Aggregate weight calculator
Pick the material, enter the cubic yards, and choose your truck. You get the load in tons, your legal payload, and the most yards you can legally carry.
Updated October 2026 · Free, no signup
This load
EXAMPLE- Load weight
- 12.78 tons (25,560 lb)
- Legal payload
- 13.25 tons
- Under the limit by
- 940 lb
- Most yards you can carry
- 9.3 yd³ (weight limit first)
Factor: New Mexico EMNRD published conversion. Moisture changes real weight; the scale ticket decides.
12.78 tons a load adds up fast on contractor invoices that can take 30 days or more to pay. Factoring advances most of each ticketed invoice.
Get a factoring quoteHow it works
The calculator does three things with your inputs:
- Load weight: cubic yards x the material's tons per cubic yard = tons; x 2,000 = pounds.
- Legal payload: your legal gross weight minus your truck's empty weight.
- What fits: legal payload / tons per yard = the most yards you can legally carry. If you enter the body's struck capacity and it's smaller, the body limits the load instead.
With a job size, it divides the job's yards by the yards per load and rounds up to the loads you'll need.
| Input | Where to get it |
|---|---|
| Material factor | The list (published factors) or your pit's scale tickets |
| Cubic yards | The order, or your body's struck capacity |
| Legal gross | Your axles, spacing and route; check with the Bridge Formula calculator |
| Empty weight | A certified scale ticket with fuel and driver |
| Body capacity | Inside length x width x side height / 27 |
Material weights used
| Material | Tons per cubic yard | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Pit run gravel | 1.62 | New Mexico EMNRD |
| Sand | 1.45 | New Mexico EMNRD |
| Gravel, 1/4 to 2 in | 1.42 | New Mexico EMNRD |
| Loose aggregate | 1.40 | Missouri DOT |
| Limestone | 1.30 | New Mexico EMNRD |
| Base course | 1.25 | New Mexico EMNRD |
| Riprap / gabion stone | 1.05 | New Mexico EMNRD |
| Fill dirt, topsoil | 0.80 | New Mexico EMNRD |
Source: New Mexico EMNRD, Conversion Factors for Construction Materials and Common Minerals (adapted from BLM H-3890-1) · checked 2026-10
Source: Missouri DOT, Estimate Factors (EPG 450, statewide averages for preliminary estimates) · checked 2026-10
The full list, with what each material is used for, is in the aggregate types guide. Topsoil and fill are compared in topsoil vs fill dirt.
Worked example
| EXAMPLE tri-axle, gravel | |
|---|---|
| Load | 9 yd³ x 1.42 = 12.78 tons (25,560 lb) |
| Legal payload | 56,500 - 30,000 = 26,500 lb = 13.25 tons |
| Result | Legal, 940 lb under |
| Most yards that fit | 13.25 / 1.42 = 9.3 yd³ |
| Job of 100 yd³ | 100 / 9.3 = 10.7, so 11 loads |
Switch the material to fill dirt and the same truck can legally carry 16.6 yards by weight, but a 16-yard body fills first, so the body is the limit.
What the result means
A green result means the estimate is under your legal payload, not that the truck is legal: axle groups have their own limits, and wet material runs heavy. A red result means take yards off before you leave the pit; never run overweight. For body measuring, struck vs heaped yards and the axle-group checks, see dump truck capacity. The loading and ticket routine is in hauling aggregate.
TruckSprint no longer dispatches dump trucks. If you run road trucks too, our desk can help find loads for them.
Questions about this calculator
How do you convert cubic yards of gravel to tons?
Multiply the cubic yards by the material's weight per yard. New Mexico's published factor for gravel from 1/4 to 2 inches is 1.42 short tons per cubic yard, so 10 yards is about 14.2 tons. Moisture changes the real number, so check your first scale ticket.
How many tons of aggregate can my dump truck carry?
Your legal gross weight minus your truck's empty weight, divided by 2,000. EXAMPLE: a tri-axle allowed 56,500 lb on the Interstate that weighs 30,000 lb empty can carry 13.25 tons. State roads may allow more or less; enter your own numbers.
Why does the calculator say the body fills first?
Light materials like topsoil and fill dirt weigh about 0.8 tons per yard, so the body is full before the truck reaches its legal weight. Heavy materials like pit run or sand reach the weight limit with room left in the body.
Where do the material weights come from?
From two public tables: New Mexico EMNRD's conversion factors for construction materials, adapted from a BLM handbook, and Missouri DOT's estimate factors. They're planning numbers. Your pit's scale tickets are better; enter your own factor under Other.
Is this the same as a scale ticket?
No. It's an estimate for planning loads and quotes. Real material varies with moisture and gradation, and real trucks vary with fuel and options. Weigh on a certified scale and keep the ticket.
Heavy loads, slow invoices? Get paid sooner.
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