How to find backloads: search load boards by the area you'll be tipping in, post your truck's empty leg, ask the customers you deliver to, and get on forwarders' and port contacts' lists. Then check at the right times and price on marginal cost. Doing all nine things below, every week, is what turns occasional backloads into regular ones.
This guide is for hauliers and owner-drivers who already know what a backload is and want practical ways to get more of them. For definitions, costs and route-by-route detail, read our complete guide to backloads.
1. Use load boards properly
Most hauliers search a load board for loads from their home town. That’s backwards. Search for loads leaving the place you’ll be empty, at the time you’ll be empty. On Freight1, set the category to your trailer type, enter the collection area, and save the best loads to favourites so you can compare them before calling. Look at the budget on the card. Many boards hide it; Freight1 lets shippers show it, which saves pointless calls. With 30% of UK lorry distance driven empty in 2024 (DfT), the board is full of shippers who know trucks are coming back their way. Your job is to be the first credible reply.
Load board checklist
- Filter by trailer type and tipping area
- Check the night before and at 7am
- Message with truck, location and earliest collection
- Note the shippers who post on your lanes
Read the load notes before you ring. “Pin in hand”, “slot booked 06:00” or “tail-lift needed” tell you whether the job fits, and quoting them back shows the shipper you’ve read the job properly.
2. Go direct to shippers
Every delivery is a sales call. The warehouse you tip at probably sends goods out too, and the goods-in supervisor knows who books transport. Ask: “Do you ever have outbound loads going east on a Tuesday?” Leave a card with your number and the lanes you run. On Freight1, shippers who post loads on your lanes regularly are worth contacting outside the board as well, and you can open their member profile to see what they move. One regular shipper on your return lane is worth more than ten one-off backloads. See how shippers choose hauliers to understand what they look for.
Keep a simple list of every site you deliver to, with what they ship and who to ask. After a few months you’ll have a map of backload sources on every lane you run, and it costs you nothing to build.
3. Work with freight forwarders
Forwarders handle thousands of container and trailer moves and are always short of reliable trucks at short notice, especially for empty container returns and late-booked export collections. Approach two or three forwarders near the ports you serve. Send a one-page profile: vehicles, trailer types, operator licence number, Goods in Transit cover and lanes you run. Expect them to check your licence on GOV.UK and ask for insurance certificates. Freight1 forwarder members post jobs on the board too, so a good first job there is often how the relationship starts.
Once you’re on a forwarder’s list, reliability is everything. Hit the slot, send the POD the same day and answer the phone. Forwarders give the urgent, well-paid jobs to the hauliers they don’t have to chase.
4. Use the ports
Ports generate return work all day. At Felixstowe, the UK’s busiest container port (about 3.6 million TEU in 2025), import boxes go west on the A14 and empties and exports come back. Southampton (M27/M3/A34) and London Gateway (A13/M25) work the same way. Know your booking systems: Felixstowe’s Container Booking Service replaced the old VBS in 2025 and charges for peak-time slots and late changes, so a backload that misses its slot can cost you money. Line up the backload before you book the import slot, not after.
5. Join networks and swap work
Pallet networks offer trunking work on fixed nightly routes, which suits hauliers with spare capacity on a regular lane, though it comes with service-level obligations. Informal networks matter as much: a haulier based in the North West who regularly has southbound work and needs northbound capacity is your natural partner. Trade groups, regional WhatsApp groups and port user forums all help. Be careful with any work passed on second- or third-hand, though. Confirm who the actual shipper is, and never collect a load without written instructions.
If you’re an owner-driver, don’t underestimate subcontract work from larger fleets. Many hauliers subcontract overflow to trusted owner-drivers at a fair rate, and that work often runs on the same lanes every week.
6. Get the timing right
Backloads are a timing game. Many shippers post the afternoon before collection, and urgent work appears first thing in the morning. Fridays are hard: shippers want goods moved before the weekend and hauliers want to get home. If you can run a Friday-afternoon or Saturday backload, you’ll often name your price. Peak season (October to December) brings more freight than trucks on retail lanes, while January and August are quieter. Post your truck’s empty leg as soon as you know it. A listing posted two days ahead gets far more shipper enquiries than one posted an hour before you tip.
