Mileage poses risk and reward. There are some concerns you must deal with when managing your mileage in the courier industry, and such concerns must be faced in a manner that reduces loss and magnifies profit.

This is so vital because couriers base their entire work around mileage. Regardless of whether you run a fleet or work simply with a single truck, you will be concerned about how many miles you are covering, the money each of these miles brings in, and the loss afforded to dead mileage.

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The Threat Of Dead Mileage

Dead mileage occurs when the outward journey, paid for by the client, is matched by a useless trip carrying nothing on the way back. Those who work regularly with owner driver jobs know that while you need to expand your routes, the threat of every route carrying dead mileage is significant. The losses incurred by these empty trips must be measured against potential growth.

The Need To Expand Despite The Threat

Yet despite the possibility of every return leg having no profit, owner driver jobs should multiply and routes should increase. Those who run a small business cannot let fear of potential loss and the hectic nature of their daily routine dampen a desire to seek out chances to grow mileage with longer routes or more of them. If you know the precise risks of dead mileage, you can obviate them.

Mitigating The Risk For Your Vehicles

Many owner driver jobs will lower the life expectancy of vehicles through dead mileage. This is the first specific risk you must obviate, since every return load that is empty is basically only adding wear and tear to your trucks. This lowers their durability through trips where you are making no money.  In turn, this results in greater expenses spent on vehicle maintenance and renewal and can lower profits long-term.

Mitigating The Fuel Costs

The second specific risk that must be faced when working with owner driver jobs, whether you have one van or many, is the wastage of fuel on the return leg. It is a loss of money because you are paying for fuel to match the fuel paid for by the client on the original leg. As you grow routes, you will grow an equal amount of return legs, and if they incur dead mileage, fifty per cent of the fuel you spend on each journey will be wasted.

The Value Of Return Loads

The key to dealing with these two fundamental problems of dead mileage, while still increasing your routes and mileage overall, is making good use of return loads. Return loads are the antidote to dead mileage, since they fill the necessary trip home with a paid package. While it can be tough to arrange them around your original outbound routes, online courier exchanges help you find return load clients efficiently.

The Stability Of Return Loads

If you focus on having return loads as well as your usual loads, you can focus on growing your mileage. Hence, if you wish to multiply profits you must maintain regular return loads. They can be negotiated with the client who had booked your outbound route or can be gained from new clients who need a package delivered to a destination near your home base.