Field notes

Empty Kilometers and Backhaul Windows

7 January 2026

Empty kilometers accumulate when outbound loads are booked faster than return freight. For regional carriers in Thailand, the return leg from Chiang Mai or Hat Yai often travels light because the booking window closed before dispatch knew the truck would be free.

Mark every trip that leaves a destination with less than forty percent of rated load capacity. Group those trips by day of week and destination region. Patterns usually appear within a month: certain weekdays create predictable empty windows that sales can fill with standing backhaul offers.

Do not chase every empty kilometer. Some returns protect on-time commitments for a high-margin outbound customer. Record those as deliberate empty runs so they do not distort the depot’s efficiency target.

Share the empty-run map with sales and dispatch in the same meeting. When both teams see the same corridors, backhaul conversations stop sounding like competing priorities.