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How deadhead miles cut a loaded rate

Brokers quote dollars per loaded mile. The truck burns diesel on every mile. Those are not the same unit, and treating them as if they were is how a $2.00 offer books and the week still loses money.

Take a common solo week: 1,800 loaded miles and 450 empty miles. That is 2,250 total miles and 20% deadhead. A $2.00 loaded offer produces $3,600 of gross. Spread over every mile the truck moved, that is $1.60 of revenue per mile — before the factor takes 2–4%.

Same week, after 3% factoring. $3,600 × 0.97 = $3,492 settled. $3,492 ÷ 2,250 miles = $1.55 per total mile. If all-in cost is $1.57, the posted $2.00 load is underwater even though it looks like a 40-cent cushion over a $1.60 CPM someone quoted on loaded miles only.

The conversion that keeps the units honest:

  1. Cost the whole week on total miles (fuel, reserves, weekly share of the note).
  2. Divide that weekly cost by loaded miles. That is the break-even loaded rate.
  3. Compare the offer after factoring to that number — not to all-in CPM, and not to last month’s average.

A short week makes this worse. The truck payment and insurance do not shrink when you run 1,600 miles instead of 2,400. Fixed cost per mile goes up, so the loaded rate that covered last week may not cover this one.

Open the calculator and replace the starting week with your own miles and notes. Nothing is uploaded.