Also in: Disaster Response and Recovery
FEMA Debris Load Ticket Eligible Cubic Yards
Debris haulers are paid by the cubic yard on a load ticket.
Example
You enter
- Bed length (ft) 16
- Bed width (ft) 7.5
- Bed height to top of sideboards (ft) 4.5
- Certified capacity if known (cy; 0 = use the bed) 0
- Solid tailgate no
- Hand-loaded no
- Monitor's percent full call (%) 85
You get
- Certified capacity 20.0 cy
- Capacity basis after the tailgate rule 17.0 cy (3.0 cy tailgate reduction)
- Eligible cubic yards on the ticket 14.4 cy (72.3% of certified)
Checked against published worked examples from: FEMA.
Details, formula, and sources
ScopeDebris haulers are paid by the cubic yard on a load ticket, and FEMA's monitoring rules decide how many yards a load is worth. The truck's bed is measured once to the top of the sideboards and certified; each load is then called by a monitor as a percent of that capacity. Two reductions apply without anyone asking. A truck with no solid tailgate cannot be packed to capacity, so its basis is cut to 85% of the certified capacity before the percent-full call is applied; a hand-loaded truck or trailer cannot be packed as densely as a machine-loaded one, so its load is halved. The order matters, and the monitoring guide shows it: a trailer with a 16 by 7.5 by 4.5 ft bed is certified at 20 cubic yards, becomes a 17 cubic yard basis without a tailgate, and a load called 85% full is 14.5 cubic yards while one called 75% is 12.8 -- the guide's printed values. A 10 cubic yard trailer loaded by hand and called completely full earns 5.0 cubic yards: the crew filled it, and FEMA pays for half. The ticket never credits more than the certified capacity, whatever is heaped above the sideboards, and each reduction is reported separately so the ticket can be audited line by line before it is disputed. It does not certify trucks, judge percent full, handle weight or scale tickets, price the load, or decide whether the debris itself is eligible. The Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide and the monitoring guide in force at the time of the disaster govern, with FEMA Public Assistance and the applicant's debris monitoring contract.
Formula or tablecertified capacity = bed length x width x height (ft) / 27 cy (or the certified figure); basis = certified x 0.85 without a solid tailgate; load = basis x percent full; eligible = load x 0.5 if hand-loaded, never more than the certified capacity.
Source and editionFEMA, Public Assistance Debris Monitoring Guide (March 2021): trucks measured and placarded with their capacity; a truck with no tailgate or no solid tailgate limited to 85% of its certified capacity; an automatic 50% reduction for hand-loaded trucks and trailers; no credit above the measured capacity; and the guide's own illustration, 20 CY to 17 CY, 14.5 CY at 85% and 12.8 CY at 75%.
Free accessThe Debris Monitoring Guide is a free federal publication on fema.gov.
What governsEstimate. AHJ and licensed professional govern.
API field namesbed_length_ft, bed_width_ft, bed_height_ft, certified_override_cy, solid_tailgate, hand_loaded, observed_pct, certified_capacity_cy, capacity_basis_cy, eligible_cy
- Capacity measured to the top of the sideboards the certified figure placarded on the truck; re-measure periodicallyFEMA Debris Monitoring Guide (2021)
- Tailgate cut before the percent-full call the percent-full call applies to the 85% basis, as the guide's example showsFEMA Debris Monitoring Guide (2021)
- Hand-loading halves the load a hand-loaded truck called 100% full is recorded at 50%FEMA Debris Monitoring Guide (2021); PAPPG