Empty Miles Cost Calculator for UK & EU Road Freight

Around a fifth of every kilometre your trucks drive is run empty – pure cost, zero revenue. See exactly what deadhead is costing your fleet per year, and how much of it you could win back.

✓ Built for carriers & brokers ✓ 30-second estimate ✓ No email required
Your fleet

Empty running is costing you

£0/year
Empty km/yr 0 Per truck £0 Total km/yr 0
With TrucksOnTheMap you could win back
£0/year
  • TrucksMatch queues the best return load before your truck even finishes its drop
  • Push availability so shippers book your free trucks days ahead
  • Cut empty running by up to ~30% (DHL achieved 30.2% with TrucksOnTheMap)
  • Free TMS & driver app for carriers – no cost to join
Book a demo to cut my empty miles

Free for carriers · live in ~7 weeks · invite-only network

Estimates multiply your fleet kilometres by your empty-running share and cost per km. The recoverable figure assumes a 30% reduction in empty running; actuals depend on your lanes, network density and load mix.

Why empty miles are your biggest hidden cost

Empty (or deadhead) kilometres are the distance a truck drives without a paying load – repositioning after a delivery, returning to base, or chasing the next job. Every one of those kilometres still burns fuel, pays the driver and wears the vehicle, but earns nothing.

Across European road freight, roughly 20–21% of vehicle-kilometres are run empty (Eurostat), and for many carriers it is higher. On a mid-sized fleet that quietly drains six figures every year – money that goes straight to your bottom line the moment you reduce it.

How to use this calculator

1

Enter your fleet

Number of trucks and the kilometres each one runs per year.

2

Set empty % & cost

Your current empty-running share and your all-in cost per km.

3

Calculate

See annual empty-miles cost and what you could recover.

How TrucksOnTheMap cuts empty running

  • Backhaul & empty-miles optimisation recommends profitable return loads based on each truck's position, route and cargo preference.
  • AI load matching connects your free capacity with verified shippers automatically.
  • A vetted freight exchange – invite-only, low-fraud spot capacity instead of cold-calling load boards.
  • Availability forecasting so shippers discover and book your trucks before they go empty.

Frequently asked questions

What are empty or deadhead miles?
Empty (deadhead) miles are kilometres a truck drives without a revenue-generating load – for example repositioning to the next pick-up or returning to base. They carry full fuel, wage and maintenance cost but produce no income.
How much of EU road freight is run empty?
Eurostat data puts empty running at around 20–21% of vehicle-kilometres across the EU, with national figures varying. Many individual carriers run 25–35% empty depending on their lanes and load balance.
How do I calculate the cost of empty miles?
Multiply total kilometres by your empty-running percentage to get empty kilometres, then multiply by your all-in cost per km (fuel, driver, maintenance, depreciation). This calculator does it for your whole fleet in one step.
How can I reduce empty running?
The biggest lever is matching return loads quickly. Sharing your availability, using AI backhaul matching and tapping a dense, trusted freight network all cut the time a truck spends searching – and the kilometres it drives empty.
How much can TrucksOnTheMap realistically save?
It depends on your network density and lanes, but reductions of up to around 30% in empty running are achievable – DHL reported a 30.2% reduction using TrucksOnTheMap. The calculator shows your figure based on a 30% assumption.
Is it really free for carriers?
Yes. Carriers get the full TMS, driver app, tracking and load matching at no cost. That is what builds the dense network shippers and brokers book from.

← Back to all free freight tools