How to Reduce Empty Fleet Runs in 2026

How to reduce empty backhauls to a minimum. A detailed guide for European carriers and logistics managers.

How to Reduce Empty Fleet Runs in 2026: A Practical Guide

Empty runs are the most powerful killer of profitability for any transport company. According to European Commission statistics, over 20% of all trucks on EU roads are driving empty. In monetary terms, these are billions of euros burned in the form of diesel fuel, driver salaries, and equipment depreciation that generate zero revenue.

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How to Reduce Empty Fleet Runs in 2026

In 2026, when transport margins are falling due to rising taxes and ecological tolls, driving empty is an unaffordable luxury. In this article, we will examine the most effective strategies and digital tools that will help forwarders and fleet owners reduce empty mileage to a minimum and turn losses into stable profit.

1. Planning Round-Trips: A Paradigm Shift

A classic mistake of a novice dispatcher is looking for cargo only "one way" (for example, from Kyiv to Warsaw), hoping to find a return load upon unloading. In the realities of 2026, such an approach is guaranteed to lead to 2-3 days of downtime or an empty return to base.

The Round-Trip Strategy:

Professional logisticians plan a trip exclusively as a closed loop. Before signing an export order, the dispatcher is obliged to find and book an import (or internal transit) load from a neighboring region.

For example, if a truck is heading to Berlin, the dispatcher uses the Cargo Radar in advance to find a return load from Poznan or Leipzig for dates that coincide with the unloading time. Thus, the useful mileage coefficient approaches 95%.

2. Algorithmic Matching and "Triangular" Routes

Direct return loads (A -> B -> A) cannot always be found. If the unloading region is economically depressed or non-export-oriented, the dispatcher needs to build "triangular" or complex polygonal routes (A -> B -> C -> A).

In 2026, building such routes manually takes too long. Algorithmic Matching comes to the rescue. Intelligent systems on platforms like CarGoPro analyze thousands of active orders and automatically suggest load chains.

For example:

This approach not only avoids an empty return but also allows earning on high-margin intra-European trips (cabotage), provided the company has the appropriate permits.

3. Less Than Truckload (LTL) as an Alternative to Waiting

Often, dispatchers refuse a return load if it only takes up half the trailer, and the truck returns empty. This is a mathematically flawed decision. Any cargo that covers fuel costs and road tolls on the way home is better than an empty run.

Efficient fleets actively consolidate cargo (LTL - Less Than Truckload). If a dispatcher sees that finding a full truck (FTL) from the required region is impossible, they "assemble" a truck from 3-4 small shipments. To do this, it is necessary to post an available truck offer in advance in the Transport Search tools, marked "ready for partial load", indicating the available volume in cubic meters and free loading meters (LDM).

4. Integrating Telematics into Freight Exchanges

The highest level of minimizing empty runs is achieved by integrating your fleet's GPS telematics with logistics marketplaces.

How it works: the system "sees" in real-time where your vehicle is and when it will become available. Thanks to predictive analytics, the algorithm automatically searches for loads within a 50-100 km radius of the future unloading point and sends a push notification to the dispatcher: "In 4 hours, truck AA1234BB will be available in Krakow. Found 3 hot loads within a 30 km radius." This allows intercepting the most lucrative urgent orders before they hit the public board.

Successfully combating empty runs is the result of synergy between competent personnel and modern IT tools. Carriers who integrate digital logistics into their daily business processes can increase the profitability of a single vehicle by 15-20% solely by eliminating "air" miles.