Before you use the result
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're running, and builds a minute-by-minute haul plan around the drive times between your yard, the plant or materials yard, and the job site.
Enter the three addresses and the calculator can look up drive times with typical traffic for each leg: yard to plant in the morning, plant to job and back all day, and job to yard when the last load is off. Every drive time stays editable, so you can pad for a loaded truck, a scale line, or a plant that loads slow.
Tell it when you want the first load on the job and it works backward to the time each truck must leave the yard, then forward through every load: when each truck loads, leaves the plant, arrives, dumps, and cycles back — including where the crew would wait on trucks or trucks would stack up at the paver.
Use the plan to sanity-check trucking quotes, decide how many trucks to order, and hand dispatch a schedule instead of a guess. Real days move — breakdowns, plant waits, and traffic will shift the times — so treat this as a documented starting plan, not a promise.
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 schedule 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.
Drive times: with the three addresses entered, one click fetches car-based drive times with typical traffic for all four legs (yard → plant, plant → job, job → plant, and job → yard). No addresses? Type the four drive times in directly.
Round-trip cycle: loading + plant-to-job + dumping + job-back-to-plant 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.
Dispatch schedule: trucks are staggered by the dump time so each arrives as the previous load finishes. The schedule shows every load's plant departure, job arrival, and dump window, each truck's morning leave-the-yard time, and when each truck gets back to the yard after the last load.
Formula used
- Tons = Area (ft²) × (Depth in ÷ 12) × Density (lb/ft³) ÷ 2,000
- Loads = ⌈Tons ÷ Tons per load⌉
- Cycle = Load min + Plant→Job min + Dump min + Job→Plant min
- Trucks for continuous paving = ⌈Cycle ÷ Dump min⌉
- Leave yard = First arrival − Yard→Plant − Load min − Plant→Job
Quick reference
Typical planning payloads and loads by truck type
Planning payloads only — legal payload varies by state axle-weight law, truck configuration, and material. Loads shown for a 500-ton day; the calculator recomputes for your tonnage and payload.
| 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 |
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.
How accurate are the drive times?
Address lookups return car-based estimates that account for typical traffic, but a loaded dump truck usually runs slower — grades, scale stops, and plant queues add time. Every drive-time field stays editable, so pad the legs your drivers know run long and rebuild the plan.
How does the dispatch schedule decide when trucks leave the yard?
It works backward from the time you want the first load on the job: arrival time minus the plant-to-job drive, minus loading time, minus the yard-to-plant drive equals the leave-the-yard time. Each following truck is staggered by the dump time so loads arrive as the crew works them off.
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, cycle, and dispatch schedule work the same. For export hauling, treat the 'plant' address as the dump site or landfill.
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 plan totals both so you can adjust truck count before the day starts.
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