Why Deadhead is Such a Big Issue and How Cinesis Can Solve it

What is Deadhead?

Deadhead refers to the miles a truck drives without a load. It refers to miles where truckers are driving from a dropoff site to pickup site, without any load to carry. These are deadhead miles, empty miles where truckers aren’t making a cent while burning fuel and wasting time. 

So why does deadhead happen?

According to Freightcourse, one of the main causes of deadheading is insufficient scheduling. 

Let's say that you are a driver from San Francisco bringing a load to Los Angeles. You arrive in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon and when you check to see if you have any outbound loads to San Francisco, there are none! The route planner forgot to book a load back from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and by the time they check, all outbound loads are already booked. This issue could have been avoided if the outbound load was automatically pre-booked. 

This is where Cinesis’s backhaul planning feature comes in. 

What’s a Backhaul?

A backhaul is the return trip. It’s the load you haul on your way back—or at least in the general direction you came from. Miles that would otherwise be deadhead get turned into routes where you deliver loads.

How Cinesis Fixes Deadhead with Smart Backhauls

At Cinesis, we’ve built a platform that thinks ahead—so you don’t have to chase backhaul loads at the last minute.

We automatically filter through thousands of loads aggregated from multiple different load boards and suggest the best pair of outbound and inbound loads for you.

In regards to how we find the best loads, we look at things like:

• Distance from your initial drop-off point to your pickup location for the backhaul

• Rate per mile

• Your trucking equipment

In summary, we give you the best backhauls beforehand on a silver platter.

And then we surface the best options, in real-time, so you're never scrambling to fill your next leg.

The Bottom Line

Deadhead burns fuel, time, and money—but it doesn’t have to.

With Cinesis, your return trip is already planned. You stay loaded, keep earning, and avoid wasted miles.

Want to see it in action? Start your free trial of Cinesis today!