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How much your gravel weighs, in pounds and tons — and whether your truck or trailer can legally carry it.
With these inputs:
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Total weight | 3,000 lb |
| In tons | 1.5 tons |
| Volume | 1 yd³ |
| Trips required | 3 loads |
| Material | Crusher Run / #411 |
| Base density | 1.5 tons per yd³ |
| Moisture adjustment | None |
| Weight per cubic yard | 3,000 lb |
| Total weight | 3,000 lb (1.5 tons) |
| Vehicle payload | 1,200 lb |
| Loads needed | 3 |
| Max volume per load | 0.4 yd³ |
A half-ton pickup is legally maxed out by roughly half a cubic yard of gravel. Overloading is both unsafe and hard on the truck — most quarries will happily load a smaller amount.
Gravel is heavy, and half-ton pickups run out of payload long before they run out of space. This calculator converts your volume into weight, then checks it against a typical vehicle payload so you know how many trips you are really making.
Between 2,700 and 3,000 pounds for most crushed stone. Crusher run is heaviest at about 3,000 lb per cubic yard; pea gravel and river rock are closer to 2,700 lb.
A half-ton pickup can safely carry roughly half a cubic yard — about 1,400 lb. A one-ton truck handles about 1.3 cubic yards. Bed volume is never the limiting factor; payload is.
Yes, by roughly 5% when damp and up to 12% when saturated. Order by volume rather than weight after heavy rain, or you will receive less stone than you expect.
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