A load pays $2.60 a mile for 600 loaded miles. Sounds fine — until you count the 120 empty miles to the pickup. Your truck doesn't know the difference between loaded and empty. It burns fuel, wears tires, and racks maintenance on all 720. Only 600 of them pay.
The math brokers hope you skip
Spread that $1,560 across the miles you'll actually run — all 720 — and your real rate is $2.17 a mile. If your true cost is $2.26, this "fine" load loses you about $65 before you touch the brakes. The rate con said $2.60. The road says otherwise.
Three habits that keep deadhead honest
- Price every load on total miles, not loaded miles. Rate × loaded ÷ (loaded + deadhead) — that's your real number.
- Know today's true cost before you negotiate. Deadhead hurts more when diesel's up, and diesel moves daily.
- Track which brokers consistently hand you long empty runs to the pickup. Over months, the pattern is a rate cut wearing a disguise.
Thirty seconds before you sign
This is exactly what Areva's load check does: rate, loaded miles, deadhead, today's fuel — and a straight verdict. Take it, push back, or walk away. Run a real load through the interactive version on our home page.
Empty miles are part of trucking — you'll never get them to zero. But there's a difference between deadhead you priced in and deadhead you ate. One's a cost of doing business. The other is working for free.