A $2,800 load sounds great until you add 200 miles of deadhead, a broker who pays in 45 days, no backhaul, and 2 hours of detention. Now it’s a $1.85/mile load that ties up your cash for 6 weeks and leaves you stranded in a dead market.
Most owner-operators evaluate loads by looking at one number: rate per loaded mile. That number is a lie. It hides deadhead, ignores time, and says nothing about whether the broker will actually pay you.
This is the 5-step checklist that separates profitable operators from guys who are busy but broke. Run it before you book anything. It takes 5 minutes and it will save you thousands in bad loads over the next year.
✅ THE 5-MINUTE LOAD EVALUATION CHECKLIST
STEP 1: CALCULATE RATE PER ALL MILES
This is the single most important number in load evaluation — and the one almost nobody calculates correctly. Rate per loaded mile is a vanity metric. Rate per ALL miles is the truth.
The formula: Total load pay ÷ (loaded miles + deadhead to pickup + deadhead after delivery) = rate per all miles.
Here’s how the same load looks completely different depending on how you calculate it:
📈 LOAD A: LOW DEADHEAD
Load pay: $1,400
Loaded miles: 500
Deadhead to pickup: 35 miles
Backhaul available: Yes
Total miles: 535
Rate per all miles: $2.62 — TAKE IT
📈 LOAD B: SAME PAY, DIFFERENT REALITY
Load pay: $1,400
Loaded miles: 500
Deadhead to pickup: 150 miles
Backhaul available: No — 200 miles deadhead home
Total miles: 850
Rate per all miles: $1.65 — BELOW COST. REJECT.
Same $1,400 load. Same 500 loaded miles. Same $2.80 rate per loaded mile. But Load A puts $465 in your pocket at $1.75 cost per mile. Load B costs you $87 to haul. You literally paid to work.
The deadhead you ignore is the profit you lose. Every mile you drive empty costs you $1.50–$2.00 in fuel, wear, and time with zero revenue coming in. A 150-mile deadhead at $1.75/mile costs $262 before you even pick up the load.
STEP 2: CHECK THE BROKER’S CREDIT
A great rate means nothing if the broker doesn’t pay. Or pays in 60 days. Or deducts $200 in “fees” you didn’t agree to. Broker vetting takes 2 minutes and saves you from the most expensive lesson in trucking: hauling for free.
What to check
- Credit score: 90+ with 100+ reports = reliable. 70–89 = proceed with caution. Below 70 = walk away.
- Days-to-pay average: Under 30 days is normal. 30–45 is slow but manageable if you factor. Over 45 is a red flag.
- Negative reports: Look for “slow pay,” “no pay,” “claims deducted,” or “double brokered.” Even one “no pay” report means move on.
- Active authority: Verify their MC number on FMCSA’s SAFER website. If their authority isn’t active, don’t haul.
- Bond status: Brokers are required to carry a $75,000 surety bond. If the bond is lapsed, that’s a major red flag.
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Broker credit scores, days-to-pay averages, and carrier reviews on every load. Vet brokers in 30 seconds before you commit. Plus real-time rate data by lane so you know what freight is actually paying.
STEP 3: CHECK BACKHAUL BEFORE YOU ACCEPT THE OUTBOUND
This is the step most drivers skip — and it’s the difference between a $450 day and a $90 day. Before you accept any outbound load, spend 2 minutes searching for freight going back from the delivery area.
Here’s why it matters:
📈 WITHOUT BACKHAUL
Outbound: Dallas → Memphis, $1,200, 450 loaded miles
Deadhead to pickup: 40 miles
Deadhead home from Memphis: 450 miles
Total miles: 940
Rate per all miles: $1.28/mile
Cost for 940 miles at $1.75: $1,645
Profit: -$445. You paid $445 to work.
