Every proprietor operator has felt this way: that you drop down a load, and you check the boards, and there’s nothing real. So you point the truck home, and you go 200 miles empty. It has been a minor setback – up until the numbers hit. Empty miles don’t just hurt your week – they quietly devastate your bottom line (taking hundreds of dollars at a time) (fuel, wear, time, energy – empty miles = a leak drain on the bottom of your line).
Why Empty Miles Hit Owner-Operators the Hardest
Every carrier has empty miles, and owner-operators suffer the consequences in terms of the cost of these empty miles. The average cost to operate a truck has been experiencing an increase because of an increasing cost of equipment, maintenance and repairs, insurance and fuel. These costs go on and on and on mile after mile – loaded or empty – this means that every deadhead mile bears the full weight of operational expense without getting any contribution from revenue.
Fuel remains one of the biggest and most unpredictable expenses. According to the US Energy Information Administration, diesel prices rise and fall by the week across the country and in many places are above four dollars a gallon. Each empty mile not only burns that same fuel, it makes no money to get back their money for the trip.
Deadhead miles are your (best) opportunity at lost (opportunity) in trucking. When a truck is moving when there is no freight to move, the operator loses time and potential revenue – two things which cannot be recovered. This is particularly challenging for the independents, because they do not have access to the financial cushions or fleet-level resources that the larger carriers have to offset inefficiencies.
Owner-operators take personally each and every operation cost of ownership – from fuel, tyres, and insurance to unexpected repairs. Each mile it goes empty is eating at the profitability because the driver job is still paying something out of pocket and is not gaining anything in return.
This combination of increased cost, variable fuel cost and inconsistent freight availability makes deadheading one of the most financially taxing parts of an owner-operator’s week.
Load Board Volatility and the Rise of Wasted Miles
Consistent freight postings are also often made worse by deadheading. DAT publicly admits the existence of what drivers call “ghost “”loads”—entries on the boards which have never actually moved. When a driver realises that a posting was not authentic, the empty miles are multiplied before formally repositioning on account of a null load or one that is not as described.
This wastage of repositioning time is a growing contributor of deadhead, especially for drivers that are carrying more ‘public’ boards than pre-planned/verified freight.
Empty Miles Are Rising – and the Financial Stakes Are Higher Than Ever
ATRI’s most recent cost research makes one trend clear – operating costs are on the rise and volatile at the same time as freight rates. As profitability is tight throughout the industry, volatile inefficiencies such as empty miles are taking more toll than ever before. Large carriers as well as those with fleets that are smaller are paying heed to their routing, freight patterns and lane balance now in order to reduce non-productive miles.
Freight imbalance is now a scourge throughout many regions, with outbound freight far exceeding inbound. Drivers delivering to these areas are often faced with being given longer repositioning stretches with fewer options available – the only option is deadhead as a mandatory part of the week unless supported by smarter planning or broker relationships.
All in all, the fewer empty miles you run, the more your profitability is at your year-end.
How Smart Drivers Reduce Empty Miles Without Guesswork
The most successful operators in the current market are those that bring as little unpredictability as possible. DAT focuses on techniques such as securing back freight in advance, selecting lanes with two-way constant flow, and using brokers or dispatchers who can find backhaul options that are verified instead of posting boarded freight that could be empty.
ATRI emphasises the need for removing out-of-route travel and better route planning in order to manage miles that don’t yield revenue. Even small gains in routing efficiency have a direct implication on the bottom line.
When deadhead is reduced, so is stress. When backhauls are obtained early on, the unpredictability vanishes. And when drivers are working lanes that have balanced freight, their net income stabilises.
How Triumphfleet Services Helps Drivers Cut Empty Miles
At Triumphfleet Services, we make it a point to find a way to eliminate the uncertainty of your week. We also have a team that checks actual loads, plans your freight ahead of your schedule and tries to find a reliable backhaul to avoid that you’ll spend time chasing disappearing opportunities. Instead of blindly moving around in a disoriented fashion, or moving while relying on public boards that contain many posts of unreliable information, you move with purpose. Every mile is accounted for, every load devoted to checking and every route designed to safeguard your profit.
Empty miles will always be present in trucking, but they do not need to be in control of your earnings. With smarter planning and properly using a team that works ahead of your truck — not behind it — you can keep more of your effort in the revenue column vs. the cost column.
Conclusion
Empty miles have been a hidden cost in trucking for a long time; however, revenue and mileage in 2025 are greater than they have ever been, and so is the impact of empty miles. With fuel prices on the rise, regulation tightening and competition increasing, every unloaded mile puts pressure on a carrier’s profits. By taking advantage of smarter dispatching, cutting-edge routing software and better partnerships with brokers and shippers, truckers can reduce deadhead and increase their rates. This year, the idea of minimising empty miles isn’t about good efficiency; it’s a matter of survival in the trucking industry.