Pricing a Gravel Load, Worked Through Three Jobs

Three things people mean by a load

A load of gravel is one delivery, and with us that runs from 2 tons to 200 tons online, so a load of Driveway Gravel costs $435 at the bottom and $10,951 at the top in a median city.^[1],[2]

Say the word to three people and you get three sizes. A homeowner with a pickup means whatever the bed will carry. A contractor means a full truck, and which truck depends on who is talking. Someone ordering online means the amount on the screen, however small or large.

The pickup version trips people up. A level bed holds about 2 yards of stone by volume, but crushed stone comes in at 2,700 lb to the yard, more than many light pickups are rated to haul. That is why even one yard of rock can squat a truck on its springs while the bed looks half empty.^[3]

The contractor version is just as loose. Trucks come in several classes, and each state sets its own weight rules, so one crew's load can be twice another's. Ask a supplier for a load without a number and you have ordered nothing.

We sell loose bulk material by the truckload, and the unit on the order is the ton. That clears up the question. Measure the job, turn it into tons, and read the delivered total for that amount.^[1],[3]

The small path load

Our first job is a garden path measuring 80 feet by 3 feet, covered 2 inches deep in Walkway Gravel, the 3/8 inch mix made for foot traffic.^[3]

The area is 80 times 3, or 240 square feet. Two inches is a sixth of a foot, so 240 divided by 6 gives 40 cubic feet. Forty over 27 makes 1.48 yards. This stone weighs 2,600 lb a yard, so 1.48 times 2,600, divided by 2,000, gives about 1.9 tons.^[3],[4]

That rounds up to 2 tons, our minimum, with very little spare, so check the tape twice. The median total is $443. Across our priced cities the same load runs from $436 to $489.^[1],[2]

You pay $222 a ton on a load this size, the highest rate on the ladder. Most of that pays for the trip, so accept the rate or look for a second spot on the property that wants stone.^[2]

The driveway top-up

Job two is a tired drive, 118 feet by 10 feet. The base is sound, the surface has thinned, and it needs 2 inches of fresh Driveway Gravel across the whole length.

The tape gives 1,180 square feet. Divide by 6 for the 2 inch depth and you have 196.67 cubic feet, which is 7.28 yards. Each of those yards is 2,700 lb, so the job comes to 9.83 tons once you divide by 2,000.^[3],[4]

Round up and you order 10 tons. The median total is $810, or $81 a ton, with city totals between $797 and $895.^[1],[2]

Fill the potholes and rake out the ruts before the truck comes. New stone laid over a hollow will settle into it, and the hollow returns in a season.

You could do the worst half this year and the rest next year. That order is 5 tons at $616, and buying it twice costs far more than one 10 ton load at $810. If the budget stretches, do the whole drive in one go.^[2]

The full lane

Job three is a country lane 280 feet long and 11 feet wide, built up with 3 inches of Road Base.

Multiply 280 by 11 for 3,080 square feet. A quarter foot of depth makes that 770 cubic feet, or 28.52 yards. Road Base is dense at 2,800 lb to the yard, and 28.52 times 2,800, over 2,000, gives 39.93 tons.^[3],[4]

So the order is 40 tons, well inside our online range. The median total is $1,809, which is $46 a ton, and city totals run from $1,781 to $1,998.^[1],[2]

The same lane in Driveway Gravel comes to 38.5 tons, and a 40 ton order of that stone is $2,176 in a median city. That price gap is the plain reason long lanes get Road Base.^[2],[3]

Forty tons is more than one truck carries, so think in piles. A lane this long works best with piles at more than one spot, so ask about a split in the delivery notes. We confirm by phone.^[1]

Road Base packs down under a roller or plate compactor, and a lane on soft ground may need more depth than this. The ground and the traffic decide that, so walk the lane after a wet spell before you settle on 3 inches.

Twenty times the stone, about four times the bill

Line the jobs up in one material and the ladder shows its shape. Road Base costs $418 at 2 tons and $1,809 at 40 tons. You get twenty times the stone for about 4.3 times the money.^[2]

Per ton, the bottom rung is $209 and the top rung is $46.^[2]

No sensible person buys 40 tons to save on a garden path. The point runs the other way. When you sit near a rung, check the next one up, because a little more stone can cost very little more.

Hauling it yourself instead

A pickup rated for half a ton would need four trips to move the 2 ton path load, and that assumes you load and unload every shovel by hand. For a short path on a free weekend, you might call that fair.

The arithmetic turns against you fast. The driveway top-up would take 20 trips. The lane would take 80. By then the truck is the only answer, and the delivered total has already absorbed the fuel, the wear on your springs and the lost weekends.

There is a floor to all this. We sell in bulk with a 2 ton minimum, so a job that needs a few hundred pounds of stone is one for a local yard and a shovel.^[1]

Before you book a load

Walk the route the truck will take. It needs a path about 12 feet wide and room to raise its bed, and the delivery notes are the place to flag gates, slopes, low wires and soft ground.^[1]

Pick the dump spot and mark it. The driver tips where you mark if the truck can get there. A full load makes a pile you will not move by hand in a hurry, so set it close to the work.^[1]

To book, order online or request a quote. The site shows a next delivery date two business days ahead, Monday to Friday, and we confirm the day by phone.^[1]