DIRT by SubTrack
Haul cycle and truck calculator
Count trucks from loose volume, box size, legal payload, and cycle time. A cheap hourly on a tandem does not matter if the cycle is 40 minutes and you sent two trucks.
Formula
Loose volume = bank × (1 + swell). Load carried = min(box, payload / density). Loads = loose / load carried. Cycle minutes = load + haul + return + dump. Trucks = ceil(total truck-hours / shift hours).
Worked example
800 bank m³, 25% swell, 12 m³ box, 16 t payload, 1.28 t/m³ loose: the truck is weight-capped at about 12.5 m³, so use 12 m³. That is about 83 loads. A 28-minute cycle is roughly 2.1 loads per hour.
Bank volume, percent swell, box m³ or yd³, payload tonnes or tons, haul in km or miles.
Open the calculatorField calculators
Estimates for bidding and the truck. Confirm against survey, geotech, and scale tickets before you price.
Trucks & haul cycle
How many loads, how long each round trip takes, and how many trucks keep the job moving.
Bank volume to move
m³
Swell %
%
Loose density
t/m³
Box capacity
m³
Max payload
t
Load time
min
One-way haul
km
Speed loaded
km/h
Speed empty
km/h
Dump + queue
min
Finish within
h
Trucks needed
4
Rounded up for the shift length you entered.
Loads
91.43
Cycle time
19.19min
Loose volume to haul
1,000m³
Haul cycle and truck calculator FAQ
Should I size trucks on bank or loose?
Loose, then check weight. Bank under-counts loads. Payload often governs before the box is full.
What is a haul cycle?
Load + haul loaded + dump + return empty. Site wait and scale time belong in load or dump if they are real on that job.
How many trucks do I need?
DIRT divides total truck-hours by the shift. If the excavator waits, add a truck or shorten the haul. The rate is on Rates. The hours are on the LEM.
Where do I bill the trucks?
Public tandem rates live on Rates. SubTrack rate sheets lock your truck class and driver, then the LEM captures the hours.
The math is free. The ticket still has to get paid.
DIRT sizes the work. SubTrack turns the labor, iron, and material on the job into a signed LEM against your rate sheet.