Backhaul
A backhaul is a load taken on the return leg of a trip, priced to reduce empty miles rather than to earn a full outbound rate.
Last reviewed · by the Fleetchart team
Backhaul rates are typically lower because the alternative is running empty. The correct comparison is not against a headhaul rate but against zero revenue and the fuel burned anyway.
A backhaul that pays anything above its marginal cost improves the round trip. Judging it on rate per mile alone will usually cause you to refuse loads you should take.
For example, say you deliver 500 miles from home and have to head back anyway. Running empty costs fuel and wear of about $0.80 a mile, or 500 × $0.80 = $400, and pays nothing. A backhaul paying $1,000 for those same 500 miles is only $2.00 a mile, but it turns a $400 cost into a $1,000 − $400 = $600 gain. That is $1,000 better than running empty.
Judge the round trip as one job. If the outbound load paid $1,750, the round trip pays $1,750 + $1,000 = $2,750 over 1,000 miles, or $2.75 a mile. Compare that number with your cost per mile, not the backhaul rate on its own.