Watch the clock at ports too. Terminal slots for empty returns and export deliveries are tight at peak times, so a backload with a flexible delivery time is easier to fit around your import slot than one fixed at 08:00.
7. Price it so it pays
Price on marginal cost: the extra miles off your direct route, extra waiting time and the fuel for the weight. Don’t price on full cost, because you’re driving home anyway. Recent container loads on the Freight1 board give a reference: London Gateway to Manchester (165 miles) at £900, Tilbury to Manchester (175 miles) at £940, Felixstowe to Rochdale (185 miles) at £960, roughly £5 to £5.50 per loaded mile. Backloads usually settle lower, but anything well above your marginal cost is profit. The factors that matter are detour, waiting time, urgency, weight and handling, and how many other trucks are in the area. See UK haulage rates for current ranges.
Quick rule
Marginal cost + your minimum margin = your floor. Quote above it, don't go below it, and agree waiting-time charges in writing.
Keep a simple record of what each backload paid, the miles and the time it took. After a month you’ll know your real rate per loaded mile on each lane, and you can quote faster and more confidently.
8. Use the right tools
Two simple tools make a big difference. First, an empty-mile cost calculator: enter the empty distance, your mpg, the diesel price and driver cost to see what running empty would cost you. That’s your negotiating floor.
Empty-mile cost calculator
Excludes tyres, maintenance and depreciation. Defaults: 44t artic, RAC UK diesel average 199p/litre (28 Sep 2026) less VAT.
Second, favourites and alerts. Save the loads you’re considering; on Freight1 they stay in your favourites so you can act fast, and keep a note of the shippers who post on your lanes. Telematics or phone-based location sharing then lets you send a shipper an accurate ETA, which wins repeat work.
9. Turn backloads into regular work
The best backload is the one you don’t have to look for. When a shipper gives you a backload and it goes well, ask whether they have the same flow every week and offer a standing rate. Ratings help: on Freight1 every confirmed delivery lets the shipper rate you, so good work becomes visible to the next shipper too. Combine that with posting your truck on the same lane each week and you’ll find shippers start looking for you. Owner-drivers will find more in Freight1 for hauliers.
When you do agree a regular arrangement, put it in writing: lane, days, volume, rate, waiting time and how either side can end it. A one-page agreement protects both sides and makes the rate easy to review when fuel prices move.
Mistakes that cost you backloads
- Searching too late. By the time you’re tipped, the best loads in that area have gone. Search the evening before.
- Vague replies. “Can do” loses to “44t curtainsider, empty in Daventry 11:00, can collect by 13:00”. Give the shipper what they need to say yes.
- An empty profile. Shippers choose between offers by what they can check: licence, insurance, ratings, a real company name. Fill it in once.
- Chasing every load. Pick the loads that fit your route and kit, and price them properly. A bad backload is worse than none.
- Forgetting the relationship. Ring the shipper after a good job and ask what else they move. That call is how backloads become contracts.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best ways to find backloads in the UK?
Search load boards by the area you'll be tipping in, post your truck's empty leg, ask customers you deliver to, work with port forwarders, and build regular arrangements on lanes you run often.
How can I avoid driving home empty?
Plan the return before you leave: check loads leaving your delivery area the night before, post your available truck, and accept a lower rate if it's above your marginal cost.
When do most backloads get posted?
Many are posted the afternoon before collection, with urgent ones first thing in the morning. Post your truck's empty leg as early as possible.
Are backloads cheaper than normal haulage?
Often, because the haulier is already returning. For shippers, flexible dates make it easier for a haulier to fit the load in as a backload.
Can I find backloads for a van?
Yes. Van loads have their own category on Freight1, and many are urgent same-day jobs in both directions, so a van that's empty after a drop can often pick up a return job nearby.
Start today
Pick one lane you run every week and apply all nine steps to it this week. Search where you’ll tip, post your truck, ask the customer, price on marginal cost.
Sources
- Department for Transport: Domestic road freight statistics, United Kingdom 2024
- Container News: United Kingdom port throughput rises in 2025
- BIFA: Felixstowe changes from VBS to CBS
Facts last checked: 3 November 2026. Freight1 board examples are shippers' posted budgets, not quotes.