The DeadheadMath magazine
Freight economics for owner operators and small carriers: rate per mile, deadhead, fuel, settlements, and the rules of the road.
Issue01
Nine pieces on the arithmetic behind a freight offer, written by the operator who builds the calculator and checked against public sources and real settlement statements.
Published
practical guide
The EIA posts a national and regional on-highway diesel price every Monday. Here is how carriers turn that number into a per mile surcharge, pick a base peg, and set the MPG assumption that decides who eats a price spike.
comparison
Running under a carrier's authority trades a percentage of the linehaul for insurance, plates, and back office work. Here is every line item on both sides, from the MC filing to the factoring fee.
mistakes to avoid
Every empty mile is paid for out of the loaded ones. These are the habits that hide deadhead from the rate: quoting off loaded miles, forgetting the repositioning leg, and chasing a headhaul into a dead market.
regulation and compliance
IFTA settles fuel tax between states based on where you burned the fuel and where you bought it. Here is what the return needs, which records an auditor asks for, and the four dates that carry a penalty.
case study
Three loads, three markets, and one truck that has to end up back home. This worked routing model prices each leg against the same fixed cost per day and shows why the weakest leg sets the whole trip.
trends and outlook
Spot rates move with truck supply, not with how badly you need the load. Here is the structure behind the cycle: authority counts, equipment costs, produce and retail seasons, and the lag in contract pricing.
checklist
The rate con is the contract for that load. Work down this list before you sign it: total miles and who counted them, detention terms, TONU, lumper reimbursement, appointment windows, and days to pay.
numbers and benchmarks
A cost per mile number is only as good as its denominator. Here are the categories that make up a small carrier's operating cost, how to compute each one, and the public sources to sanity check them against.
field report
Between six and nine in the evening the ramps fill and the lots spill onto the shoulders. A night spent watching the search for a legal space, and the arithmetic of shutting down forty five minutes early every day.