A truck driving with no chassis or container attached — just the tractor. Bobtailing is dead mileage: the driver isn’t moving freight but is still burning time and fuel, for instance going to fetch a chassis before a pickup. It’s one of the hidden costs behind chassis splits and congestion surcharges, since every bobtail move is time the trucker has to recover somewhere.
Full guideThe drayage accessorials that surprise shippers — and what each one means →