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 TruckingOffice: pricing tool or back office system
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.
The short answer
These sit at opposite ends of the same load. A trucking management system like TruckingOffice is shaped around what happens after you say yes: the dispatch record, the invoice, the paperwork trail, the filings. DeadheadMath is shaped around the minute before you say yes. If you are drowning in invoicing and records across two trucks, a management system earns its keep. If your trucks are busy but the year is thin, the leak is in pricing and that is what we fix.
DeadheadMath and TruckingOffice side by side
| What you are deciding | DeadheadMath | TruckingOffice |
|---|---|---|
| Position in the load lifecycle | Before acceptance, while the rate is still negotiable | Built around the work that follows acceptance, from dispatch record to paperwork |
| Core output | Dollars per total mile and margin after fixed cost, deadhead, and fuel | Operational and administrative records for the loads a small carrier runs |
| Scope | Narrow on purpose, one job done fast on a phone at a truck stop | Broad by design, covering several back office functions in one system |
| Deadhead in the math | Empty miles are a required field on every quote and change the verdict | Empty miles typically live as trip data inside operational records |
| Fixed cost model | Cost per working day built from note, insurance, plates, permits, and subscriptions | Cost detail is handled as part of general record keeping across the operation |
| Learning curve | One screen, first useful quote inside twenty minutes | Broader systems ask for more setup because they cover more of the business |
| Best fit | One and two truck carriers on spot freight who price by phone | Small carriers whose bottleneck is administration and load paperwork volume |
What follows on the right is the shape of TruckingOffice 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 run two trucks on spot freight and the pricing decision happens twenty times a week.
- You already invoice fine but cannot say which lanes actually paid after the empty miles.
- You want the second truck priced against its own fixed cost, not the same guess as the first.
- You need an answer on your phone in a Love's parking lot, not at a desk after the run.
Choose TruckingOffice when
- Your bottleneck is paperwork volume, invoicing, and keeping the back office straight.
- You want dispatch, records, and administration living inside a single trucking system.
- You are adding drivers and need operational structure more than a sharper price per load.
The bottleneck decides the purchase
Ask what actually costs you money this month. For some two truck carriers it is administration: invoices going out late, paperwork scattered, quarterly filings assembled from a shoebox. That is a back office problem and a management system is built for it.
For others the trucks are moving and the paperwork is fine, but the year came in flat. That is almost never an admin problem. It is a string of loads that looked acceptable at 2.05 per loaded mile and were 1.62 per total mile once the reposition to the shipper was counted. DeadheadMath exists to catch those before you take them.
Why a narrow tool stays fast
A broad system has to be general because it serves dispatch, records, and administration at once. That breadth is real value when your problem is breadth. It also means more fields, more setup, and more places to look when you have a broker on hold.
DeadheadMath keeps one screen. Rate, loaded miles, empty miles to the shipper. Your fixed cost per day and MPG are already stored. The verdict comes back in seconds because there is nothing else on the page. That is a deliberate trade, and it is the right trade only when pricing is the job you need done.
Running a pricing tool alongside a management system
Nothing about the two conflicts. Price the load in DeadheadMath, then let your management system carry the dispatch record, the invoice, and the paperwork once the load is booked. The handoff is the rate confirmation itself.
Where the two touch is settlements. DeadheadMath asks you to enter what actually landed on the settlement so it can compare it to the quoted number. Over a quarter that gap tells you which brokers pay what they said, which lanes bleed on detention, and where your MPG assumption is optimistic.
Questions people ask before they choose
Does DeadheadMath do dispatch or invoicing?
No. It prices loads, tracks settlements against the quoted number, and keeps history by lane. Dispatch records, invoicing, and back office paperwork are a different job and a broader trucking management system is the right home for them.
We run two trucks with different notes. Does that work?
Yes. The Two Trucks plan at 39 dollars a month models each truck with its own fixed cost per day, so a paid off truck and a truck with a 2,300 dollar note do not share a break-even. Loads are scored against whichever truck would run them.
Can I move to DeadheadMath later once we grow?
You can start at any size. The Small Fleet plan at 89 dollars a month covers more trucks and keeps the same per load pricing model. Growing usually adds back office needs rather than removing the pricing question, so most carriers keep both tools.
Other comparisons on deadheadmath.com
Comparison
DeadheadMath vs QuickBooks
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.
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.