What it means
A truck delivers goods 400 kilometres from its depot and drives back without a load, so the return trip adds 400 empty kilometres that the business must cover within its overall freight pricing and operations. Define empty carefully: a trailer with no cargo is straightforward, but a vehicle carrying returns or packaging may be classified differently under a fleet's rules.
Choose the scope and count vehicle distance, trailer distance or both consistently, treating a detached tractor separately, and remember that an empty-mile percentage needs loaded plus empty miles in the same period and comparable units. Track by route, because a weekly fleet average can hide one corridor with many empty returns and another with good backhauls, and check equipment, since a specialised refrigerated or tank trailer may have fewer suitable return loads than a general dry van.
Look for backhauls, where a compatible load near the delivery point can convert some return distance into productive travel, but mind detours, because a backhaul is not valuable if it requires a long unpaid repositioning trip or jeopardises a committed delivery. Count waiting as well, since a truck may avoid empty distance but spend many hours waiting for a load, so compare total time and revenue.
Estimate true cost beyond fuel, because wages, tolls, maintenance, depreciation and opportunity cost also matter, and check margin, since a low-priced backhaul may contribute to fixed costs only after incremental expenses and service risks are considered. Plan network design too, as more balanced origins and destinations can reduce systematic empty returns and sales and dispatch decisions interact.
Avoid impossible targets, because some routes cannot find suitable cargo owing to timing, equipment or safety constraints, and food and chemical controls can restrict what is carried after a prior load so that cleaning requirements outweigh the value of a return job. Review driver hours, because a backhaul plan must fit legal driving and rest requirements for the jurisdiction and route, and watch last-mile use, where a parcel van may return to a depot without parcels and the operational definition should be clear.
Validate GPS distance, since dispatch software may show planned miles while actual routes include diversions, and compare against recorded travel. Check the numerator too: a truck carrying a small load is not literally empty even though capacity use is poor, so measure load factor separately, and separate fleet utilisation, because a vehicle can be active for many hours while travelling empty and time in service differs from the loaded-distance share.
Compare similar vehicles, since route length, cargo type and network density can make a simple ranking unfair, and use trends rather than universal benchmarks because FreightWaves notes that published empty-mile estimates vary widely with carrier type, equipment and method. Account for emissions carefully, since empty travel uses fuel but eliminating one trip may add handling or another vehicle's route, so use a full comparison.
Coordinate with customers, because delivery windows and pickup flexibility can create backhaul opportunities without sacrificing service. Geotab describes route optimisation as a way to use fleet resources efficiently.
For an owner, empty miles indicate where scheduling, sales and routing may improve, not that every unladen kilometre can be eliminated.
In practice
Real-world examples.
Example
A truck completes a 400-kilometre delivery and returns 400 kilometres without cargo. The 800-kilometre round trip has a 50% empty-mile rate on its own. The dispatcher records both legs so the route can be compared with others.
Example
Dispatch finds a nearby return load but rejects it because a long detour would erase margin. The extra distance, tolls and driver hours would cost more than the freight earns. The truck returns empty, which is the better commercial decision.
Example
A vehicle carrying one small pallet counts as loaded under the fleet's empty-mile rule, though its capacity use is low. The fleet measures load factor separately so that this poor use of space is still visible. Managers review both numbers together.
Formula
Calculation
Empty-mile rate = verified empty distance / all vehicle distance in the same period x 100. If 3,000 of 10,000 kilometres are empty, the rate is 3,000 / 10,000 x 100 = 30%. Define whether repositioning, partial loads and detached tractors are counted before comparing fleets.
Worked cost example: suppose a fleet's empty kilometres cost $0.80 each in fuel, driver time and wear, and 3,000 kilometres a month are empty. The monthly cost of empty running is 3,000 x $0.80 = $2,400. If dispatch fills one-third of those kilometres with compatible backhauls, 1,000 kilometres become productive, so the empty-mile rate falls to 2,000 / 10,000 x 100 = 20%, and the cost carried by empty running falls to 2,000 x $0.80 = $1,600, a saving of $800 a month before any extra handling or waiting cost.Case study
Seen in the real world.
Fictional case: Brookline Freight saw an empty-mile rate of 30% across its routes. A lane analysis revealed repeated unladen returns from one city. Dispatch added two compatible backhauls, then compared added waiting and handling cost with the earned revenue before expanding the practice. This fictional case makes no claim about an industry standard rate.
Watch out
Common mistakes.
- Counting a lightly loaded vehicle as empty without defining the rule.
- Taking a low-margin backhaul that adds more cost and delay than value.
- Comparing fleets with different routes and equipment through one rate.
Questions
People also ask.
Are empty miles the same as wasted miles?
They are unladen travel, but some may be unavoidable or economically sensible.
Does a partial load count?
Usually not as empty, though the fleet must state its rule and measure capacity separately.
How can a carrier reduce them?
Explore compatible backhauls, route design and scheduling, checking total margin and service.
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