Tonnage Calculator
Work out how many tons your job needs — and how many truckloads that actually is — using South Florida material weights.
How the numbers are worked out
Length multiplied by width multiplied by depth, in feet, divided by 27 gives cubic yards. Cubic yards multiplied by the material's weight per yard gives tons. Tons divided by 22 — a standard tri-axle load — gives the number of trucks.
For base materials and fill the calculator adds a 20 percent compaction allowance, because those materials lose roughly a fifth of their loose volume once they are watered and properly rolled. Order the plan volume and you will finish short. Loose materials such as #57 rock, pea rock and decorative stone get no allowance because they are not compacted.
Material weights vary between pits and with moisture content, and site conditions never match the drawing exactly. Use this to size the job and get the load count right, then confirm against your own scale tickets once material is running.
And order slightly heavy. Two extra tons in a pile costs almost nothing. Two tons short on a Friday afternoon costs you a whole extra delivery.
Material weights we use
All figures are approximate tons per cubic yard, typical for South Florida sources. Materials marked as compacted get the 20 percent allowance added automatically above.
| Material | Category | Approx. tons / cu yd | Compacted? |
|---|---|---|---|
| #57 Rock | Gravel | 1.35 | No |
| #67 Rock | Gravel | 1.35 | No |
| #89 Rock | Gravel | 1.35 | No |
| Rip Rap | Stone | 1.40 | No |
| Ballast Rock | Stone | 1.35 | No |
| Limerock Base | Base | 1.65 | Yes — 20% allowance |
| Limerock Screenings | Base | 1.50 | Yes — 20% allowance |
| Limerock Fill | Base | 1.50 | Yes — 20% allowance |
| Shell Rock | Base | 1.50 | Yes — 20% allowance |
| Road Base | Base | 1.60 | Yes — 20% allowance |
| Crushed Concrete | Recycled | 1.40 | Yes — 20% allowance |
| Asphalt Millings | Recycled | 1.40 | Yes — 20% allowance |
| Mason Sand | Sand | 1.35 | No |
| Concrete Sand | Sand | 1.40 | No |
| Paver Sand | Sand | 1.40 | No |
| Fill Sand | Sand | 1.35 | Yes — 20% allowance |
| Fill Dirt | Earth | 1.25 | Yes — 20% allowance |
| Topsoil | Earth | 1.15 | No |
| Pea Rock | Gravel | 1.40 | No |
Worked examples
A two-car driveway
Say 20 feet by 30 feet — 600 square feet — on 6 inches of compacted limerock base. That is 600 × 0.5 = 300 cubic feet, or 11.1 cubic yards. At 1.65 tons per yard that is 18.3 tons, plus the 20 percent compaction allowance gives about 22 tons. One truckload, almost exactly.
A French drain
100 feet long, 1 foot wide, 2 feet deep, backfilled with #57 rock. That is 200 cubic feet, or 7.4 cubic yards. At 1.35 tons per yard, about 10 tons. No compaction allowance — #57 does not compact.
Raising a pad
40 by 50 feet raised 8 inches with fill dirt. That is 2,000 square feet at 0.67 feet = 1,333 cubic feet = 49.4 cubic yards. At 1.25 tons per yard, 61.7 tons, plus compaction allowance gives about 74 tons — four loads.
A paver patio
500 square feet on 4 inches of base plus 1 inch of bedding sand. Base: 167 cubic feet = 6.2 yards = 10.2 tons, plus allowance = about 12 tons. Sand: 42 cubic feet = 1.5 yards = 2.2 tons. Both on one truck.
How ordering works
There is no account to open and no portal to log into. You tell us the material, the tonnage, the site address and when you need it on the ground, and we come back with a locked, all-in delivered price — usually within the hour during business hours.
That price includes the haul. We quote delivered, not ex-pit, so the number we give you is the number on the invoice. If you are comparing quotes, check whether the other one has trucking in it.
What we need from you
- Material and gradation. If you are working from a plan set, send us the page — it saves a conversation.
- Quantity in tons, or the dimensions. If you have length, width and depth we will work the tonnage out. The tonnage calculator does it too.
- Site address and access notes. Overhead wires, gate widths, soft ground, HOA windows, where exactly the pile goes.
- When you need it. Same-day, a date, or a window against a construction programme.
Payment
First-time customers are COD or prepay for the first few loads. Once there is a clean payment history we move qualified customers onto standard credit terms with a signed credit application. We take ACH, check and major cards, and terms are confirmed at quote rather than negotiated at delivery.
On jobs where we are delivering material to real property we can preserve lien rights under Florida statute by filing a Notice to Owner within 45 days of first delivery. It protects everyone in the payment chain, and it means we get paid, which means you keep getting material on time.
Stop Babysitting Your
Material Suppliers. Call Us.
A locked quote in under an hour. Trucks on site when you need them. One invoice when the job's done.