Dispatch math · 4 min · Updated
Deadhead and fuel math: the hidden cost per mile
Deadhead miles are the empty miles you drive to reach a pickup. Nobody pays you for them, but your truck burns diesel the whole way. That fuel comes straight out of whatever the next load pays.
The math is short and unforgiving: fuel cost = total miles ÷ MPG × price per gallon. Total miles means loaded plus empty. Your fuel tank does not know the difference between a paid mile and a free one.
This guide covers the cost side of deadhead. For the percentage formula and what empty miles do to your rate per mile, see how to calculate deadhead. For ways to shrink it, see backhauls and positioning.
The fuel formula runs on total miles
Divide total miles by your average MPG to get gallons, then multiply by the pump price. The examples below use a round $5.50 a gallon. It is there to make the arithmetic legible, not to tell you what diesel costs this week — EIA's weekly survey publishes the current national average, and your own pump price beats both.
Fuel bill on a 640-mile trip
Loaded miles: 560
Deadhead miles: 80
Total miles: 560 + 80 = 640
Gallons: 640 ÷ 6.4 MPG = 100 gallons
Fuel cost: 100 × $5.50 = $550
Deadhead share: 80 ÷ 6.4 = 12.5 gallons = $69
Example numbers — not a promise.
That $69 never appears on the rate con. The broker is paying for 560 loaded miles; the other 80 are on you. If you only ran fuel numbers on loaded miles, this trip looks $69 better than it really is.
What one empty mile costs in fuel
At $5.50 a gallon and 6.4 MPG, every mile burns 86 cents of diesel ($5.50 ÷ 6.4). So 100 deadhead miles is $86 in fuel, and a 200-mile reposition is $172 before you touch a dime of revenue.
An empty trailer weighs less, so you will burn a little less per mile than when loaded. Do not build your math around that. Plan with your normal average MPG and treat any savings as a small bonus.
Fuel is only part of the empty-mile bill
ATRI's 2026 operational costs report put the average marginal cost of running a truck at $2.336 per mile in 2025, with fuel making up about 48 cents of that. Tires, maintenance, and wear accrue on empty miles the same as loaded ones, and the clock on your hours of service keeps running too.
So the honest price of a deadhead mile is closer to your full cost per mile than to fuel alone. If you do not know your number, work it out once with the cost-per-mile tool and reuse it on every load.
How deadhead inflates your cost per paid mile
Your costs land on every mile, but revenue only lands on loaded miles. The more empty miles in a trip, the more each paid mile has to carry.
Same truck, higher break-even
All-in cost: $1.80 per mile (every mile)
Trip: 600 loaded + 100 deadhead = 700 total
Trip cost: 700 × $1.80 = $1,260
Paid miles: 600
Cost per paid mile: $1,260 ÷ 600 = $2.10
Example numbers — not a promise.
On this trip a load has to pay $2.10 per loaded mile just to break even, not $1.80. One hundred empty miles quietly raised the bar by 30 cents on every paid mile.
Deadhead doesn't automatically mean pass
Put a dollar figure on the empty miles and compare. At $1.80 all-in, 100 deadhead miles add about $180 of cost. If the far load out-pays the nearby option by more than that, the drive is worth it. If not, the smaller rate close by is the better load.
Common questions
- Should I calculate fuel on loaded miles or total miles?
- Total miles. Fuel burns on every mile you drive, empty or loaded. Divide total miles by your average MPG, then multiply by the price per gallon.
- Does an empty trailer save fuel?
- A little. Less weight means somewhat better MPG, but not enough to change a booking decision. Plan with your normal average and treat any savings as a bonus.
- Do brokers pay for deadhead miles?
- Usually not. Rates are typically quoted for the loaded move only, which is why deadhead has to come out of the rate itself. Some carriers negotiate a repositioning fee on long empty runs, but that is the exception, not the rule.
Put it into practice
Check one offer with the free calculator. LoadMerit Copilot adds comparisons, settled-rate records, fuel logs, and reports. Practice the decision first in LoadMerit Academy.
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