Mid$-$West Trucking is a medium$-$sized TL carrier based in Des Moines, Iowa. Like many other carriers based in Iowa and surrounding states, Mid$-$West Trucking faces much demand for eastbound shipments $($because in most cases productions of goods take place in Midwest areas and consumptions take place in large cities in East Coast regions$).$ Since not much demand exists for westbound shipments $($from East Coast cites to midwestern areas$),$ the carrier had struggled with finding backhaul customers for many years. Historical data showed that only about $20$ percent of the time the carrier could find backhaul customers, meaning that about $80$ percent of the time the carrier had to return its trucks to Iowa empty $($no revenue load$).$ For this reason, Mid$-$West Trucking now provides a large price discount for the westbound shipments to capture the customer demands that would otherwise not exist $($needless to say, generating a little money on backhaul is better than generating no money on backhaul$).$