Summary
A rate confirmation usually shows the miles a broker will pay for. Your truck still has to travel the empty miles to the pickup. Evaluating the load means looking at both numbers: the quoted rate on loaded miles and the effective rate across every mile the truck turns.
The basic calculation
Use three numbers:
- Loaded miles the load pays for.
- Empty miles required to reach the pickup.
- Total revenue you expect to collect.
Then calculate:
total miles = loaded miles + deadhead miles
effective rate = load revenue ÷ total miles
deadhead percentage = deadhead miles ÷ total miles
For example, a $1,170 load with 600 loaded miles and 110 empty miles has 710 total miles. The quoted rate is $1.95 per loaded mile, but the effective rate is about $1.65 per total mile.
Why the denominator matters
Deadhead does not create revenue, but it still consumes fuel, time, tires, maintenance, and the driver’s available hours. When you divide revenue only by loaded miles, the rate confirmation looks better than the trip economics.
That does not mean every empty mile should be rejected. A strong backhaul, a reliable customer relationship, or a destination with better freight can make a repositioning move worthwhile. The point is to price the decision with the empty movement included.
Fully allocated cost versus incremental cost
There are two useful ways to think about deadhead:
- Fully allocated trip cost: apply your all-in cost per mile to all loaded and empty miles. This is useful for deciding whether the complete trip clears your operating floor.
- Incremental empty-mile cost: estimate fuel, maintenance, tires, tolls, and other marginal costs caused by the empty movement. This is useful for understanding the extra cash cost of repositioning.
Do not treat those as the same number. A cost per mile that includes insurance, truck payments, or owner pay is an allocated operating measure. It is not automatically the additional cash that leaves the account because of one empty leg.
A practical load-review routine
Before accepting a load, ask:
- Where is the truck now?
- How many empty miles reach the pickup?
- What is the effective rate over total miles?
- Does the revenue clear the truck’s all-in cost per mile?
- Where does the delivery leave the truck?
- Is a backhaul or next load realistic from that destination?
- Are detention, lumper, fuel surcharge, and other accessorials actually collectable?
Deadhead is a lane-planning problem as much as a load-pricing problem. Track it by lane and over a rolling period so one unusual load does not distort the diagnosis.
Use the deadhead cost calculator, then compare the result with the guide to reducing deadhead and choosing lanes and the deadhead glossary definition.
Frequently asked questions
What are deadhead miles?
Deadhead miles are empty miles driven without a paying load, usually from a delivery or current location to the next pickup.
What is a good deadhead percentage?
There is no universal target. Equipment, lane density, freight mix, and the measurement period all matter. Use a source-backed industry benchmark only when the source defines its year, population, equipment scope, and denominator.
Should deadhead be included in cost per mile?
Yes, when cost per mile is calculated over the period’s total miles. For a single load, include the empty miles when evaluating the effective rate and fully allocated trip margin.