When a return load is not worth the detour
An empty HGV journey is an obvious cost. Fuel is consumed, driver time is used and the vehicle is moving without generating load revenue. That makes return loads attractive, but avoiding empty mileage does not automatically make every available backload commercially worthwhile.
The useful question is not simply whether a return load is available. It is whether taking it leaves the operator in a better position after the additional mileage, time and operational constraints have been considered.
Start with the real detour
A return load can look convenient when the collection or delivery point appears close to the planned route. The important figure, however, is the additional mileage created by accepting the job.
That can include leaving the original route to reach collection, travelling between collection and delivery, and then repositioning the vehicle for its next commitment.
Looking at the whole movement avoids treating the headline load mileage as if it were the operator’s true additional mileage.
Put a cost against the extra movement
Once the detour is understood, the operator can compare the additional revenue with the incremental cost of accepting the load.
That assessment can include fuel, driver time, tolls or route charges where applicable, and other variable operating costs created by the additional movement. It should also account for waiting time at collection or delivery.
A simple example illustrates the principle. If a return load produces £250 of additional revenue but the extra movement and associated variable costs are estimated at £118, the initial contribution is £132. That is not a claim about typical margins or a customer result; it is simply a way of making the decision visible.
The calculation becomes more useful when the assumptions are written down rather than held in someone’s head.
A practical worksheet and illustrative calculation for assessing empty HGV mileage are available in the Houlvek guide to reducing empty HGV miles.
Time can matter as much as mileage
A short detour can still become an expensive one if the vehicle spends a long period waiting.
Collection and delivery windows therefore need to be considered alongside distance. Operators should ask whether the job fits within the driver’s available working time and whether delays could interfere with a later booking.
The cheapest route on paper is not necessarily the best commercial decision if it leaves the vehicle badly positioned or creates a risk to the next commitment.
Check the vehicle and load fit before the price
Commercial attractiveness is irrelevant if the vehicle is not suitable for the work.
Before accepting a return load, the operator needs enough information to assess the required vehicle or trailer, load characteristics, collection and delivery requirements, and any operational constraints that affect whether the movement can be completed properly.
Clear load information helps both sides. The carrier can make a quicker assessment, while the company offering the work is less likely to receive interest from unsuitable vehicles.
Consider where the vehicle finishes
The final delivery point is often overlooked.
Two loads with similar revenue and mileage can have very different commercial value if one leaves the vehicle close to its next planned job while the other requires another significant repositioning movement.
For that reason, a return-load decision is better treated as part of the vehicle’s wider schedule rather than as an isolated job.
Use a repeatable decision process
A simple assessment can be built around five questions:
- How many additional miles will accepting the load actually create?
- What additional operating costs and waiting time are likely?
- Does the load fit the vehicle and the available operating window?
- Where will the vehicle be positioned after delivery?
- After those factors are considered, does the additional revenue still justify taking the job?
The purpose is not to make every decision complicated. It is to make the important assumptions visible.
Reducing empty running remains commercially attractive, but the objective should not be to eliminate empty miles at any cost. A return load is useful when it improves the overall movement of the vehicle without creating disproportionate additional cost, delay or disruption.
For operators, that distinction turns “there is a load on the way back” into a more disciplined commercial decision.
Author: Dumitru Martînov, Houlvek