Deadhead %: Deadhead Percentage
The share of a truck's total miles driven empty, without a paying load.
Deadhead (or empty) miles are miles a truck drives without freight on board — typically repositioning after a delivery to reach the next pickup. Deadhead percentage is empty miles divided by total miles driven. It's one of the core efficiency metrics carriers use to price lanes, because empty miles cost fuel, time, and driver hours without generating revenue.
Who publishes it
Not centrally published — tracked per-carrier and reported in aggregate by trucking associations and rate-benchmarking firms.
How to read it
- Industry-wide truckload deadhead typically runs in the 15–20% range, varying by lane balance and equipment type.
- Lanes with structural imbalance (more freight moving one direction than the return direction) push deadhead higher for carriers serving them.
- A carrier's deadhead percentage on a given lane directly affects the rate they'll quote — high-deadhead lanes carry a built-in premium to offset the empty return.
Why it matters
Deadhead percentage explains why the same distance can price very differently depending on direction — a lane with strong backhaul demand is cheaper to move than its mirror-image imbalanced lane, because the carrier isn't eating empty miles to reposition.
Frequently asked questions
What is a normal deadhead percentage for a truckload carrier?
Industry averages typically fall in the 15–20% range, though it varies significantly by equipment type and how balanced a carrier's freight network is between origin and destination regions.
Why do backhaul lanes cost less than headhaul lanes?
A lane with strong return-direction demand lets a carrier pick up a paying load on the way back instead of deadheading empty, so the total cost of serving that round trip is lower — which shows up as a lower rate on the backhaul-heavy direction.
Open the live page for current data and tools.