How to drive out empty miles

Jul 27, 2020 at 10:11 AM CST
It’s been the scourge of trucking for decades, chipping away at carrier revenues. Yet, many fleets don’t have reliable data on how bad the problem of empty miles is. Nor do many of them have a clear understanding on how to tackle it. Until recently, empty mileage estimates ranged from 14% to 20% for all types of trucks, including light- and medium-duty vehicles. All that changed in August when the trucking startup Convoy shocked the industry by saying the real number is 33%, and for private fleets, it is 40%.

Jul 27, 2020 at 10:11 AM CST

It’s been the scourge of trucking for decades, chipping away at carrier revenues. Yet, many fleets don’t have reliable data on how bad the problem of empty miles is. Nor do many of them have a clear understanding on how to tackle it. Until recently, empty mileage estimates ranged from 14% to 20% for all types of trucks, including light- and medium-duty vehicles. All that changed in August when the trucking startup Convoy shocked the industry by saying the real number is 33%, and for private fleets, it is 40%.