FREE FIELD CALCULATOR
Truck load calculator
Work out the truckloads needed, checking both room in the box and the payload weight you enter.
What you’ll need
- Loose volume: dug material after swell, not the yards still in the ground
- Truck capacity in loose yards
- Payload limit for that truck and route
- Loose density from the supplier or project, if you have it
Enter the haul above.
You will get the load count by volume, the load count by weight, and which of the two governs.
Try it with these numbers
- Enter loose volume 46, truck capacity 12 and loose density 1.35. Leave payload blank.
- Calculate. By volume alone, you should see 4 loads. The estimated total weight is 62.1 short tons.
- Enter payload 15 short tons and calculate again. The answer becomes 5 loads because weight controls.
- Change density to 1.70 for another illustrative material. You now have 78.2 tons and need 6 loads. Use your actual material value for the job.
Reading your result
Truckloads is the larger whole number from the volume and weight checks. A partially filled last truck is still a trip.
When weight controls, there can be room left in the box. The per-load figures are planning averages across the trips, not a loading instruction or proof of axle compliance. Actual scale tickets establish delivered weight.
Where this goes wrong on site
- Planning spring hauls to the usual limit. Spring thaw restrictions lower allowed weights on many roads. In Wisconsin, counties and towns decide when their own roads are posted, separate from WisDOT’s state-highway programs. Check the whole route, including local roads, before you promise a load count.
- Trusting a table density all day. Weigh the first few loads and correct the density from the scale tickets. Wet material weighs more than the same material dry.
- Entering bank yards without first allowing for swell.
- Using gross vehicle weight as payload. Payload is what the truck can carry after its own weight.
Sources: WisDOT seasonal weight restrictions
How the math works
Volume trips = ceil(loose volume ÷ truck capacity). Estimated weight = loose volume × loose density. Weight trips = ceil(weight ÷ payload). Use the greater whole count when both limits are entered. Material presets are editable; the calculator does not measure moisture or truck weight.
Keep the number with the job
Calculate above, then download a Letter or A4 PDF, copy the result or share it from your phone. The result sheet keeps your inputs and assumptions. Changing an input means you need to calculate again before exporting.
Open the private field workspace for saved jobs and reports across your phone and computer, or read the free-calculator guide. Tell Jesse what would make this easier on your job.
Useful on your job?
Share this free calculator with someone who could use it, or tell Jesse what needs improving.
Shares the tool link only, without your measurements. https://driftlesssolutions.us/tools/truck-loads/