Shorter runs typically pay more than those with more miles. Lately, many of those rates have not been doing very well, either. It was the manufacturers with their own trucks who started the backhaul trend. I remember some produce haulers back in the 1960's and 1970's who would take a load to California or Florida and from there they would buy their own produce and haul it back rather than take something cheap. Some of them did very well for themselves.

 

Thanks RostyC I'll try to be more careful where I point that thing. Anyway in the 70's I hauled potatoes out of Maine with a reefer(40 foot long) We would try to get loads to other hot produce area's and do really well both ways. But truck rates on produce were based on supply and demand, so when the taters were at thier peak, if you loaded heavy and stayed in the area before the rate drop off you could go back empty and still do the equivilent of $1.50 pm for the round. As I recall the rate stalled around D.C. I used to go to Hunts Point Market in the Bronx and right back up. There wasn't much freight going back to Maine but if you did get a load up there Ironicly it also paid well.