Hourly vs Per Ton vs Per Load: How to Charge for Dump Truck Work

Dump truck work is paid by the hour, by the ton or by the load, and the same job can pay very differently depending on which one you agree to. The trick is to convert every offer into what it pays per hour of your truck’s time, then compare. This guide shows how, with worked examples.

The hourly to per-ton converter does all of this for you: enter your hourly rate and round-trip times, and it shows your per-load and per-ton price and what any per-ton offer pays per hour.

The three pay bases

Hourly. You’re paid for every hour the truck is on the job, including waiting at the pit and slow traffic. It’s the safest basis for you, because delays cost the customer, not you.

Per ton. You’re paid for the weight you deliver. Fast trips and full loads pay well. Slow loading, long hauls or light loads pay badly.

Per load. You’re paid a flat price for each load delivered, whatever it weighs. Like per ton, the more loads you finish, the more you make.

For context, one industry source puts average dump truck hourly service rates at $85–$130 per hour, varying by region. Per-ton and per-load prices only make sense once you convert them back to an hourly figure.

When each one pays more

Start with one round trip: loading, the loaded haul, dumping, and the empty return.

Worked example. Your rate is $110 an hour. Loading takes 10 minutes, the haul 65, dumping 10 and the return 65. That’s 150 minutes, or 2.5 hours per round trip.

• Per load: $110 × 2.5 = $275
• Per ton at 22 tons a load: $275 ÷ 22 = $12.50
• In a 10-hour day you finish 4 full loads (4 × 2.5 = 10 hours).

Now a customer offers $14 a ton. Is it better?

• Each load pays $14 × 22 = $308, over 2.5 hours: $123.20 an hour.
• A full day per ton: 4 loads × $308 = $1,232.
• A full day hourly: 10 × $110 = $1,100.
• Per ton pays $132 more per day.

If you pay $20 of tolls or scale fees on every load, the per-ton offer drops to $115.20 an hour, still above $110. At the hourly rate, the same extras put your price at $295 a load or about $13.41 a ton.

Short hauls vs long hauls

Per-ton and per-load pay reward speed. On a short haul you finish more loads in a day, so each ton earns more per hour. On a long haul, or a job with slow loading or long waits, you finish fewer loads and the same per-ton price pays less per hour.

Watch the end of the day too. Because per-ton and per-load only count full loads, a round trip that doesn’t fit before quitting time earns nothing. If the round trip in the example above took even a few minutes longer than 2.5 hours, the fourth load wouldn’t fit in a 10-hour day, and you’d be paid for 3.

Before you accept a per-ton price for a long haul, put the real times into the converter and see what it pays per hour. If it’s below your hourly rate, ask for hourly, or a higher per-ton price.

Minimum hours

A minimum charge protects you on small jobs. If a customer needs one load delivered, you still lose most of a morning getting there, loading and coming back.

Example. With a 4-hour minimum and a rate of $119.70 an hour, a single 2.5-hour load is billed as 4 hours: $478.80.

The bid calculator applies your minimum automatically and shows it on the printed quote.

Quoting a private customer vs a contractor

A homeowner or small landscaper usually wants one number: “What will it cost to bring me this material?” A flat per-load price or a total job price is easiest for them to understand. Use the bid calculator to work out the total from your hourly rate and minimum, then quote the total.

Contractors and aggregate suppliers may set the pay basis themselves, sometimes per ton or per load. Convert their offer to an hourly figure before you say yes.

Also think about when you’ll be paid. One factoring source says dump truck invoices go to general contractors, aggregate suppliers and municipalities, and that pay cycles run 45–90 days. A slightly lower price from a customer who pays in 30 days can be worth more than a higher one paid in 90.

A simple rule

1. Know your cost per hour and your target hourly rate.
2. Convert every per-ton or per-load offer into dollars per hour of truck time, with real round-trip times and extras.
3. Take the offer if it meets your hourly target. If it only covers costs, take it only if you need the work.
4. Use a minimum charge for small jobs.

Start with the hourly to per-ton converter, or set your hourly target first with the hourly rate calculator.

If you also run highway miles, the same idea works per mile: our sister site CostPerMile has a rate-per-mile calculator that compares a broker’s per-mile offer against your break-even cost per mile.