Two ZIPs, a toggle between empty-return and loaded-outbound, and a $/mile input you control. The math is the same one the DAT board posts — Haversine over a WGS-84 Earth radius — and the result is a planning number, not a live quote.
Which leg are you pricing?
Estimated Deadhead
Enter an origin ZIP to start.
ZIPs must be five digits each.
$/mile resets to $2.50 if cleared.
How the math works
A carrier should be able to look at a result and reverse-engineer how it was built. So the engine is six small, named pieces — every one of them a single keyboard+physics step, nothing exotic.
We resolve each ZIP to a centroid in a curated US-corridor dataset — every ZIP in scope is a real, dispatch-planner-relevant metro area. Type two ZIPs from the same dataset and the lookup is symmetric.
The two centroids are mapped to an as-the-crow-flies mile figure using the standard Haversine formula on the WGS-84 mean radius (3958.7613 mi) — the same approach DAT, Sonar, and most public lane calculators publish.
Empty-return legs are the whole lane — every mile is deadhead, multiplier 1.0. Loaded-outbound legs are the dispatch-planning convention of half revenue miles, half deadhead — multiplier 0.5. The multiplier is the only policy choice; the math underneath it is fixed.
Default rate is $2.50/mi. Edit it to whatever your fleet's deadhead cost-of-operation is (rate floors, return-leg fuel burn, etc.) — the calculator re-runs on every change.
If you punch the same ZIP twice, the two centroids share coordinates — the Haversine is zero, the cost is zero, and the readout calls this out explicitly so you can sanity-check the formula.
No analytics ping, no third-party API, no save-to-account. The calculator is a pure client-side function: open it, type your ZIPs, get your number, close the tab. Dispatch never sees the inputs.
Want a real quote?
Send a one-line email when you're ready to dispatch. The number on the calculator is a great-circle lane estimate over ZIP centroids — it does not see fuel surcharges, tolls, HOS, or your lane history. When you're ready to actually move the load, email dispatch with the load ID and the lane — reply comes back the same business day.
What this widget is not
No account. No signup. No data leaves the device.
Operating under MC #1789416 · USDOT #4123675 · 666 Savage.