📈 WITH BACKHAUL
Outbound: Dallas → Memphis, $1,200, 450 loaded miles
Deadhead to pickup: 40 miles
Backhaul: Memphis → Dallas, $900, 450 loaded miles
Deadhead to backhaul pickup: 25 miles
Total revenue: $2,100
Total miles: 965
Rate per all miles: $2.18/mile
Cost for 965 miles at $1.75: $1,689
Profit: $411. Same outbound load. Backhaul turned a $445 loss into $411 profit.
The outbound load didn’t change. The math did — because you checked for a backhaul before committing. If there’s no backhaul available, you have two options: reject the load entirely, or negotiate the outbound rate high enough to cover the empty return. A $1,200 load that leaves you deadheading 450 miles home needs to be $1,800+ to break even.
STEP 4: CALCULATE REVENUE PER DAY
Rate per mile tells you how efficiently a load pays. Revenue per day tells you how efficiently a load uses your time. Time is your most limited resource — you can only drive 11 hours a day and there are only 365 days a year.
The formula: Total load pay ÷ total days (including loading, transit, unloading, and any waiting) = revenue per day.
📈 LOAD C: HIGH RATE, LOW REVENUE PER DAY
Load pay: $3,200
Loaded miles: 1,100
Rate per loaded mile: $2.91 — looks great
Transit time: 2 days driving
Loading wait: 4 hours
Unloading wait: 3 hours
Total time: 2.5 days
Revenue per day: $1,280/day
📈 LOAD D: LOWER RATE, HIGHER REVENUE PER DAY
Load pay: $1,800
Loaded miles: 380
Rate per loaded mile: $4.74 — but that’s not why this is better
Transit time: 6 hours
Loading wait: 1 hour
Unloading wait: 30 minutes
Total time: 0.75 days
Revenue per day: $2,400/day — nearly 2x Load C
Load C pays more total and covers more miles. Load D makes you almost twice as much per day. If you can run 2 loads like Load D in the time it takes to run 1 Load C, you earn $3,600 instead of $3,200 — in the same time window.
Revenue per day is especially important for short-haul and regional operators. A $600 load delivered in 4 hours is $1,200/day revenue. A $1,500 load that takes all day plus a 6-hour wait at the receiver is $1,125/day. The “worse” load is actually the better one.
STEP 5: CHECK YOUR FLOOR RATE
Your floor rate is the absolute minimum you’ll accept per all miles. Below this number, you lose money. At this number, you break even. Above it, you profit.
The formula: Cost per mile + 20% margin = floor rate.
💰 FLOOR RATE BY COST PER MILE
If you don’t know your cost per mile, stop here. You cannot evaluate a load without knowing what it costs you to move your truck. Every dollar of fuel, every insurance payment, every truck payment, every toll, every maintenance expense — totaled up and divided by your monthly miles. That’s your cost per mile. Everything below that number is a loss. See our cost per mile guide for the full breakdown.
When to go below your floor
Almost never. But there are exactly two exceptions:
- Repositioning loads: A breakeven load that moves you from a dead market to a high-demand market is worth taking if you have confirmed freight waiting at the destination. The repositioning load is the cost of accessing better freight.
- Relationship building: Taking one below-floor load for a new direct shipper who offers consistent weekly freight at $3.00+/mile is a strategic investment. But set a limit — one trial load, not five.
In every other situation, if the rate per all miles doesn’t clear your floor: counter, negotiate, or walk. There is always another load. There is not always another chance to recover from hauling at a loss.
KNOW YOUR NUMBERS BEFORE YOU BOOK YOUR NEXT LOAD
The Financial Dashboard tracks cost per mile, revenue per day, profit per load, and 28 expense categories automatically. 238 built-in formulas. Know your floor rate, track every load, and see exactly which freight makes money.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: 3 REAL LOAD EVALUATIONS
Let’s run the full checklist on three loads and see which ones pass. Assume your cost per mile is $1.75 and your floor rate is $2.10 per all miles.
