Bulk ships are the mirror image of container ships: they sail for China fully laden and return nearly empty.

ECONOMIST: Maersk orders ten colossal vessels

Manager Steve Dew said customers had to return an empty glass or bottle in order to be served another drink.

BBC: The Escapade nighclub in Newport

In the past, Hakuta might find himself carrying a load of stainless-steel pipes from a factory in Tokyo's suburbs to Nagoya, only to return home empty-handed.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Japan's Mobile-Phone Culture

For a monthly charge, we give our customers an attractive WC-style portable toilet which we return to empty and clean 2, 3 or 4 times a week.

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"We are trying to do everything we can to work with property owners and return these long-term empty properties to use, " he said.

BBC: Kent and Medway housing list grows 60% in 10 years

While the Mets will return home to plenty of empty seats in Flushing this week, the Nationals play in an atmosphere befitting a pennant race.

WSJ: For the Mets, a Rainout Might be Preferable

As the empty AirTran plane taxied for its return to Atlanta, Peyton and Eli Manning headed off to spend some time in the region they call home.

CNN: Manning brothers team up for Katrina relief

First-class existing buildings are priced to yield only around 5% to an all-cash buyer, says research firm Green Street Advisors. (The return they talk about is rent minus the costs of operating and maintaining the building and leasing any empty space.) But a skillfully developed new property can bag an annual cash return of up to 10% of its construction costs.

FORBES: On The Cover/Top Stories

On Monday, a maintenance worker discovered the electrical fire aboard an empty plane being prepared at a gate at Logan for a return trip to Japan.

CNN: Dreamliner safety review: What it means for fliers