Deadhead is the miles you drive without a paying load: getting to the shipper, relocating after a delivery, or running home empty. Every one of those miles burns fuel, puts wear on the truck, and uses your time. They do not show up in a broker’s loaded-mile quote, which is why a load can look strong and still fail a real check. This guide explains how to count deadhead, how it changes your effective rate, and how to use that number when you decide whether to accept the freight.
What counts as deadhead
For a single load, start with the empty miles you must run because you took it. The most common is the run from where you are (or will be when you finish the previous load) to the shipper. Some loads also leave you with a long empty stretch afterward if the delivery point is not a place you can reasonably hook again. If you are running home without freight, those miles are deadhead too — they belong in your overall cost per mile even if you do not assign them to one broker’s load.
Do not confuse deadhead with unpaid time at a dock. Waiting is detention territory, which is billed by the hour if your agreement allows it, not by the mile. Both can hurt a load, but they are not the same number. Tolls on an empty run still belong in your costs, whether you roll them into a monthly variable-cost total or notice them on this lane.
Loaded rate versus all-mile rate
Suppose a load pays $1,500 to run 500 loaded miles. That is $3.00 per loaded mile. If you deadhead 150 miles to pick it up and drive 50 empty miles afterward, you have actually run 700 miles for that $1,500 — about $2.14 per mile all in. Your costs follow the 700, not the 500. The $3.00 figure is not fake, but it is incomplete. The number to compare to your cost per mile is the all-mile rate, or better, the dollar profit after cost per mile times 700.
That is why you should convert every offer to a gross dollar amount, add the empty miles, and then check it. The free cost per mile calculator does this in the “check a load” section. The longer decision process is in how to tell if a load pays enough.
Deadhead and your cost per mile
Your cost per mile should already include empty miles in the denominator: total costs divided by all miles, not just loaded miles. If you drop deadhead out of that calculation, your CPM looks better than it is, and every load you check against it will look more profitable than it really was. Include the empty miles you actually drive over the month, even the ones you do not like counting.
On a single load, once you have an honest CPM, multiply it by loaded plus deadhead miles to get the cost of running that freight. Subtract that cost from gross pay. A short loaded haul with a long empty run can lose money even when the loaded-mile rate is one you would have accepted in a heartbeat on a full truck.
Reducing deadhead without kidding yourself
The cleanest way to cut deadhead is to book freight that starts near where you already are, and that delivers somewhere you can hook again. That is easy to say and not always possible. A few habits help without requiring you to invent a market:
- •Know where you will be, not just where you are now. If you are still two days from delivery, the relevant empty run is from that delivery, not from today’s yard.
- •Ask about flexible pickup windows. An extra half day that lets you hook a closer load can be cheaper than a 200-mile deadhead, if the appointment allows it.
- •Treat “it gets me that direction” as a number, not a feeling. Run the all-mile math. Heading generally toward home is not the same as covering your costs.
- •Do not hide a reposition behind a cheap load. If the real goal is to get to a better market, know what that move costs. Sometimes an empty run you chose is cheaper than a below-break-even load you took only to avoid looking empty.
None of this requires a prediction about “average” deadhead percentages in the industry. Your empty miles are the ones on your odometer.
Why “I’ll make it up later” usually does not
A below-break-even load is sometimes justified to get home, or to reach a market where you already have freight waiting. The mistake is taking a cheap load just so the truck is not empty, and then hoping the next one is rich enough to cover both. The next one has its own deadhead and its own costs. If you need to reposition, run the empty-mile math on that move as its own cost — you may find that running empty on purpose is cheaper than hauling a load that pays less than it costs. That is not a reason to sit still all week. It is a reason to count the miles before you say yes.
Record the empty miles when they happen
Deadhead only helps your books if you log it. Note the empty miles on the load, not at month-end when you are reconstructing a route from memory. Those miles feed your cost per mile and, if you track IFTA, your state mileage. They are also the figure you will want when you look back and ask why a “good rate” did not feel like a good week.
How TruxSheet helps
TruxSheet lets you log loaded and empty miles on the load from your phone, then folds those miles into your cost per mile and your records. You are not keeping a second notebook just for deadhead. Try it for 7 days; no credit card is required.
Frequently asked questions
What are deadhead miles?
Miles you drive without a paying load — typically empty miles to a pickup, between loads, or home. You still pay for fuel, time, and wear on those miles.
How do deadhead miles affect my rate?
They do not change what the broker pays. They change what that pay is worth. Divide gross pay by loaded plus deadhead miles to see the all-in rate, and compare that (or the dollar profit) to your cost per mile.
Should deadhead be included in cost per mile?
Yes. Cost per mile should use all miles in the period, loaded and empty. Leaving deadhead out understates your costs and makes weak freight look better than it is.
How do I estimate deadhead before I accept a load?
Use the distance from where you will actually be (often your current delivery) to the shipper, plus any obvious empty miles after delivery if you already know the truck will have to reposition. You do not need a perfect forecast; you need an honest one.
Is some deadhead just part of the job?
Yes. The point is not to reach zero empty miles. The point is to count them so you do not accept a load that only pays on paper.