Backhaul loads

Headhaul, backhaul, deadhead

• Headhaul: the main load out, often from a busy shipping area.
• Backhaul: the return load toward home.
• Deadhead: miles driven empty.
• Rates differ by direction: where more freight leaves an area than arrives, outbound loads usually pay more than inbound ones.

Finding a backhaul

Under FMCSA hours-of-service rules a property-carrying driver may drive 11 hours within a 14-hour window and must take a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving, so one driver covers roughly 500–600 miles a day.

1. Search the load board from your delivery city and a radius around it, for the dates after you unload.
2. Filter by your equipment and look at the rate per mile, not only the total.
3. Consider a triangle: a load to a third city with better outbound freight.
4. Check the hours-of-service time you will have left after unloading.

Backloads in Europe and the UK

In Europe and the UK the same idea is called a return load or backload. For EU carriers a load back to the home country is international and not limited; a domestic load inside the delivery country is cabotage. Cabotage (domestic loads by a foreign EU carrier) is limited to three operations within seven days after an international delivery, followed by a four-day cooling-off period in that country.

• Return loads in Europe
• Return loads in the UK

Frequently asked questions