empty to a different market both cost money.
- Home time
- Getting home sometimes means an empty run. That is a fair trade when it is planned, and an expensive one when it is not.
- Equipment mismatch
- A flatbed in a van market, or a reefer between produce seasons, runs empty more often. We plan with your trailer in mind.
Deadhead planning: when a cheap load beats an empty run
Sometimes the reload near the receiver pays less than you want. The question is not whether the rate is good, but whether it is better than the alternative. If the other choice is 180 empty miles to a better market, a lower-paying load that covers most of those miles can leave you ahead, and it moves you toward the freight at the same time.
It works the other way too. A cheap load that drags you deeper into a soft market just delays the empty run, and makes it longer. We look at where each option leaves you, and run the numbers both ways before we pitch either one.
Measure your own deadhead
There is no single right number for empty miles. It depends on your equipment, your lanes, your home time and the season. What matters is knowing your own number and watching it. Count your empty miles each week and divide by your total miles. If the share is climbing, look at where your loads have been leaving you.
We send a weekly report with loaded and empty miles, so you can see the trend without keeping a spreadsheet. For a single load, the load profitability calculator puts the empty miles in the math, and the trip planner helps you see a whole trip before you commit to it.
Deadhead by equipment
Empty miles look different on every trailer. Reefers run empty between produce seasons and out of markets that take in more food than they ship. Flatbeds follow construction and steel, so a flatbed in a van-heavy city can sit or run far. Car haulers can run full one way and empty back unless the return is planned. Power only drivers bobtail after every drop, and dump trucks run empty back to the pit on every loop.
That is why we plan reloads with your equipment in mind, not just the nearest load on a board. For some trailers the right answer is a short empty run to a known freight market. For others it is a lower-paying load that keeps the trailer full.
Empty miles and the night
Deadhead and parking are linked more often than drivers notice. A truck that ends the day empty, in an area it does not know, after the lots have filled, is the truck that ends up on a ramp. A reload planned the day before comes with a stop planned the day before, near the pickup and inside your hours. We name that stop in the offer, with a backup.
A reload booked before delivery
This is how a planned reload reads when it reaches you. It is an EXAMPLE, not a real load.
LOAD OFFER · EXAMPLE
from your dispatcher
Fort Wayne, IN to Pittsburgh, PA
- Miles
- 330
- Rate
- $1,050
- Per mile
- $3.18
- Pickup
- Wed 17:00
- Delivery
- Thu 08:00
Booked on Tuesday, before you delivered in Toledo. The pickup is 22 empty miles from the Toledo receiver, and the night is at a truck stop 12 miles past the shipper.
Your call. Nothing is booked until you say yes.
Dispatch costs 7% of gross while your MC is new, 5% for one truck after month 6, and 4% per truck for two or more. No setup fee, no contract. See fees and terms.
Deadhead questions
What is deadhead in trucking?
Deadhead is driving with an empty trailer, or bobtailing, between loads: from a delivery to the next pickup, to a busier market, or home. You pay for fuel, wear and your hours on those miles, but no load pays for them. Reducing deadhead mostly means planning where each load leaves you before you accept it.
How much does deadhead cost per mile?
About what any mile costs you to run: fuel, tires, maintenance, insurance and the truck payment, spread over your miles. That number is different for every truck, so use your own cost per mile. The calculator on this page and the load profitability calculator both let you put it in and see what the empty miles cost.
How much deadhead is normal?
There is no single normal. It depends on your equipment, lanes, home time and the season, and published averages vary by who is measuring. The useful number is your own, tracked week to week. If your share of empty miles is rising, look at the markets your loads are ending in, and how late the reloads are being found.
Should I take a cheap load to avoid deadhead?
Sometimes. Compare it with the real alternative, not with the rate you wanted. If the other choice is a long empty run, a lower-paying load that covers those miles and moves you toward better freight can leave you ahead. If it drags you deeper into a weak market, it can cost more. Run the numbers both ways.
YOUR YES. YOUR RATE CON.
Cut my empty miles
You confirm every load before it is booked. The rate confirmation is sent directly to you.
LOAD OFFER · EXAMPLE
from your dispatcher
Fort Wayne, IN to Pittsburgh, PA
- Miles
- 330
- Rate
- $1,050
- Per mile
- $3.18
- Pickup
- Wed 17:00
- Delivery
- Thu 08:00
Booked on Tuesday, before you delivered in Toledo. The pickup is 22 empty miles from the Toledo receiver, and the night is at a truck stop 12 miles past the shipper.
Your call. Nothing is booked until you say yes.