Freight Operations / Mileage

Deadhead in trucking

Short answer: Driving a truck without paying freight on board.

Plain-English explanation

Deadhead is empty truck movement after a delivery, before a pickup, or between two freight markets. The miles still burn fuel, hours, tires, and maintenance budget even though there is no paying freight on the trailer.

For deadhead, look at both sides of the load: empty miles to the pickup and empty miles after delivery. Either side can change whether the load is worth taking.

Why it matters in trucking

Deadhead changes the real rate on a load. A load paying well on loaded miles can become weak after the unpaid miles to pickup, the empty move after delivery, tolls, fuel, and driver time are included.

Deadhead is one of the quickest ways for a good-looking rate to shrink. Calculate it before accepting the load, not after the truck is already empty.

Example in real use

A truck delivers in Memphis and the next paying pickup is 82 miles away in Tupelo. Those 82 miles are deadhead, so the dispatcher should include them before comparing the load’s rate per mile.

Common mistakes or confusion

Comparing loads only by loaded miles and ignoring the empty miles needed to reach the shipper.
Calling every empty mile deadhead without separating unpaid repositioning from local yard or shop movement.
Accepting a cheap backhaul because it reduces deadhead, even though the total route still falls below the truck’s break-even rate.

Commonly confused with

Loaded Miles Miles driven while hauling the paying load. Empty Miles Miles driven without freight, often used interchangeably with deadhead miles.

Related guides

Freight Terms is the best next place to keep learning this topic.

Sources and last updated

FHWA freight glossary

Last updated: 2026-05-10