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A complete walkthrough of what deadhead miles cost a small fleet — ATRI’s record $2.336-per-mile 2025 operating cost, the industry’s 16.5% average empty-mile rate versus the 31% private fleets report once they measure it, and the five-truck math showing what the gap between those numbers is worth in a single year.
- ATRI’s “Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking: 2026 Update” put the industry-average cost to operate a truck in 2025 at $2.336 per mile — the highest per-mile cost the report has ever recorded, up 3.4% from 2024. That cost applies to every mile a truck runs, loaded or empty.
- Excluding fuel, the same report put the marginal (non-fuel) operating cost at $1.854 per mile in 2025, up 4.2% year-over-year — also the highest non-fuel figure ATRI has recorded.
- ATRI’s 2025 data shows deadhead mileage, excluding tank fleets, averaged 16.5% of total miles for for-hire carriers — close to one in every six miles run with no freight and no revenue.
- The National Private Truck Council’s 2026 Benchmarking Survey Report found that among private fleets that actually track the number, empty miles reached 31% of total mileage — up 4 percentage points from the year before, and nearly double ATRI’s for-hire average.
- Do the math on a five-truck fleet running 100,000 miles per truck per year (500,000 total miles): at ATRI’s 16.5% average, that’s 82,500 deadhead miles a year, costing roughly $192,720 with zero freight revenue to offset it. At the 31% rate fleets report once they start measuring it, that’s 155,000 deadhead miles, costing roughly $362,080 — a $169,360 difference driven entirely by whether the fleet knows its own number.
- ATRI’s 2025 report also found the steepest year-over-year cost increases in tolls (+13.2%), repair and maintenance (+8.6%), driver benefits (+6.6%), and tires (+6.4%) — meaning every deadhead mile got measurably more expensive to run in 2025, not just more common.
Every mile a truck runs costs money, whether or not a customer pays for it. That’s the part small fleets tend to forget when they look at a load board or a rate confirmation and think only in terms of loaded miles and freight rates. Fuel burns, tires wear, brakes wear, and a driver’s clock runs the same way whether the trailer is full or empty.
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) puts a number on that blind spot every year, and the 2026 update — covering 2025 data — put it at the highest level the group has ever recorded: $2.336 to run a truck one mile, full stop, loaded or empty. Small fleets that don’t track how many of their miles run empty are almost certainly paying more of that number than they realize.
What a deadhead mile actually costs, and why it’s the same price as a loaded one
Operating cost doesn’t know the difference between a loaded mile and an empty one. ATRI’s $2.336-per-mile average for 2025 is built from every cost category that keeps running whether or not there’s freight in the trailer: fuel, tires, repair and maintenance, insurance, permits and licenses, tolls, driver wages and benefits, and truck or trailer lease and purchase payments. Excluding fuel alone, that marginal cost was $1.854 per mile in 2025 — also a record high for the report.
The only thing that changes on a deadhead mile is the revenue side of the ledger, not the cost side. A loaded mile earns a rate that, ideally, covers the $2.336 and leaves a margin. An empty mile still costs $2.336 and earns nothing. A fleet that only watches its rate per loaded mile is watching half the picture.
The deadhead number small fleets are probably underestimating
ATRI’s 2025 figure for for-hire carriers, excluding tank fleets, was 16.5% deadhead mileage — down slightly from 16.7% in 2024, but still close to one truck mile in six running empty. That number is the industry benchmark most small fleets assume applies to them.
It often doesn’t. The National Private Truck Council’s 2026 Benchmarking Survey Report, covering private fleets, found that among the fleets that actually track empty miles as a metric, the number reached 31% of total mileage — up four percentage points from the prior year, and nearly double ATRI’s for-hire average. Private fleets frequently move freight in one direction only, and getting the truck back into service quickly is often treated as more valuable than spending dispatcher time chasing a paying return load. Many small fleets never measure the number at all, which means the true figure for an untracked fleet could be closer to the NPTC number than the ATRI one.
Why 2025 made every empty mile pricier
A deadhead mile isn’t just about how often it happens — it’s also about how much each one costs, and that part got worse in 2025. ATRI’s report found the largest year-over-year increases across four line items that apply to every mile driven, empty or loaded: tolls rose 13.2%, repair and maintenance rose 8.6%, driver benefits rose 6.6%, and tires rose 6.4%.
