What is backhaul?
Also called return load
A backhaul is a load that moves a truck back toward its home base or toward the next place it wants to be, rather than further away. It exists to stop the return trip running empty.
The outbound leg is the headhaul, usually the better-paying direction because freight flows that way. The return is the backhaul, and it typically pays less because every truck in the area is trying to get back the same way.
Backhaul rates are shaped by geography rather than by negotiation. A region that receives far more freight than it ships out will always be cheap to leave and expensive to reach.
What it means on a dispatch desk
The mistake is treating a backhaul as a load to be maximised rather than a cost to be minimised. Once a truck is committed to returning, almost any revenue beats empty miles, and holding out for a rate the lane does not support burns the hours that the next headhaul needs. Book it, cover the fuel, get the truck back into a market that pays.
Related terms
- DeadheadDeadhead is any distance a truck drives empty, most often between delivering one load and reaching the pickup for the next. Those miles cost fuel, hours and wear while earning nothing.
- LaneA lane is a regular origin-to-destination pairing that a carrier runs repeatedly, such as Dallas to Atlanta. Rates, volumes and seasonality are all discussed per lane.
- LinehaulLinehaul is the base charge for moving freight from origin to destination, excluding fuel surcharge and every accessorial. It is the core of the rate.
- Cost per mileCost per mile is a carrier's total operating cost divided by total miles driven, including empty ones. It is the number that decides whether a given rate is profitable.
- Load boardA load board is a marketplace where brokers post freight that needs moving and carriers search for loads to cover. Most are subscription services.
Knowing the term is the easy half
Knowing which carriers are worth calling this morning is the hard half.
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