07/20/2026
2-month-old MC. $26,250 in 30 days. 16% deadhead. Here's what actually happened.
I want to share real numbers from a carrier we dispatched last month — no embellishment, no cherry-picking. Because I see a lot of vague "we get top rates!" posts in hotshot groups and I think you deserve actual data.
The carrier: Brand new MC. 2 months of authority. Hotshot operator running the spot market.
The month (June 4 – July 3):
→ 12 loads booked
→ 10,881 loaded miles
→ 2,114 deadhead miles (16.3%)
→ $26,250 gross revenue
→ $2.41 RPM on loaded miles
→ States covered: TX, ND, MN, AZ, MI, GA, NY, PA, MO, NM
The average new owner-op with a fresh MC runs 28–35% deadhead. This carrier ran 16.3%. That difference — roughly 1,500 miles of empty miles avoided — is worth over $3,000 at their rate.
How? Three things we do on every load:
1. We know the CPM before we touch the first load. Not every dispatcher asks this. Ours won't book a single mile without it. Every load either clears the margin threshold or we don't take it.
2. We plan Legs 2 and 3 before booking Leg 1. That's why the deadhead stayed low across 10 states. We don't send a truck somewhere without knowing what comes out of the delivery city — before the wheels turn.
3. We maintain broker relationships they didn't have to build themselves. As a 2-month-old MC, being consistently booked by CH Robinson and TQL is not an accident. It takes relationships and a clean track record managed on their behalf.
This is what a professional dispatch service is supposed to do. Not just find you a load — run your freight like a business.
Ask yourself or your current dispatcher two questions:
1. What is my CPM?
2. What does backhaul look like out of my next delivery city?
If they hesitate on either one — that hesitation is costing you money every week. See less
