Deadhead
Deadhead is the miles a truck runs empty, usually on the way to a pickup or back from a delivery with no freight in the trailer.
Last updated 11 October 2026.
Empty miles still cost fuel, the driver, and the day. A carrier who runs empty to your pickup has to earn those miles back on your rate, or on a reload you do not control. That is why two trucks on the same lane quote different numbers. One is finishing a delivery nearby. The other is coming from empty, far away.
You feel it on the buy side. The shipper asked for a price from origin to destination. The carrier priced origin to destination plus the empty miles to get there. If you sold a number that assumed a truck next door, and the only truck is a long deadhead away, the margin disappears when you cover it. What you have actually paid on the lane is the check.
Deadhead is not a backhaul. Deadhead is the empty move. A backhaul is the load that prevents the empty move home. A carrier asking about reload freight is asking you to turn a deadhead into a backhaul. That is a different conversation from the rate on the headhaul you already booked.
FreightScout prices a quote from your lane cost history, which already includes what you had to pay to get trucks onto the lane. It does not pretend every truck is sitting on the shipper's door. How FreightScout prices a lane.
Questions people actually ask
Why do two carriers quote one lane so far apart?
One may be empty nearby. The other may be deadheading in from far away. The rate has to cover those empty miles or the carrier will not take the load.
Does the shipper pay for the deadhead?
The shipper pays for the loaded lane. You still have to buy a truck that can reach the pickup. Price from what you have actually paid to cover the lane, not from a map that assumes a truck is already there.