TruckProfitDeadhead Cost Calculator
See the real fuel and operating cost of empty miles before you accept a load — and optionally how much of the load's revenue that cost eats up.
Best for: drivers who want to see exactly what empty repositioning miles are costing before accepting a load with a long deadhead leg.
Enter your deadhead details
Leave blank to use a default assumption of $0.65/mile.
Enter the load's revenue to see deadhead cost as a % of what the load pays.
How this calculator works
The calculator estimates fuel cost for the deadhead miles from your fuel price and fuel efficiency, then adds non-fuel operating cost (truck payment, insurance, maintenance, tires, permits) for those same miles. If you enter a load revenue, it also shows the total deadhead cost as a percentage of that revenue.
Worked example
100 deadhead miles at $4.00/gallon and 6.5 MPG costs about $62 in fuel. At an operating cost of $0.65/mile, non-fuel cost is $65. Total deadhead cost is about $127. On a $2,000 load, that's about 6.4% of revenue spent before the load even starts generating profit.
Understanding the inputs and outputs
- Total deadhead cost is the full fuel plus non-fuel cost of driving the empty miles you entered.
- Load revenue (optional) lets you see deadhead cost as a share of what a specific load pays, making the impact easier to compare across loads.
Common mistakes
- Ignoring deadhead entirely when comparing two loads with similar rates.
- Forgetting that deadhead cost applies twice on a round trip if you reposition both before and after the load.
- Accepting a load with high deadhead without checking whether the rate still clears your target — see the Rate Per Mile Calculator.
Limitations
This calculator isolates deadhead miles only — it's one input into full load profitability, not a complete picture. Use the Load Profit Calculator when you want total profit including loaded miles and fees.
Frequently asked questions
- What counts as deadhead miles?
- Deadhead (or empty) miles are miles driven without a paying load — typically repositioning to a pickup, or returning from a delivery with nothing booked. They cost fuel and time the same as loaded miles but generate no direct revenue.
- Why isolate deadhead cost instead of just using Load Profit?
- The Load Profit Calculator gives you one number for the whole trip. This calculator isolates just the empty-mile portion so you can see exactly how much a specific deadhead leg is costing you before you decide whether a load is worth the repositioning.
- How is deadhead cost as a percentage of revenue useful?
- It shows how much of a load's payout is consumed by deadhead alone, before any other cost is considered. A load with a high percentage here is more exposed to a bad rate — even a small drop in negotiated revenue can wipe out the margin once deadhead is accounted for.
- Can I use this for a full round trip?
- Yes — enter the total empty miles for the round trip if you're repositioning both before and after the load. For the full picture including loaded miles and fees, use the Load Profit Calculator instead.
This checks one leg's cost. For how deadhead compounds across a whole week or month of loads, and practical ways to reduce it, see How Deadhead Miles Quietly Erode Load Profitability.
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Related calculators
Load Profit Calculator
Find out if a specific load is worth taking by calculating true profit after fuel, deadhead, and operating costs.
Rate Per Mile Calculator
Calculate loaded and all-in rate per mile, including the effect of deadhead miles.
Fuel Cost Calculator
Estimate trip fuel usage and cost from distance and fuel efficiency, in miles or kilometers.
Suggested after using Deadhead Cost Calculator