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Level 3: Top of the field · Lesson 13 of 17

The numbers that matter

The best driver managers know their board's numbers every week and know which of their own decisions moved them. These are the ones carriers watch.

Revenue per truck per week: what each truck earned. It combines miles and rate, so it's the single best measure of how productive your board is. Miles per truck per week: how far each truck ran. Rate per mile: revenue divided by miles, usually counting all miles, loaded and empty.

Empty or deadhead percentage: empty miles divided by total miles. Many truckload fleets land somewhere around 10 to 20%; each point lower is money straight to the bottom line. Utilization or seated trucks: how many trucks have a driver. An unseated truck earns nothing and still has a payment.

On-time pickup and delivery: the percent of stops made on time. Customers watch this, and losing a big account often starts with a slipping on-time number. Service failures should be explained, not just counted.

Cost per mile: what it costs to run a truck a mile, including fuel, driver pay, equipment, insurance and repairs. Industry surveys have put this above $2 a mile in recent years. Operating ratio: operating costs divided by revenue. An operating ratio of 95% means the company keeps 5 cents of every dollar before tax. Trucking runs on thin margins, which is why every empty mile and every idle day matters.

On the desk

A truck ran 2,500 miles this week, 300 of them empty. What's its empty (deadhead) percentage?

More info

Terms in this lesson

Revenue per truck per weekWhat each truck earned: the best single productivity number.
Miles per truckHow far each truck ran in the week.
Rate per mileRevenue divided by miles.
Empty %Empty miles divided by all miles.
Seated truckA truck with a driver assigned to it.
On-time %Share of pickups and deliveries made on time.
Cost per mileWhat it costs to run one mile, all in.
Operating ratioOperating costs divided by revenue; lower is better.

The scenario answers

  1. A truck ran 2,500 miles this week, 300 of them empty. What's its empty (deadhead) percentage? 12%. 300 ÷ 2,500 = 0.12, so 12%. That's in the normal range for truckload; under 10% is very good.
  2. A truck earned $5,250 on 2,100 total miles. What's its rate per mile? $2.50. $5,250 ÷ 2,100 = $2.50 per mile.
  3. A carrier had $10 million in revenue and $9.6 million in operating costs. What's its operating ratio? 96%. $9.6M ÷ $10M = 0.96, an operating ratio of 96%. The company kept 4 cents of each dollar before tax.
  4. Your board's revenue per truck dropped 10% this month though rates held steady. What's the most likely cause to check first? Fewer miles per truck, from more idle time, deadhead or unseated trucks. If rate held, the drop is usually miles: trucks waiting for loads, more time at docks, missed preplans or empty seats. Look at miles per truck and idle days by driver.
  5. Two driver managers both run 40 trucks. One has 98% on-time but low miles; the other has high miles but 88% on-time. What's the best read? Both have a problem to fix: the best boards are high on both. Top driver managers keep trucks moving and keep their promises to customers. One number at the expense of the other means planning isn't working.

General training, not legal or compliance advice. Rules are the US federal ones (FMCSA) as of 2026; check the current text and your company’s policies.