Load 1: Atlanta to Charlotte
📈 FULL EVALUATION
Pay: $750 | Loaded: 245 mi | Deadhead to pickup: 20 mi | Backhaul: Yes (Charlotte → Atlanta, $680)
Total revenue: $1,430 | Total miles: 530
Rate per all miles: $2.70 ✅
Broker credit: 96, 230 reports, 22-day avg pay ✅
Revenue per day: $1,430/day (same-day round trip) ✅
Floor check: $2.70 > $2.10 floor ✅
VERDICT: Book it. All 5 checks pass.
Load 2: Dallas to El Paso
📈 FULL EVALUATION
Pay: $1,600 | Loaded: 570 mi | Deadhead to pickup: 80 mi | Backhaul: None — 570 mi deadhead return
Total revenue: $1,600 | Total miles: 1,220
Rate per all miles: $1.31 ❌
Broker credit: 82, 45 reports, 38-day avg pay ⚠
Revenue per day: $533/day (3 days total) ❌
Floor check: $1.31 < $2.10 floor ❌
VERDICT: Hard pass. Below cost even before the slow-paying broker. Counter at $2,800+ or walk.
Load 3: Houston to San Antonio
📈 FULL EVALUATION
Pay: $480 | Loaded: 197 mi | Deadhead to pickup: 15 mi | Backhaul: Yes ($420, SA → Houston)
Total revenue: $900 | Total miles: 424
Rate per all miles: $2.12 ✅ (barely)
Broker credit: 94, 180 reports, 25-day avg pay ✅
Revenue per day: $900/day (half-day round trip) ✅
Floor check: $2.12 > $2.10 floor ✅
VERDICT: Marginal but take it. $900 for half a day lets you run a second load in the afternoon.
THE LOADS THAT TRICK YOU
Some loads look profitable on the surface but fail the checklist. Here are the most common traps:
The “great rate” trap
$3.50/mile loaded. Sounds amazing. But the pickup is 200 miles from your current location, the delivery drops you in a rural area with no freight, and the broker has a 65 credit score. Rate per all miles: $1.90. Below your floor. And you might not get paid.
The “quick turnaround” trap
Short haul, fast delivery, decent rate. But the shipper is notorious for 4-hour loading delays and the receiver has a 3-hour dock wait. Your “half-day” load becomes a full-day load, and revenue per day drops 50%.
The “positioning” trap
Taking a below-cost load to “reposition” into a better market — but you don’t actually have freight confirmed in that market. You arrive, search the load board, and find nothing better than what you left. Now you’re in a new market at a loss with no guaranteed freight.
RELATED GUIDES
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The number that matters is rate per ALL miles (including deadhead), not rate per loaded mile. A good rate per all miles is your cost per mile plus at least 20% margin. If your cost per mile is $1.75, your floor is $2.10 per all miles. For most owner-operators, $2.25–$3.50 per all miles is profitable depending on equipment type and operating costs.
Total load pay divided by total miles (loaded miles + deadhead to pickup + deadhead after delivery if no backhaul). A $1,400 load for 500 loaded miles with 150 miles deadhead to pickup = $1,400 ÷ 650 total miles = $2.15 per all miles. Without deadhead, that same load looks like $2.80/mile — a 30% difference.
Check their credit score on a load board like Truckstop or DAT before you haul. A score above 90 with 100+ reports means they pay reliably. Below 70 or with “slow pay” reports is a red flag. Also verify their MC number is active on FMCSA’s SAFER website and confirm their bond is current. Never haul for a broker with no credit history.
Revenue per day is your total load pay divided by the number of days the load takes from pickup to delivery (including waiting and deadhead time). A $2,000 load that takes 1 day earns $2,000/day. A $3,000 load that takes 3 days earns $1,000/day. The second load pays more total but earns less per day of your time. Revenue per day is the most accurate measure of profitability because it accounts for time, not just miles.
Only if it repositions you into a high-demand market where you have confirmed freight waiting. A breakeven load from a slow market to Dallas is worth it if you have a $3.00+/mile load booked out of Dallas. A breakeven load that drops you in the middle of nowhere with no backhaul is paying to work. Always evaluate the load plus what comes after it.