Concrete Delivery Cost: Truckloads, Short-Load Fees & Total

How much does concrete delivery cost?

Delivery cost is the concrete plus every fee the plant puts on the ticket. The concrete is your ordered yards times the quoted price per yard. The fees are flat charges, such as a short-load fee on small orders, a delivery or zone charge, waiting time and after-hours charges. We do not print a national average because each plant sets all of these; the calculator above takes your quote, and this page shows how to read it.

Delivered cost = ordered yd³ × price per yd³ + short-load fee + delivery, waiting and after-hours fees

1. Get the volume. Enter your shape above; it adds waste (10% by default) and rounds up to the next ¼ yd³.
2. Ask three questions. Price per yard for your mix, the short-load threshold and fee, and any delivery or zone charge.
3. Enter the quote and add the flat fees to the total.
4. Divide by the yards to get the delivered price per yard, the only number that compares plants fairly.

What is a short-load fee and how much does it add per yard?

A short-load fee is a flat charge some plants add when your order is below their minimum load, because the truck makes the same trip mostly empty. Thresholds and amounts vary by plant, so treat both as inputs: ask “what is your minimum, and what is the fee below it?”

Because the fee is flat, its share falls as the order grows. The table shows what each $100 of fee adds to every yard; multiply by your fee ÷ 100.

Per-m³ figures use 1 yd³ = 0.7646 m³ (NIST), so a per-yard figure × 1.308 is the per-m³ figure. The same table works for any other flat charge: a Saturday fee or a zone charge spreads over the yards in exactly the same way.

How much is a yard of concrete delivered?

The delivered price per yard is the whole ticket divided by the yards. It is always at least the quoted price, and on small orders it can be far higher. Using one set of example quotes ($150 per yard, $200 fee below 5 yd³) across order sizes shows the pattern:

Totals come from the same cost function the calculator uses. The $150 and $200 are placeholders to show the arithmetic, not typical prices; swap in your plant’s figures. Notice the cliff at the threshold: just below it, ordering up can lower the total bill.

How much concrete does a truck hold?

Ask the plant’s dispatcher; the answer depends on the truck and the road rules where it drives, so we do not assume a figure. Two limits set it.

• Drum volume. A truck mixer is rated below the size of its drum so the load can tumble without spilling. Penn State’s ready-mix course notes say a drum used for truck mixing may hold 63% of its total volume, and up to 80% in central mixing.
• Weight. Concrete is heavy. At 150 lb/ft³ (the WSDOT design figure for normal-weight concrete), each cubic yard weighs about 4,050 lb. FHWA lists federal limits on the Interstate of 20,000 lb on a single axle, 34,000 lb on a tandem axle and 80,000 lb gross; off the Interstate, states set their own. So the legal load can be less than what the drum would hold.

The load sizes in this table are examples for the arithmetic, not a claim about any truck. Concrete weight excludes the truck, which is why 10 yd³ alone is already over half of 80,000 lb.

How many truckloads do I need?

Divide the ordered yards by the yards per truck your plant quotes, and round up. The last truck carries the remainder, which can be small.

Truckloads = ordered yd³ ÷ yd³ per truck, rounded up; last load = ordered yd³ − (truckloads − 1) × yd³ per truck

Volumes and loads come from scripts/concrete-delivery-cost.ts using the site’s calc library. Truck sizes of 8, 9 and 10 yd³ are illustrations; use your plant’s number.

What else drives the delivered price?

Beyond the price per yard and the short-load fee, these lines move the ticket. Ask each plant about every one, and turn flat fees into a per-yard figure with the table above.

• Distance or zone. Some plants charge more beyond a set radius from the plant.
• Waiting time. A set unloading time is often included, then a charge applies. Have forms, base, tools and crew ready before the truck arrives.
• After-hours, weekend or holiday pours. Usually a flat fee.
• Mix and additives. Strength, fiber, color, accelerator in cold weather and retarder in hot weather are usually priced per yard.
• Placement. A pump or conveyor is quoted separately when the chute cannot reach the forms; estimate it with the concrete pump rental cost calculator.
• Washout. Ask where the driver can wash out the chute and whether that is your job to provide.

How long can the truck wait before the concrete is too old?

Ask the plant, and agree the limit when you order. ASTM C94/C94M-24d, the US ready-mixed concrete specification, no longer sets a fixed limit: the purchaser states a time limit to complete discharge (and any drum-revolution limit), and if none is stated the producer sets one, tells the purchaser before delivery and prints the time limit on the ticket. The standard notes that earlier editions, back to 1935, used 1½ hours. Some agencies still require 1½ hours and 300 drum revolutions on their projects, as California’s HCAI does for health-care buildings. For a home pour, the practical point is cost and quality: the longer the truck waits, the more waiting time you pay and the closer the load gets to its limit.

Is a small delivery or bagged concrete cheaper?

Compare the full ticket with the bags for the same volume. A 10 × 10 ft slab at 4 in, ordered as 1½ yd³, takes 68 × 80 lb bags (0.60 ft³ each, QUIKRETE data sheet). With the example quotes above, delivery is $425 ($283.33 per yard). The bag route costs 68 × your bag price, plus mixer rental and about 5,400 lb of dry mix to lift twice. Which wins depends on your bag price and your plant’s fee; the bags of concrete per yard table converts any order to bags.

Questions to ask before you book a delivery

One call to each plant gets every number this page needs:

1. What is the price per yard, delivered, for the strength my job needs?
2. What is your minimum load, and what is the fee below it? Is it per truck or per order?
3. How many yards does each truck carry to my address?
4. Is there a distance or zone charge?
5. How much unloading time is included, and what does extra time cost?
6. What is the time limit to finish discharge, and will it be on the ticket?
7. Are Saturday, early or late pours extra?
8. Can the truck reach my forms, and how much weight can my driveway or access take?

Common mistakes when pricing a concrete delivery

• Comparing quoted prices, not delivered prices. A lower price per yard with a short-load fee can cost more. Divide the ticket by the yards.
• Ordering just under the threshold. In the worked example, 4 yd³ with the fee ($800) cost more than 5 yd³ without it ($750).
• Running short. A second truck can mean a second fee and a cold joint. Add 10% and measure the base depth in several places.
• Guessing truck size. Plan loads from your plant’s figure, not an assumed one; weight limits differ by truck and by state.
• Forgetting access. A loaded truck weighs tens of thousands of pounds; keep it off septic tanks, thin slabs and soft ground.

Delivery cost vs price per yard: which page to use

Use this page to turn a plant’s quote into a delivered total and a truck count. Use concrete price per yard for what a yard buys in coverage and bags, and cost to pour a concrete slab to add labor, base and reinforcement. For volume first, start on the concrete calculator or the concrete yards calculator; for load weight, see the concrete weight calculator.