How to use this calculator
Excavated soil takes up more room loose in a truck than it did in the ground. This tool keeps bank volume (in the ground), loose volume (in the truck) and truckloads visibly separate, so a haul estimate is never quoted in the wrong volume.
Enter your own figures in the form above. A blank field is treated as missing — not as zero — so the tool will ask you to complete it. A genuine zero is accepted where it makes sense (for example, no HOA dues). Press Calculate for a breakdown, Load worked example to fill in the example below, or Reset to return to the defaults.
Formula and assumptions
Bank volume = length × width × depth ft³; bank yards = bank ft³ ÷ 27. Loose yards = bank yards × (1 + swell %). Truckloads = loose yards ÷ truck capacity, rounded UP. Cost = loads × price per load.
Worked example
Worked example: 10 × 10 × 3 ft, 20% swell, 10 loose yd³ trucks. Bank 300 ft³ = 11.11 yd³; loose 13.33 yd³; 2 loads. Quoting 2 loads from bank volume alone would still round to 2 here, but on larger jobs the swell difference adds whole loads.
Use the Load worked example button above to reproduce this example in the form, then change one input at a time to see what drives the result.
Limitations and common mistakes
Rectangular volume only. This is not an excavation design: slopes, shoring, benching, utility clearance, groundwater, compaction of backfill and safety requirements are entirely separate and governed by site conditions and regulations. Truck capacity must be the loose capacity your hauler states.
Frequently asked questions
What is swell?
The increase in volume when compacted soil is loosened by digging. Different soils swell by different percentages; the input is yours to set from site or hauler data.
Bank vs loose vs compacted?
Bank is in-ground, loose is freshly dug and hauled, compacted is re-placed and compacted. Each is a different volume for the same soil.
Why round loads up?
Because a partial load still needs a truck trip. Loads are purchasable units, like boxes and pails elsewhere on this site.
Sources
No external price, product or market data is used on this page. Every price, density, coverage and rate is a figure you enter, or a clearly labelled illustrative default in the form. Check product labels and supplier quotes for the figures that apply to your job.
Estimates only. Results from this calculator are not a loan offer, appraisal, engineering design, equipment selection or contractor quote.