Dump truck cycle time: how to calculate it, and why it sets your price
Steve Woods · Truck Dispatcher, TruckSprint
Steve Woods is a truck dispatcher with 9 years of experience in trucking. He reviews every guide we publish. How we research and update guides.
Updated October 2026
Quick answer
Dump truck cycle time is the minutes for one full loop: queue and load, haul loaded, dump and ticket, return empty. Add them up, divide the working minutes in the day by the cycle and round down for loads per day. EXAMPLE: a 58-minute cycle in a 9-hour day is 9 loads; at 13.25 tons each, 119.25 tons.
Source: Arithmetic worked on this page; all inputs are EXAMPLES · checked 2026-10
Dump truck cycle time is the number that decides almost everything about a dump job: how many loads you run, how many trucks a contractor needs, and whether an hourly or per-ton offer pays better. I'm Steve Woods, a truck dispatcher at TruckSprint with 9 years in trucking. Here's how to calculate it, measure it, and use it to price work.
The four parts of a cycle
| Part | What's in it | What stretches it |
|---|---|---|
| Queue and load | Waiting in line at the pit, loading, scale | Trucks ahead of you, slow loader, scale-house line |
| Haul | Loaded run to the site | Distance, traffic, grades, loaded speed |
| Dump and ticket | Backing in, dumping, getting the ticket signed | Tight sites, waiting for a spotter or the paver |
| Return | Empty run back to the pit | Distance, traffic |
Cycle time = queue and load + haul + dump and ticket + return.
Haul and return times come from distance and average speed, not posted speed. EXAMPLE: a 12-mile haul at an average 30 mph loaded takes 24 minutes; the same 12 miles back empty at 40 mph takes 18.
A worked example
| EXAMPLE tri-axle loop | Minutes |
|---|---|
| Queue and load | 10 |
| Haul, 12 mi at 30 mph | 24 |
| Dump and ticket | 6 |
| Return, 12 mi at 40 mph | 18 |
| Cycle | 58 |
Loads per day: a 9-hour day is 540 minutes; 540 / 58 = 9.3, so 9 complete loads. Round down: on per-ton work, a load that isn't finished by quitting time doesn't pay today.
Tons per day: 9 loads x 13.25 legal tons = 119.25 tons. The legal tons per load come from your axles and empty weight; see dump truck capacity.
How the cycle sets hourly vs per-ton pricing
The same day pays differently depending on the billing basis. Find the per-ton rate that matches an hourly offer:
Break-even per ton = hourly rate x hours / tons per day.
EXAMPLE: at $96.48 an hour (the EXAMPLE bid built in dump truck contracts), 9 hours pays $868.32. Spread over 119.25 tons, that's $7.28 a ton. A per-ton offer above $7.28 beats the hourly offer on this loop; below it, take the hourly.
Now add 7 minutes of waiting at the pit:
| EXAMPLE | 58-minute cycle | 65-minute cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Loads in 540 minutes | 9 | 8 |
| Tons | 119.25 | 106 |
| Per-ton rate matching $96.48/hour | $7.28 | $8.19 |
Seven minutes of waiting cost a whole load, and the per-ton rate you'd need to break even jumps by 91 cents. That's why trucks on slow, congested jobs want hourly pay, and why per-ton offers deserve a hard look at the pit line. Public hourly rates for comparison are in dump truck hauling rates.
How many trucks a loader needs
Contractors and plants use the same numbers to size their truck count:
Trucks needed = cycle time / time to load one truck.
EXAMPLE: a 58-minute cycle and 6 minutes to load means 58 / 6 = 9.7, so about 10 trucks keep the loader working without long lines. Fewer and the loader sits; more and the extra trucks spend their day in the queue, which is your time and their money. When you're offered a job, ask how many trucks are on it.
Measure your real cycle
Plans are optimistic. Your tickets aren't. For a few days on a new job:
- Write the time out of the pit, the time on site and the time dumped on every ticket. Our haul ticket template has a column for each.
- Average each part, and note the longest wait.
- Use the average cycle for pricing and the worst cycle for your floor.
What usually stretches the cycle: a single loader for too many trucks, the scale-house line at shift change, a tight site with one way in, waiting on the paver or the foreman's signature, and afternoon traffic on the haul route.
Ways to shorten the cycle
- Stagger start times with the other trucks so you don't all hit the pit at 7:00.
- Know the site: ask for the dump spot and the way in before the first load.
- Get tickets signed as you go, not in a stack at quitting time.
- Carry more legal tons per trip where it fits the work: more axles or a transfer; see super 10 dump trucks.
- Never shorten it by overloading or speeding. A fine or an out-of-service order costs more than any load.
TruckSprint no longer dispatches dump trucks. If you also run a 26 ft box truck, our desk can keep it loaded.
Sources
- Arithmetic on this page; inputs labeled EXAMPLE
- Legal payload method: 23 CFR 658.17 (Bridge Formula), see dump truck capacity