What counts as deadhead
Deadhead miles are the miles a truck drives empty. The usual cases are the trip from where you unloaded to where you will load, and any repositioning you do in hopes of finding work. Loaded miles are the miles with freight on the trailer. Total miles are the two added together.
Decide in advance how you will treat a few gray areas, such as driving to a shop or to a fuel stop, and then treat them the same way every time. What matters is that the same rule is used when you compare one week to the next.
The deadhead percentage
Deadhead percentage is deadhead miles divided by total miles. If you drove 2,500 miles in a week and 500 of them were empty, deadhead is 500 divided by 2,500, which is 20 percent.
Some people divide deadhead by loaded miles instead. With the same week that would be 500 divided by 2,000, or 25 percent. Both are fine as long as you pick one. In this guide we use deadhead over total miles, because it ties neatly to revenue per total mile.
Revenue per loaded mile versus revenue per total mile
Revenue per loaded mile is what the load pays divided by the loaded miles. It is the rate brokers and load boards usually talk about. Revenue per total mile is what the load pays divided by every mile you drove to earn it, including the empty ones.
Continue the week above. Revenue was 5,200 dollars. Per loaded mile that is 5,200 divided by 2,000, or 2.60 dollars. Per total mile it is 5,200 divided by 2,500, or 2.08 dollars. The two are linked: revenue per total mile equals revenue per loaded mile times one minus the deadhead percentage. Check it: 2.60 times 0.80 is 2.08.
The total-mile figure is the one that compares to your costs, because your truck burns fuel and wears out on every mile. Pair it with cost per total mile from your own books.
A worked comparison of two loads
Load A pays 1,500 dollars. The pickup is 250 empty miles away and the load runs 500 loaded miles. Per loaded mile that is 3.00 dollars, a rate that looks excellent. Total miles are 750, so per total mile it is 1,500 divided by 750, or 2.00 dollars. Deadhead is 250 over 750, about 33.3 percent.
Load B pays 1,650 dollars. The pickup is only 50 empty miles away and the load runs 750 loaded miles. Per loaded mile that is 2.20 dollars, which looks weaker. Total miles are 800, so per total mile it is 1,650 divided by 800, or about 2.06 dollars. Deadhead is 50 over 800, about 6.3 percent.
Load A wins per loaded mile, 3.00 to 2.20. Load B wins per total mile, 2.06 to 2.00. Which is right? Use cost. Suppose, as an invented figure, your cost is 1.20 dollars per total mile. Load A costs 750 times 1.20, or 900 dollars to run, leaving 600 dollars. Load B costs 800 times 1.20, or 960 dollars, leaving 690 dollars. Load B puts 90 dollars more in your pocket despite the lower loaded-mile rate.
What would make Load A match Load B
You can work backward to a counter-offer. Load B earns about 2.0625 dollars per total mile. To match that over Load A's 750 total miles, Load A would have to pay 750 times 2.0625, or 1,546.88 dollars. Spread over 500 loaded miles that is about 3.09 dollars per loaded mile.
That is the number to have ready when a broker offers a short load with a long empty run to the pickup. You are not asking for a favor. You are asking the load to pay for the empty miles it requires.
Do not forget time
Per-mile math ignores clock time. Load B takes 800 miles and Load A takes 750, so B probably uses a bit more of your day or week. If the extra time would otherwise be used for another paying load, take that into account. A rough check is revenue per day on the road. Whatever approach you choose, use it the same way for each load you compare.
Detention, tolls, fuel price differences and the chance of finding a backhaul near the delivery all matter too. A load that delivers into a busy area may leave you with less deadhead on the next one. A load that delivers somewhere remote may add deadhead you do not see yet.
Common mistakes
Quoting yourself the loaded-mile rate and forgetting the empty run. Comparing a rate per loaded mile on one load against a rate per total mile on another. Not tracking deadhead at all, so you only see it as lower weekly revenue. Using last year's cost per mile. And mixing weeks, such as counting a Monday deadhead trip toward the previous week's numbers.
Track it weekly
Write down loaded miles, empty miles and revenue for each week. Compute the deadhead percentage and both revenue-per-mile figures, then compare to cost per total mile. A free calculator for this is at /bookkeeping/deadhead-percentage-and-revenue-per-mile-calculator. Over a few weeks you will see which lanes and brokers actually pay for the miles they use.
Common questions
Is a high deadhead percentage always bad?
Not always. A well-paid load after a long empty run can still beat a low-paid short one. What counts is revenue per total mile compared with your cost per total mile.
What is a good deadhead percentage?
There is no single answer. It depends on your lanes, equipment and costs. Track your own number over several weeks and aim to bring it down while keeping revenue per total mile above your cost.
Should I count the miles to a fuel stop or shop as deadhead?
Pick a rule and stay with it. Many people leave out short service trips and count repositioning for freight. What matters is that you compare like with like.
This guide is general information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Rules, fees and due dates change; check with the IRS, the NJ Division of Taxation or a licensed professional for your situation.