Hauling aggregate: the loop, the load and the pay, step by step

Aggregate is the bread and butter of dump truck work. It's also where small mistakes cost the most: an overloaded truck, a lost ticket or a slow pit can wipe out a day's margin. I'm Steve, lead dispatcher at TruckSprint. Dump trucks are one of the eleven equipment types our desk dispatches, and this is the playbook we use when we line up aggregate work.

What counts as aggregate

Aggregate covers granular materials used in construction: sand, gravel, crushed stone, base course, rip-rap, recycled concrete and asphalt millings. Close relatives like topsoil and fill dirt are hauled the same way. What changes from load to load is weight, how it flows out of the body, and how much it wants to blow or spill.

Step 1: Know the material and its weight

Before you quote or load, know roughly what a yard of the material weighs. The figures above are typical values from published conversion tables. They're a starting point:

• Moisture adds weight. Wet sand can weigh noticeably more than dry sand in the same body.
• Gradation matters. Washed stone with uniform sizes packs differently from base with fines.
• The scale decides. Every load gets weighed at the pit, and that ticket is what you're paid on and what an officer will believe.

For yard-to-ton math on your own truck, see our dump truck capacity guide.

Step 2: Load to your legal weight, not your body

Most dump bodies hold more heavy aggregate than the truck can legally carry. A body that heaps 18 or 20 yards of dirt can be overweight long before it's full of stone. Your limit comes from axle weights and the spacing between axles: on the Interstate, the federal Bridge Formula and axle limits in 23 CFR 658 apply, and many states set their own limits for dump trucks on state roads.

• Know your truck's empty weight and legal gross before your first load.
• Ask the loader operator for a target weight, not "fill it up."
• Check the ticket before you leave. If it's over, go back and get it adjusted.

Run your axle spacing through our bridge formula calculator, and see dump truck sizes and types of dump trucks for how setups compare. We never book loads that only pay if you run heavy, and we don't recommend it: fines, damage and liability fall on you.

Step 3: Cover and contain the load

Federal cargo rules say every load must be loaded and secured to prevent it "leaking, spilling, blowing or falling" (49 CFR 393.100). States add their own rules for loose material, and they differ.

Source: 49 CFR 393.100, eCFR · checked 2026-10

California's Vehicle Code 23114 is one of the most detailed, and a good model for what states look for. It requires aggregate to be covered unless the load stays 6 inches below the top edge where it touches the sides, front and back, and its peak doesn't rise above the edge. It also requires sealed gates, splash flaps, fenders and shed boards on aggregate trucks.

Source: California Vehicle Code 23114 (as amended 2008) · checked 2026-10

Your state's rule may be stricter or looser; look up your state's vehicle code before you run uncovered. Practical habits that keep you out of trouble anywhere:

• Tarp every load unless you're sure the rule allows otherwise.
• Sweep the rails and tailgate before you leave the pit. Rock on the ledges is what flies off at speed.
• Check the tailgate seal. Sand leaking from a gate is still a spilled load.

Spillage liability. Rocks that come off your truck and hit a windshield are your problem, and your insurer's. A covered load and clean rails are the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy.

Step 4: Run the loop

An aggregate day is a loop: queue and load at the pit, haul to the site, dump and get the ticket signed, run back empty, repeat. Your pay depends on how many loops you finish.

In the example, a 60-minute loop gives nine loads in a nine-hour day, and the per-ton offer beats the hourly one. Stretch the haul and return and the picture flips: at a 145-minute loop, the same per-ton rate pays less than the hourly offer. Before you accept a per-ton job, time the pit queue, ask about site access, and check the route for low bridges or weight-posted roads.

Step 5: Dump safely

• Backing. On construction sites, OSHA requires vehicles with an obstructed rear view to have a reverse alarm audible above the surrounding noise, or to back only when an observer signals it's safe (29 CFR 1926.601(b)(4)).
• Level ground. Raise the bed only on firm, level ground, and watch for overhead lines.
• Sticky loads. Wet clay and fines can hang up in the body and shift the weight high and to one side. Don't rock the truck to free it with the bed raised.
• Spreading. If the job wants material tailgated in a spread, agree on that before the load, since it slows the loop.

The numbers behind these rules are in dump truck safety statistics.

Step 6: Keep every ticket

The scale ticket is your invoice. It shows the material, gross, tare and net weight, time, truck number and job. Get it signed at the site when the job requires it, photograph it, and keep it with your daily log. A missing ticket is an unpaid load. Our haul ticket template shows a clean layout.

Step 7: Price the work

Aggregate work is usually paid one of three ways:

Ask who pays for time waiting at the pit, whether there's a minimum, and when you get paid. Public projects may carry prevailing wage rules for drivers; check the job's terms before you bid. For the bigger picture on demand and volumes, see our aggregate hauling statistics.

Finding steady aggregate work

Aggregate work is local and seasonal, and it moves through relationships more than load boards. The usual sources:

• Pits and quarries that keep a list of trucks for their customers' deliveries.
• Ready-mix and asphalt plants that need materials hauled in, often on steady daily schedules during the season.
• Site-work, paving and utility contractors who hire extra trucks for a pour, a grade or a paving push.
• Landscaping supply yards with smaller, shorter loads, which suit single-axle and tandem trucks.
• Public road projects, through prime contractors and brokers, often with extra paperwork and wage rules.

The trucks that stay busy show up on time, keep clean tickets, and are easy to call back. One reliable contractor can fill a season; three keep you busy when one job wraps up early. Plan for the off-season too: winter shutdowns in cold states mean a few slow months, so build the cash reserve while the work is running.

Common mistakes

1. Loading to the body, not the scale. Overweight loads cost far more than they earn.
2. Running uncovered on the assumption that "everyone does." The ticket comes with your name on it.
3. Taking per-ton work without timing the loop. A long queue can turn a good rate into a bad day.
4. Losing tickets. No ticket, no pay.
5. Ignoring the return trip. Empty miles back to the pit are part of every loop.

Aggregate rewards the trucks that plan the day: the right material, a legal load, a tight loop and a clean ticket every time.