Deadhead Miles: What They Really Cost and How to Run Fewer of Them

Deadhead miles are the ones nobody pays you for, and most fleets underestimate what they actually cost. Not because the fuel is invisible, but because the real cost is not fuel. It is the hours consumed and the load you could not take because of where the truck ended up.

Here is what they cost properly, and how to run fewer.

What deadhead miles are

Deadhead miles are miles driven with an empty trailer. Usually that means repositioning from where you delivered to where your next load picks up, though it also covers running empty to a yard, a repair shop or home.

They are sometimes called empty miles or non-revenue miles. The terms are interchangeable in practice.

Deadhead percentage is empty miles as a share of total miles. Most fleets sit somewhere in the low to mid teens, though it varies enormously by freight type, region and how you operate.

The three costs, in order of size

1. Hours, which are the real cost

This is the one people miss. Your hours of service clock does not care whether the trailer is loaded. A hundred empty miles consumes the same driving time as a hundred loaded ones, and that time comes out of the same 11-hour and 14-hour limits.

So deadhead does not only cost fuel. It costs capacity. A long empty run can mean you physically cannot legally reach the next good load today, which pushes the whole week.

2. Variable running cost

Fuel, tyres, maintenance and wear accrue per mile regardless of load. If your variable cost is somewhere around a dollar a mile, every empty mile is real money leaving with nothing coming back.

3. Opportunity cost

Being in the wrong place means choosing from the loads available there, not the loads available everywhere. Fleets who deadhead into thin markets take worse rates because that is what is on offer.

How to price it properly

The mistake is calculating rate per mile on loaded miles only. A load paying $2.50 a mile over 400 loaded miles, after a 150-mile empty run to reach it, is really paying:

Total revenue ÷ total miles, loaded and empty.

$1,000 over 550 total miles is $1.82 a mile, not $2.50. If your all-in cost per mile is $1.75, that load is not the win it looked like.

Always evaluate a load on total miles including the deadhead to reach it. This single habit changes which loads a fleets accepts more than any other.

Our cost per mile calculator gives you the number to compare against.

Practical ways to run fewer

Book the next load before you deliver the current one

The most effective change available. A truck that knows where it is going next can position deliberately. A truck that starts looking after it unloads is negotiating from a standing start, in whatever market it happens to be in.

Learn which lanes are thin in one direction

Some regions are famously easy to get into and hard to get out of. Knowing which ones changes whether you take the load in, or what you charge for it.

Do not chase a great rate into a bad market

A high-paying load into an area with no outbound freight can cost more in the empty run afterwards than the premium was worth. Evaluate the round trip.

Widen the search radius rather than the deadhead

Sometimes a slightly worse-paying load close by beats a better one 150 miles away. The arithmetic above tells you which.

Use more than one board

A load that removes 150 empty miles may be sitting on a board you did not check. See load boards for fleets.

Track your deadhead percentage

Most fleets do not know their number. You cannot improve what you do not measure, and the number itself often prompts the behaviour change.

Why this is hard to do manually

Everything above requires searching multiple boards, comparing loads on total miles rather than posted rate, and doing it while the current load is still running. In a one-truck operation that means doing it at a dock, tired, on a phone.

Hey Bubba! is an AI back-office automation platform for fleets. It watches your connected load boards continuously, scores loads against your rules including the deadhead to reach them, negotiates with brokers by voice and books inside your limits, so the next load is arranged before the current one finishes.

Get started with Hey Bubba!, or work out your cost per mile first.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a good deadhead percentage?
Lower is better and the realistic target depends on your freight and region. Most fleets sit in the low to mid teens. The more useful exercise is knowing your own number and watching the trend rather than comparing against an average.

2. Do you get paid for deadhead miles?
Usually not. Some brokers pay a deadhead allowance on loads requiring a long empty run, and it is worth asking, particularly on freight they are struggling to cover.

3. Do deadhead miles count toward hours of service?
Yes. Driving time is driving time whether the trailer is loaded or empty, and it counts against your limits identically.

4. Do deadhead miles count for IFTA?
Yes. All miles driven in a jurisdiction count, including empty and personal conveyance miles. Leaving them out is a common cause of a filing that does not reconcile. See IFTA filing explained.

5. How do I calculate the true rate per mile on a load?
Divide total revenue by total miles including the deadhead to reach the pickup. Comparing on loaded miles only makes distant loads look better than they are.

6. Is it ever worth deadheading a long way?
Sometimes, if it repositions you into a stronger market or onto a committed lane. Evaluate the round trip rather than the single load.

Published 09/29/26. This article is general information. Your own costs and markets will differ. If something here is out of date, tell us at [email protected] and we will correct it.