Also in: Disaster Response and Recovery
Dump Truck Governing Payload and Load Count
Whether the box volume or the legal weight limit fills the truck first, and the load count.
Example
You enter
- Total loose volume to haul (cy) 625
- Heaped box capacity (cy) 12
- Legal payload weight limit (lb) 40000
- Loose material density (lb/cy) 2800
You get
- Weight limited (cy) 14.286
- Governing payload 12
- Truck loads 53
No published worked example is on file for this calculation. It is checked against a hand-worked derivation of its method and an independent reference test.
Details, formula, and sources
ScopeWeight-limited volume = weight limit / density; payload = min(weight-limited, box); loads = ceil(total / payload). 625 loose cy in 12 cy boxes is 53 loads when the box governs, but haul wet 3,600 lb/cy material and the 40,000 lb limit caps each truck at 11 cy - 57 loads. Weight governs heavy material, volume governs light; pairs with haul-cycle production.
Formula or tableweight_limited_cy = weight_limit_lb / material_density_lb_per_lcy; payload_cy = min(weight_limited_cy, box_vol_cy); loads = ceil(total_lcy / payload_cy).
Source and editionGoverning-payload identity by name (weight-limited volume vs box; loads from total / payload); first-principles min-constraint arithmetic.
Free accessThe governing-payload logic is public first-principles arithmetic; the box capacity and legal payload come from the truck and the axle/GVW limits.
What governsEstimate. AHJ and licensed professional govern.
API field namestotal_lcy, box_vol_cy, weight_limit_lb, material_density_lb_per_lcy, weight_limited_cy, payload_cy, loads
- Box capacity heaped box volume from the truck (~12 cy default)truck manufacturer
- Legal payload weight limit from the axle and GVW limits (~40,000 lb default); the axle limits govern the weightaxle / GVW limits