How to Use the Haul Planner: Find the Cheapest Hot Mix Plant for a Job

Why price per ton is not enough

The steps, one at a time

1. 1

   Step 1: Enter the job

   Open the Haul Planner and fill in This job: the job-site address, the tons of new asphalt, the mix, and how many tons of old asphalt you will be dumping, if any. Choose how far to look with Search within, from 20 minutes up to what your plan allows.

   Don't know the tons? Open Don't know the tons? Figure it from square feet, enter the area and the compacted depth, and press Use this tonnage. It figures tons at 145 lb per cubic foot.

   

   Tips

   • Use the exact street address. A city or ZIP code is measured from its center, so the drive times are rougher.
   • Pick the mix you are actually paving. Your price per ton is saved per mix, so you can run the same plants for a base course and a surface course.
2. 2

   Step 2: Set your trucking and fees once

   Open Trucking, fees and mixes. Enter the most trucks you'll run, your truck rate per hour, tons per truck, the hauler's minimum hours per truck, how long loading at the plant takes, how long the paver takes a load in, and how much slower a loaded truck is than a car.

   These are saved to your account, so the next job starts from them. The same card holds your default dump fee and the list of mixes you buy; add a mix by name and it appears in the job card's mix menu.

   

   Tips

   • Start numbers are 4 trucks, $100 an hour and 18 tons a truck. They are placeholders, not recommendations.
   • If your hauler bills a minimum number of hours per truck, enter it. On a short haul the minimum, not the drive, is often what you pay.
3. 3

   Step 3: Find the plants

   Press Find plants and compare. The planner measures the road drive time, with typical traffic, from the job to every hot mix plant in reach, plus any plants you have added yourself, and lists them nearest first.

   This is the one step that costs us a lookup, so it counts against your weekly allowance. Reopening a job you have already searched is free, and so is a plant you have already measured from that address.

   

   Tips

   • Each card shows the drive time for a loaded truck as well as by car, because that is the time that bills.
   • Tap Directions on any card to open the route in Google Maps, or the phone number to call the plant.
4. 4

   Step 4: Type your price at each plant

   On each plant's card, enter your price per ton for the mix, and an old asphalt dump fee if that plant charges one. If you leave the dump fee blank it uses your default. A plant with no price stays at the bottom as Not ranked yet.

   The ranking updates as you type. Cards hold their place while you are typing in them, then re-sort when you move on, so the list does not jump under your thumb.

   

   Tips

   • Price at least two plants. With only one priced, the banner says so, because there is nothing for it to beat yet.
   • A negative dump fee is a credit, for a plant that pays for your millings.
5. 5

   Step 5: Read the best deal

   The banner at the top of the results names the cheapest plant for this job, its total, its delivered cost per ton and how far away it is. It also says how much it saves against the nearest priced plant, which is the comparison most of us make by default.

   When the nearest plant is also the cheapest, it tells you that instead, so you can stop looking.

   

6. 6

   Step 6: See where the money goes on any plant

   Every card splits its total into mix, trucking (trucks × hours billed), dump fee and loads, with the round-trip time per load. Under that, a runner-up shows how much more than the best deal it costs and how far its mix price would have to drop to tie. That figure is what you take into a call with a plant.

   Warnings appear where they matter: a haul over an hour each way, a haul long enough for the mix to cool, or a truck count that leaves the paver waiting, with the number of trucks that would keep it moving.

   

   Tips

   • Try changing the number of trucks in Trucking, fees and mixes. Fewer trucks cost less per hour but can leave the paver idle, and the planner shows the trade.
7. 7

   Step 7: Correct a plant with Plant settings

   Open Plant settings on a card to fix what the directory has wrong or add what you know. Change location moves the plant (paste an address, or the coordinates Google Maps copies when you right-click a spot), and the next search measures from there.

   Tick This plant does not take old asphalt and it drops out of any job with a dump, rather than quoting a dump fee it can't charge. Add a private note (scale hours, gate, who to call). Hide this plant from my searches removes one you never buy from; hidden plants are listed lower on the page with a Show again button.

   

   Tips

   • After moving a plant, search again. Its drive time is only re-measured on a new search.
   • Your notes, edited locations and hidden plants are private to your account.
8. 8

   Step 8: Add a plant the directory doesn't have

   Under Your plants, add your own yard, a supplier you buy from, or any plant that is not in the directory. Give it a name, an optional phone number, and an address or coordinates. It is measured on the next search, ranked like any other plant, and keeps its prices from job to job.

   You can keep up to 30 of your own plants on a listing plan (10 on the standalone subscription).

   

   Tips

   • Coordinates skip an address lookup and are exact, which helps for a yard on an unmarked road.
9. 9

   Step 9: Copy the comparison

   Press Copy comparison above the results to copy a plain-text summary of the ranking: each plant, its total, its price per ton delivered and the saving. Paste it into a text, an email or a bid file so the people who sign off can see why you chose a plant.

   Your work saves itself as you go. Close the tab and your prices, rates, mixes and plants are still there next time.

On a phone or tablet

How the total is calculated

The planner is transparent about its arithmetic so you can check it against your own. For each plant:

Mix

Tons × your price per ton at that plant.

Trucking

Trucks × hours billed × your hourly rate. Hours billed is the longer of the delivery time and the paver's time, and never less than your hauler's minimum.

Old asphalt

Tons to dump × that plant's dump fee. A negative fee is a credit. A plant marked as not taking old asphalt is not ranked on a job with a dump.

Limits and plans

Compare listing plans or see the Haul Planner page.

If something doesn't work

The address can't be placed

The message says what is missing. Usually it is the state or the city: use a street address with its city and state, such as "1200 Main St, Springfield, IL", or a ZIP code. A city or ZIP code works but measures from its center.

No plants found

Search within a longer time, or add a plant you buy from under Your plants. The directory only lists plants that make hot mix.

Weekly limit reached

A new job site opens again as the week rolls over. A job you have already searched still opens free, and you can keep entering prices on it.

A plant shows "enter a price"

It has no price for the selected mix. Type your price per ton on its card and it joins the ranking. Prices are saved per mix.

A plant is missing

You may have hidden it. Look under Hidden from your searches near the bottom of the page and press Show again, then search again.

I moved a plant and its time didn't change

Plants are re-measured on the next search. Press Search again; the notice "Plants changed. Search again to measure them." shows while one is waiting.

"Drive times cannot be measured right now"

A temporary problem on our side. Wait a few minutes and try again; jobs you have already searched are unaffected.

My changes aren't saving

Changes save automatically a moment after you stop typing, when you have a connection. If you reach your plan's plant or mix limit, remove one before adding another.

The tool isn't included in my account

It comes with a Pro, Featured or Sponsored listing, or as a standalone subscription. See the Haul Planner page to subscribe.

Haul Planner: common questions