Deadhead is the profit killer nobody puts on the invoice. Every empty mile costs you fuel and hours while earning nothing — here's how to see it and shrink it.
Deadhead miles are the miles you drive empty, with no paying freight on the trailer — usually the stretch between dropping one load and reaching the next pickup. You still burn diesel, put hours on your cost per mile, and use up drive time. You just don't get paid for them.
Deadhead spreads the same costs over fewer paid miles. Consider a load:
| Loaded only | With 150 deadhead | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid miles | 500 | 500 |
| Total miles driven | 500 | 650 |
| Rate ($1,500 load) | $3.00 / paid mi | $2.31 / total mi |
Same load, but the true rate per mile you actually drove drops by nearly 70 cents once you count the empty run to the pickup. That's the number that determines your profit margin.
Before accepting a load, add the deadhead to the pickup to the loaded miles and divide the rate by the total. A "great" board rate 200 miles away can be worse than a lower rate at your back door.
Most carriers underestimate their deadhead because they never measure it. TruckSpot Dispatch tracks loaded and empty miles per load and truck, so you see your real deadhead percentage and your true rate per mile — and can make the next booking a smarter one.
See your true miles and profit — free 14-day trial →Deadhead miles are the miles a truck drives empty, without a paying load — most often between a delivery and the next pickup. You burn fuel and hours on them but earn no line-haul revenue, so they directly reduce your profit per mile.
They spread your costs over fewer paid miles. A load that pays well on loaded miles can lose money once you add the empty miles to reach it, so you must calculate the all-in rate across loaded plus deadhead miles before accepting.
Lower is better. Many carriers aim to keep deadhead in the low-to-mid teens as a percentage of total miles. The exact target depends on your lanes, but tracking the number is the first step to reducing it.