Free interactive pavement tool
Trucking Calculator for Paving & Hauling
Figure the truckloads, round-trip cycle time, and trucks needed for a paving or hauling day, from square footage or known tonnage, your truck type, and one drive time.
- Free, no signup
- Results on submit
- Planning estimate, not a quote
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Calculator
Enter the project assumptions
Complete the inputs, then calculate. If an assumption changes, submit again to refresh the documented result.
New for asphalt contractors
Buying from more than one plant? Compare them all at once.
This calculator plans one haul from one plant. The Haul Planner finds the hot mix plants around your job site and ranks them by what the job costs delivered, because the nearest plant is not always the cheapest once trucking is billed by the hour.
- Road drive times from the job to every plant in reach
- Your price per ton, trucking rate and dump fees, saved for every job
- The cheapest plant, what it saves, and how far a runner-up's price would have to drop to tie
Included free with Pro, Featured and Sponsored listings, or available on its own.
Before you use the result
What this estimate covers
Material is only half of a paving day. The other half is keeping it moving. This calculator starts from square footage and compacted depth (or a known tonnage), splits it into loads for the truck you are running, and works out how long one truck takes to go and come back.
Type in one drive time from the plant to the job. The trip back is counted the same, and you set how long loading and dumping take. That is everything it needs: nothing is looked up, and there is nothing to sign up for. Need to know the drive? The asphalt plant finder lists hot mix plants near a job site with their drive times.
It tells you the number of loads, the round-trip cycle, the trucks that keep the paver working without a gap, and how long it takes to place every load with the trucks you have. Real days move, since breakdowns, plant waits and traffic will shift the times, so treat the result as a starting plan, not a promise.
This calculator plans one haul from one plant. If you buy from more than one plant, the Haul Planner finds the plants around a job site and ranks them by what the job costs delivered, with your prices and trucking rate. See how it works, or how many trucks you need to pave.
Transparent assumptions
How this calculator works
Tonnage: area × compacted depth × density (the editable default is 145.2 lb/ft³, an FHWA estimating value for hot-mix asphalt) gives US tons, or skip the math and enter tonnage directly. Hauling rock or fill instead? Enter its tonnage and the result works the same.
Loads by truck type: pick a Super 10, 10-wheeler, transfer, super dump, end dump, or belly dump and the calculator fills a typical payload, 18 tons for a Super 10, for example. The tons-per-load field stays editable because legal payload varies by state, truck spec, and how your drivers actually load.
Round-trip cycle: loading + the drive to the job + dumping + the drive back is one cycle. Dividing the cycle by the dump time tells you how many trucks keep material arriving continuously. Fewer trucks and the crew waits; more and trucks stack at the paver.
Time to place every load: trucks arrive spaced by the dump time, one load at a time, so the paver is never asked to take two at once. The result shows how long it takes from the first load arriving to the last one off with the trucks you entered.
Formula used
- Tons = Area (ft²) × (Depth in ÷ 12) × Density (lb/ft³) ÷ 2,000
- Loads = ⌈Tons ÷ Tons per load⌉
- Cycle = Load min + Drive min + Dump min + Drive min
- Trucks for continuous paving = ⌈Cycle ÷ Dump min⌉
Quick reference
Typical planning payloads and loads by truck type
| Truck type | Typical payload | Loads for 100 tons | Loads for 500 tons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Super 10 dump truck | ≈ 18 tons | 6 loads | 28 loads |
| 10-wheeler dump truck | ≈ 15 tons | 7 loads | 34 loads |
| Truck & transfer | ≈ 24 tons | 5 loads | 21 loads |
| Super dump | ≈ 26 tons | 4 loads | 20 loads |
| End dump (semi) | ≈ 25 tons | 4 loads | 20 loads |
| Belly dump | ≈ 25 tons | 4 loads | 20 loads |
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
How many tons can a Super 10 dump truck haul?
A Super 10 is commonly planned at around 18 tons of asphalt or aggregate per load, though legal payload depends on the truck's tare weight and state axle-weight limits. Use your trucks' real scaled loads when you have them — the calculator's payload field is editable for exactly that reason.
How do I calculate how many truckloads of asphalt I need?
Convert the area and compacted depth to tons (area in ft² × depth in feet × density ÷ 2,000), then divide by the tons each truck hauls and round up. For example, 20,000 ft² at 3 inches compacted is roughly 363 tons — about 21 Super 10 loads at 18 tons per load.
How many trucks do I need to keep a paving crew running?
Divide the full round-trip cycle — loading, driving to the job, dumping, and driving back to the plant — by the time it takes the crew to work off one load. A 100-minute cycle with 20-minute dumps needs about 5 trucks for continuous paving. Fewer trucks and the paver waits; more and trucks queue at the job.
What is a trucking cycle time?
The cycle time is one complete loop: loading at the plant, driving loaded to the job, dumping or paving off, and driving empty back to the plant. It sets the whole day's rhythm — how often each truck can deliver, how many trucks the job needs, and how long the day runs.
What drive time should I enter?
The one-way time from the plant to the job for a loaded truck. A car's time from a map is a good start, but a loaded dump truck usually runs slower because of grades, scale stops and plant queues, so pad it for the legs your drivers know run long. The asphalt plant finder lists drive times from a job site to nearby plants.
How is this different from the Haul Planner?
This calculator plans one haul from one plant, with the drive time you type. The Haul Planner is for contractors who buy from more than one plant: it measures the road drive from a job site to every hot mix plant in reach, adds your price per ton, your trucking rate and any dump fee, and ranks the plants by delivered cost. It is included with Pro, Featured and Sponsored listings, or available on its own.
Can I use this for rock, dirt, or demolition hauling instead of asphalt?
Yes. Enter the tonnage directly (or adjust the density for your material), set the payload for the truck and material, and the loads and cycle work the same. For export hauling, treat the "plant" as the dump site or landfill and enter that drive time.
Why does the plan show the crew or trucks waiting?
If the round-trip cycle is longer than the number of trucks × dump time, gaps open between loads and the crew waits. If you run more trucks than the cycle can absorb, trucks arrive before the previous load is worked off and queue at the job. The result warns you when either happens so you can adjust the truck count before the day starts.
When the plan is ready
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