To calculate cost per mile (CPM) for a trucking company, add up every cost of running the truck over a period (fixed costs plus variable costs, driver pay included) and divide by the total miles driven in that same period, loaded and empty. Then divide the same total cost by loaded miles only. That second number is the one that tells you whether a load pays, because deadhead miles cost money and earn nothing. ...
Every dispatcher who has run a board for more than a few months has a number in their head for deadhead. Often it’s an estimate made once and never checked against actual settlement data, while the real number sits in your own RateCons and driver settlements the whole time. The short answer: to reduce deadhead, measure empty miles per truck and per lane (not fleet-wide), then change how loads are accepted — check outbound freight at the delivery market, consolidate stops, price the empty return into the rate, dispatch from live truck position, and compare loads by margin after deadhead instead of gross rate per mile. ...