Comparison
DeadheadMath vs Rigbooks
Rigbooks is bookkeeping shaped around a trucking operation, while DeadheadMath is a load pricing calculator you open before you take the freight.
Comparison
DeadheadMath vs QuickBooks: freight pricing next to general accounting
QuickBooks is general small business accounting that any trade can adapt, while DeadheadMath is built only for freight and only for the moment you decide whether to take the load.
The short answer
QuickBooks is where your accountant wants your ledger, and there is no reason to fight that. It is general accounting, so nothing in it assumes empty miles, an MPG figure, or a rate per mile floor unless you build that yourself in a spreadsheet on the side. DeadheadMath is the freight specific piece. Keep the ledger where your tax preparer can work with it, and price loads in a tool that already knows what a reposition to the shipper costs you.
DeadheadMath and QuickBooks side by side
| What you are deciding | DeadheadMath | QuickBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | US freight, specifically owner operators and two truck carriers on spot loads | General small business accounting used across many trades and industries |
| Native unit | Dollars per total mile including deadhead | Accounts, transactions, and periods, the standard units of general bookkeeping |
| Deadhead awareness | Empty miles are entered per load and change every result on the screen | Freight concepts like empty miles are not part of a general accounting model |
| Fixed cost per day | Computed from your note, insurance, plates, permits, and working days | Would be assembled by you from account balances or kept in a separate spreadsheet |
| Decision speed | Seconds, on a phone, with the broker on the line | General ledgers are shaped for period reporting rather than live quoting |
| Lane level history | Every scored quote and settlement is kept by lane and market pair | Reporting is organized by accounts and customers rather than by freight lane |
| Tax and filing work | Not its job, exports figures your preparer can use | This is the natural strength of general accounting software |
What follows on the right is the shape of QuickBooks as a category: the workflow it assumes and the buyer it is written for. Products change, so check the current details with them before you decide. DeadheadMath is published by MLJ, SASU and this page is written by Jimenez Julien.
Choose DeadheadMath when
- You need to know before accepting whether 2,300 dollars to El Paso survives 175 empty miles.
- Your spreadsheet for cost per mile has stopped matching what the settlements actually pay.
- You want lane history that tells you which markets keep sending you home empty.
- You price freight on a phone and will not open a ledger to answer a broker.
Choose QuickBooks when
- You need a real general ledger, categorized books, and clean statements at tax time.
- Your accountant works in that system and wants your records where they can review them.
- You have other income streams beyond the truck that need proper business accounting.
Why general accounting leaves a freight gap
General accounting is designed to be industry neutral, which is exactly why it works for a plumber, a bakery, and a carrier. The cost of that neutrality is that a mile is not a concept it holds. Nothing in a chart of accounts knows that the 140 miles you ran empty from Gary to reach a shipper in Rockford are paid for out of the loaded miles that follow.
Owner operators fill that gap with a spreadsheet. It usually starts honest, then drifts: the fuel price is from last spring, the MPG is the number the truck hit before the last set of drive tires, and the fixed cost line never got updated when insurance renewed. DeadheadMath is that spreadsheet turned into a maintained tool with settlements checking its assumptions.
The two numbers that never live in a ledger
The first is fixed cost per working day. It comes from the note, the insurance premium, plates and permits, the 2290, parking, and subscriptions, divided by the days you actually run rather than by 365. The ingredients sit in your books, but the division is a decision you have to make and revisit.
The second is deadhead percentage by lane. Freight out of a strong market can look excellent until you count the reposition to reach it. Both numbers are what turn a rate into a verdict, and both are why a freight specific tool keeps beating a general one at this particular job.
Keep the ledger, add the pricing layer
The clean setup for a one truck carrier is simple. Accounting software holds the books your preparer needs. DeadheadMath holds cost per day, MPG, current diesel price, and the running lane history. You update the cost model when a bill changes, not weekly.
The two agree at the end of the quarter. If your settlements say the truck grossed a number your books do not, you have a paperwork problem. If they agree but the margin is thin, you have a pricing problem, and thin margins on decent gross is the most common shape of a hard year in this business.
Questions people ask before they choose
Does DeadheadMath connect to my accounting software?
It exports the figures you need rather than posting entries for you. Most one and two truck carriers do not want automatic posting into their ledger anyway. You keep control of the books and use the pricing figures for decisions and quarterly review.
Is a spreadsheet good enough instead?
A spreadsheet works right up until it stops being maintained. The common failures are a stale diesel price, an optimistic MPG, and a fixed cost line that never got updated after renewal. DeadheadMath keeps those current and compares them against your real settlements.
Will my accountant accept numbers from DeadheadMath?
Your accountant works from your books and your settlements, and those do not move. DeadheadMath gives you cost per mile, cost per day, and lane margin, which are management figures. They are useful in a year end conversation about equipment and rates.
Other comparisons on deadheadmath.com
Comparison
DeadheadMath vs TruckingOffice
TruckingOffice is trucking management software covering the paperwork side of a small carrier, while DeadheadMath scores a rate against your costs before you commit the truck.
Settle this head to head on your own truck
Two columns of criteria only take you so far when the money is in the details of your operation. Bring your truck note, your insurance declaration, and the load that looked good at 2.05 per loaded mile, and we will show you exactly where these two tools part company. Twenty minutes, and you keep the cost per working day figure we build with you.