None of those costs care whether the trailer behind the truck has freight in it. A toll booth charges the same amount on an empty return leg as it does on the loaded trip out. A tire wears down at the same rate. A fleet running the same deadhead percentage as it did a year ago is still paying more for it in 2025 dollars than it was in 2024 dollars — the cost of doing nothing about the number went up on its own.
The five-truck math: what deadhead actually adds up to
Neither ATRI’s nor NPTC’s published figures do this multiplication — this is an illustrative example using their national averages, built to show what the percentages mean in dollars for a small operation. Take a five-truck fleet running 100,000 miles per truck per year: 500,000 total miles.
At ATRI’s 16.5% average deadhead rate, 82,500 miles run empty. At ATRI’s $2.336-per-mile all-in operating cost — which applies to those miles the same as loaded ones, since they still burn fuel, wear tires, and pay the driver — that’s 82,500 × $2.336 = $192,720 a year in cost with no freight revenue attached. That’s roughly $38,544 per truck, per year.
At the 31% rate NPTC found among fleets that measure the number, 155,000 miles run empty. 155,000 × $2.336 = $362,080 a year — about $72,416 per truck, per year. The gap between those two scenarios is $169,360 a year for a five-truck fleet, and the only variable that changed is whether the fleet’s actual deadhead rate matches the industry average or runs closer to what fleets find once they start measuring it.
What most small fleets get wrong about deadhead miles
The first mistake is not tracking the number at all. Most small-fleet owners can state their average rate per loaded mile without hesitating. Very few can state their deadhead percentage, because nobody is logging it as its own metric — it just disappears into “miles driven” on the odometer.
The second mistake is treating deadhead as an unavoidable cost of doing business rather than a number that responds to backhaul planning, load-board matching, and broker relationships built specifically around return lanes. A fleet that plans the return leg before the truck leaves loaded has a real shot at moving the number. A fleet that plans it after the delivery is already done usually doesn’t.
The third mistake is judging a load’s profitability only by the rate on the loaded leg. A rate that looks strong in isolation can still lose money once the empty return leg’s cost is folded in — and a fleet that never does that math doesn’t know which of its “good” loads are actually break-even or worse.
The fourth mistake is measuring the number once and assuming it holds. Deadhead rates shift with freight lanes, seasons, and customer mix. A fleet that checked its ratio a year ago may be running a meaningfully different number today, in either direction.
As the Responsible Fleet team has told small operators reviewing their cost structure: the fleets that get surprised by numbers like these aren’t the ones with bad freight rates. They’re the ones that never checked how many of their miles were quietly running for free.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a “deadhead” or “empty” mile?
Any mile a truck runs without a loaded trailer or without freight generating revenue — most commonly the return leg after a delivery when there’s no backhaul lined up.
What does ATRI say the average cost per mile is?
ATRI’s “Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking: 2026 Update” put the industry-average cost to operate a truck in 2025 at $2.336 per mile overall, or $1.854 per mile excluding fuel — the highest either figure has been in the report’s history. That per-mile cost applies to every mile driven, loaded or empty.
How much of a fleet’s mileage is typically deadhead?
ATRI’s 2025 data put the average for non-tank for-hire carriers at 16.5% of total miles. The National Private Truck Council’s 2026 Benchmarking Survey Report found private fleets that track the number reported empty miles at 31% of total mileage — nearly double ATRI’s average, and up four percentage points from the year before.
Why do small and private fleets often run more deadhead than for-hire carriers?
Many private fleets move freight primarily one direction — from a distribution point to customers or job sites — and getting the truck back into service quickly is often treated as more valuable than spending time chasing a paying backhaul, so the return trip runs empty more often than industry benchmarks suggest.
What can a small fleet actually do to bring the number down?
Track deadhead as its own metric rather than folding it into an average rate per mile; work backhaul and load-board matches into route planning before a truck leaves loaded; and revisit the number seasonally, since freight lanes and imbalances shift throughout the year.
The bottom line
ATRI’s number is the same for every mile a truck drives: $2.336, loaded or empty. The only mile that pays that cost back is the one carrying freight. A fleet that doesn’t know its own deadhead percentage isn’t avoiding the cost — it’s just not measuring where the money is going.
As the Responsible Fleet team puts it: the fleets that get surprised by their own numbers aren’t the ones with bad rates. They’re the ones who never checked how many of their miles were quietly running for free.
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This article is for general information and does not replace your own legal, safety, or DOT-compliance judgment. Verify the regulations for your jurisdiction and vehicle class.
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