Marketplace

# Return loads

See which marketplace loads are worth taking on the way back from a trip instead of driving empty.

Updated October 5, 2026

**Who can do this:** The Marketplace feature on your platform.

After a trip's last stop, a vehicle often drives back empty to its next job or to your depot. The **Return loads** tab of a trip shows loads that fit that empty run, ranked by how much they are worth to you.

## Open the return loads

1. Open the trip.
2. Click the **Return loads** tab. It is shown on every trip when your platform has the Marketplace feature.
3. Wait a moment. Tenders your platform already holds appear first; while the freight exchanges are asked, you see _Checking the freight exchanges…_.
4. Read the list from the top: the best fits come first.

## How the loads are found

Transportial works out where and when the vehicle becomes free (the trip's last stop) and where it must be next. That destination is shown at the top:

* **Due next at**: the first stop of the vehicle's next trip, with **By** the time it is due there.
* **Returning to**: the nearest of your own locations, when there is no next trip.

It then looks for loads that pick up near the drop-off and deliver towards that destination, both among the open tenders you hold and live on your freight exchanges.

## Read a return load

| Item                 | Meaning                                                                                                          |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Score (%)            | How good the fit is overall. Higher is better.                                                                   |
| **… empty**          | Empty miles to the pickup.                                                                                       |
| **…× vs empty**      | Distance of the whole return with the load compared with driving back empty. Close to 1× is almost free revenue. |
| Weight and price     | The load's weight, its price and the revenue per mile.                                                           |
| Reasons and warnings | Why the load scores well, and what is wrong with it.                                                             |

Loads that break a limit, for example too far to drive empty, are shown greyed out at the end with the reason. That way you can tell "nothing available" from "just outside the limits".

Above the list, each exchange shows how many loads it returned, or _unavailable_ if it did not answer. If nothing fits, you see _No return load worth taking_.

## Take a return load

1. Click the load you want. A tender your platform already holds opens straight away.
2. For a load from a freight exchange, wait while it shows **Importing…**. It is imported as a tender and then opens, just like **Import** in [Search the freight exchanges](/en-us/help/search-freight-exchanges).
3. Check the lane, time windows and **Client Budget** on the **Overview**.
4. Click **Place bid** to bid on it. See [Bid on a tender](/en-us/help/bid-on-a-tender).
5. Or click **Open on** followed by the board name, on the load or on the tender, to respond on the exchange itself.
6. Once you have the work, plan it on the same vehicle after the current trip.

Importing a load stores a new tender, so it needs permission to create tenders. Without it, loads from freight exchanges cannot be clicked; use their **Open on** link instead.

The limits, such as the maximum empty miles (150 km by default), the maximum detour and waiting time and the target revenue per mile, are set per platform. Ask your administrator or Transportial support to change them.

## Related articles

* [Search the freight exchanges](/en-us/help/search-freight-exchanges)
* [Bid on a tender](/en-us/help/bid-on-a-tender)
* [The trip detail panel](/en-us/help/trip-detail)
* [The marketplace](/en-us/help/marketplace-overview)

## Still need help?

Our support team is happy to answer any question about Transportial.

[Contact support](/en-us/contact)[Report an issue](/en-us/report-issue)

---
Canonical page: https://transportial.com/en-us/help/return-loads