---
title: "Backhaul (Return Load)"
description: "What a backhaul or return load is in road freight, how it reduces empty running, and why it affects the rate in each direction."
url: https://dealtilogistics.com/en/insights/backhaul
language: en
date_published: 2026-10-13
date_modified: 2026-10-13
author: "Dealti Insights"
publisher: "Dealti Logistics"
---

# Backhaul (Return Load)

A backhaul, or return load, is cargo a truck carries on the way back from a delivery, so that the return trip earns revenue and is not run empty.

Whether a backhaul is available affects the price of the outbound trip. If a truck is likely to find a return load near the delivery point, the outbound rate only has to cover its own costs; if not, the carrier prices in the [empty running](/en/insights/empty-running) that follows. This is why the same lane can cost more in one direction than the other. On Turkey to Central Asia routes, where a round trip takes weeks, the return load is planned together with the outbound shipment.

---

Source: [Backhaul (Return Load)](https://dealtilogistics.com/en/insights/backhaul) - Dealti Logistics.