Rate Per Mile Calculator With Deadhead

Enter each offer's total rate, loaded miles and empty miles to the pickup. You get the board rate, the all-in rate and a plain answer on which load pays more, so you can decide while the broker is still on the phone.

Load boards and brokers quote rate per loaded mile. That number leaves out the drive to the shipper, which you pay for in fuel, tires and hours. Two loads that look close on the board can be far apart once you count it.

How to use the rate per mile calculator

1. Total rate. Use the full amount the broker will pay: linehaul plus fuel surcharge, as shown on the offer or the rate confirmation. Leave out detention, since it isn't promised.
2. Loaded miles. Pickup to delivery, using practical truck routing, not the shortest car route. If the posting lists miles, check them against your own routing tool.
3. Empty miles to pickup. From where you'll be empty, usually your current delivery or your home, to the shipper's dock.
4. Compare the highlighted numbers. The all-in rate is the one to judge by. The board rate is only there so you can see how much the deadhead changed the picture.

The formula

This is the same math load boards use, with one step added. It's simple on purpose. The hard part is being honest about the empty miles, and remembering that rates you see quoted in market reports, like DAT's national averages, are per loaded mile too.

Worked examples

The calculator's example is the classic trap. Load A pays $300 more and posts at $3.25 a mile. But the 180 empty miles to reach it drag the all-in rate down to $2.65. Load B posts at $3.03 and sits 25 miles away, so it pays $2.93 for every mile you drive.

Here are two more, with different trucks and different lessons. These numbers are examples only.

The hotshot example shows why deadhead hurts small trucks the most. On short runs, 120 empty miles is close to a third of the trip. The dry van example shows the opposite. When both loads need the same drive to the dock, the board rate and the all-in rate point the same way, and the tie breaker is where each delivery leaves you.

How to read your result

The floor in that table comes from your own costs. If you don't know it yet, the cost per mile calculator works it out in a few minutes, including the deadhead share you usually run.

What the all-in rate doesn't show

A higher all-in rate is usually the better load, but not always. Check three more things before you decide:

• Time. A load that pays more per mile but sits at a slow shipper for six hours can earn less per day. Ask about loading times and detention terms before booking.
• The reload. Where the load delivers decides your next deadhead. A strong rate into a city with little outbound freight can cost you the next day. Our guide on how to cut deadhead miles covers how to judge a market.
• Your clock. More total miles means more driving hours. If a load pushes you past your 11-hour limit, it may need a break you can't afford. FMCSA's hours of service summary lists the limits, and our hours of service planning guide shows how to fit loads around them.

Turning the all-in rate into profit

The all-in rate tells you which load pays more per mile. To see what's left after your costs, subtract your cost per mile from it. If your cost is $2.20 and a load pays $2.65 all-in, you keep about 45 cents a mile before fees. Multiply by the total miles, loaded plus empty, and you have a rough profit for the trip. Then take off any percentage fees, like dispatch or factoring, which come out of the gross.

Common mistakes

• Comparing an all-in rate with a linehaul-only rate. If one broker quotes fuel separately, add it in first. The fuel surcharge calculator helps you check that line.
• Using posted miles without checking them. Short-routed miles make a load look better than it is.
• Forgetting the deadhead to get home. If a load ends far from home on a Friday, the empty run back belongs in the math too.
• Judging by total dollars. The biggest check isn't the best load if it takes twice the miles.

Letting someone else do the comparing

Comparing loads like this takes a few minutes per offer, and on a busy morning you might look at twenty. That's a big part of what a dispatcher does. Ours checks the empty miles and the reload on every load before calling you, and books around the lanes and home time you set. See what a truck dispatcher does all day, or check what our dispatch costs.