Deadhead Miles Cost Calculator
Find what empty deadhead miles cost a truck, the deadhead percentage, real revenue per mile and the break-even rate per loaded mile for a load.
Deadhead miles are the miles a truck drives empty, to reach a pickup or to get home after a delivery. They burn fuel, wear tyres and often cost driver pay, but earn nothing. This calculator puts a dollar figure on those miles, shows the deadhead percentage and tells you the rate per loaded mile you need to break even on the whole trip.
How to use this tool
- Choose miles or kilometres.
- Enter the loaded and empty distance for the trip and the total revenue for the load.
- Enter fuel economy and diesel price.
- Add driver pay (and whether empty miles are paid), running costs and fixed costs per mile.
Formula
Deadhead cost = empty miles × (fuel + running + fixed cost per mile + driver pay if paid)
Deadhead % = empty miles ÷ (loaded + empty miles) × 100; break-even rate = total trip cost ÷ loaded miles
Fuel cost per mile is diesel price ÷ mpg, or L/100 km ÷ 100 × price per litre. Revenue per total mile divides the load revenue by every mile driven, which is the figure to compare with your cost per mile.
Example
A load pays $1,200 for 500 loaded miles and needs 100 miles of deadhead. At 6 mpg and $3.60 a gallon, fuel is $0.60 a mile; with $0.40 of other costs, each mile costs $1.00. The deadhead costs $100, the trip costs $600 in total, and the deadhead percentage is 100 ÷ 600 = 16.7%. The rate looks like $2.40 a loaded mile but earns $2.00 per mile driven, and the break-even rate is $1.20 per loaded mile.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good deadhead percentage?
Compare routes using your actual operating constraints and costs. Empty distance earns no freight revenue in this model, but the lowest empty-mile share is not always the most profitable route. There is no universal target.
Should I include fixed costs in deadhead cost?
For pricing, yes: the truck payment and insurance must be covered by revenue from every mile you drive. For a short-term choice between two loads, comparing running costs only can also make sense, so set fixed costs to 0 to see that view.
Is a high-paying load far away worth it?
Compare revenue per total mile, not per loaded mile. A load that pays more per loaded mile can still be worse once the empty drive to reach it is counted.
Last updated: 2026-10-30