Empty miles are the silent profit-killer. Enter a load and its deadhead to see what those empty miles cost you in fuel and wear, your deadhead percentage, and exactly how much they drop the load's effective rate per mile.
Cost default $2.26/mi is ATRI's 2024 industry-average marginal cost — use your own cost per mile for an exact dollar figure. Deadhead cost = your cost per mile × empty miles; effective rate = pay ÷ (loaded + deadhead) miles.
Deadhead (or "bobtail/empty" miles) is any distance you drive without a paying load — most often to reposition to your next pickup. Those miles cost the same fuel, tires, and engine wear as loaded miles, but bring in zero revenue. Two loads can advertise the same rate per loaded mile, and the one with 150 miles of deadhead can leave you with far less. The only honest way to judge a load is rate per total mile, and deadhead is what separates the two.
Plan return loads before you book the outbound. Use lane-rate data and load boards to find backhauls instead of running empty home. Even shaving a few percent of empty miles off your month compounds into real money — it's effectively a raise that costs you nothing.
Empty miles driven with no load, usually to reach a pickup. They cost fuel and wear but earn nothing.
Deadhead miles × your cost per mile. At $2.26/mi, 120 empty miles ≈ $271.
It spreads pay over more miles, lowering the effective rate. $2,400 over 900 loaded miles = $2.67/loaded; with 120 deadhead = $2.35/total.
Direct cost uses your cost per mile (default ATRI 2024 average marginal cost, $2.26/mile); rate figures are pay ÷ miles. Source: ATRI operational-cost data. Last updated June 2026. Estimates for planning only. Built by TruckMargin.