Table of Content
- Why Empty Miles Hit Owner-Operators the Hardest
- Load Board Volatility and the Rise of Wasted Miles
- Empty Miles Are Rising – and the Financial Stakes Are Higher Than Ever
- How Smart Drivers Reduce Empty Miles Without Guesswork
- How Logity Dispatch Helps Drivers Cut Empty Miles
- Ready to cut deadhead and protect your earnings?
Every owner-operator knows the feeling: you drop a load, check the boards, and nothing real shows up. So you point the truck home and roll 200 miles empty. It feels like a small setback – until the numbers hit. Empty miles don’t just chip away at your week; they quietly erase hundreds of dollars at a time, turning fuel, wear, and wasted hours into a steady leak from your bottom line.
Why Empty Miles Hit Owner-Operators the Hardest
Empty miles affect every carrier, but owner-operators feel the impact more sharply than anyone. The average cost to operate a truck has increased, driven by rising equipment expenses, maintenance, repairs, insurance, and fuel. These costs continue mile after mile – loaded or empty – meaning every deadhead mile carries the full weight of operational expense without contributing any revenue.
Fuel alone continues to be one of the largest and most unpredictable expenses. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, national diesel prices fluctuate week to week, often sitting above four dollars per gallon in many regions. Every empty mile burns that same fuel while producing no income to offset the cost.
Deadhead miles are the clearest sources of lost opportunity in trucking. When a truck moves without freight, the operator loses both time and potential revenue – two things that cannot be recovered. This becomes especially challenging for independents, who do not have the financial cushions or fleet-level resources that larger carriers use to absorb inefficiencies.
Owner-operators bear every operating cost personally, from fuel and tires to insurance and unexpected repairs. Each empty mile chips away at profitability because the driver continues to pay out-of-pocket while earning nothing in return.
This combination of rising expenses, volatile fuel prices, and unreliable freight availability makes deadhead one of the most financially draining parts of an owner-operator’s week.
Load Board Volatility and the Rise of Wasted Miles
Deadhead is often made worse by unreliable freight postings. DAT publicly acknowledges the prevalence of what drivers call “ghost loads”– entries that appear on the boards but never actually move. When a driver starts repositioning based on a load that vanishes or turns out to be inaccurate, the empty miles multiply long before they realize the posting wasn’t legitimate.
This wasted repositioning time is a growing contributor to deadhead, especially for drivers relying heavily on public boards rather than pre-planned, verified freight.
Empty Miles Are Rising – and the Financial Stakes Are Higher Than Ever
ATRI’s latest cost research makes one trend clear: operating costs are rising sharply, while freight rates remain volatile. As profitability tightens across the industry, inefficiencies like empty miles are becoming more damaging than ever before. Large carriers and small fleets alike are now analyzing their routing, freight patterns, and lane balance to reduce non-productive miles.
Many regions now experience imbalanced freight flow, where outbound volumes are significantly stronger than inbound. Drivers who deliver into these areas often face longer repositioning stretches with limited options – making deadhead an unavoidable part of the week unless supported by smarter planning or stronger broker relationships.
Overall, the fewer empty miles you run, the stronger your year-end profitability becomes.
How Smart Drivers Reduce Empty Miles Without Guesswork
The most successful operators in today’s market are the ones who minimize unpredictability. DAT emphasizes strategies such as securing return freight in advance, choosing lanes with consistent two-way flow, and relying on brokers or dispatchers who can provide verified backhaul options rather than untested board postings.
ATRI stresses the importance of eliminating out-of-route travel and improving route planning to control miles that don’t generate revenue. Even small improvements in routing efficiency directly impact the bottom line.
When deadhead is reduced, so is stress. When backhauls are secured early, the unpredictability disappears. And when drivers work lanes with balanced freight, their net income stabilizes.
How Logity Dispatch Helps Drivers Cut Empty Miles
At Logity Dispatch, we focus on taking the uncertainty out of your week. Our team verifies real loads, plans your freight ahead of your schedule, and works to secure reliable backhauls so you don’t waste time chasing disappearing opportunities. Instead of repositioning blindly or relying on public boards full of unreliable posts, you move with a plan. Every mile is accounted for, every load is checked, and every route is designed to protect your profit.
Empty miles will always exist in trucking, but they don’t have to control your earnings. With smarter planning and a team that works ahead of your truck– not behind it– you can keep more of your effort in the revenue column instead of the cost column.
