A standard ready mix truck carries about 9 to 11 cubic yards of concrete. That is the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association figure for the typical truck mixer, and it says weight laws, not drum size, are what hold trucks there.

Three things change how many yards of concrete in a truck you actually get: the rating plate on the drum, the weight of the load and the size of your order. Small orders also cost more per yard, which is where most people get surprised. If you have not sized the pour yet, the cubic yard calculator gives you the yards first.

Whether you are asking how many yards are in a concrete truck or how much concrete in a truckload, the answer starts with the same figure. NRMCA puts the typical truck mixer at 9 to 11 cubic yards and notes that producers generally load trucks at or near the rated mixer capacity. So for planning, how many yards of concrete in a truck is about 10, give or take a yard. The figure you can count on is the one your supplier gives for its own trucks.

What Does the Rating Plate on the Drum Mean?

A drum is never filled to the brim. Under the NRMCA plant certification checklist, a truck mixer may be rated for no more than 63 percent of its gross drum volume, and an agitator truck for no more than 80 percent (NRMCA quality control manual). A rating plate from the Truck Mixer Manufacturers Bureau shows the mixer meets that limit.

For example, a drum with a gross volume of 16 cubic yards would be rated at about 10 yards as a mixer (16 × 0.63 = 10.1). The empty space is what lets the concrete tumble and mix on the way to you, and it is why how many yards of concrete in a truck is well below what the drum could physically hold.

Why Don’t Concrete Trucks Carry More?

Weight. Normal weight concrete runs about 3,915 to 4,050 pounds per cubic yard, as our guide to how much a yard of concrete weighs shows. Ten yards is close to 20 tons of concrete before you count the truck itself, which is why NRMCA points to weight laws when it explains how many yards of concrete in a truck is typical.

Once you know how many yards of concrete in a truck your supplier sends, divide the yards you need by that number and round up:

trucks = cubic yards needed ÷ yards per truck (round up)

A 24 by 24 foot garage slab at 4 inches is about 7.1 cubic yards, so one truck. A 25 yard foundation at 9 to 10 yards per truck needs three. When a pour takes more than one truck, ask the plant to space the deliveries: NRMCA notes that ASTM C94 calls for concrete to be discharged within 90 minutes, unless the purchaser waives that limit.

A short load fee is an extra charge for an order well below how many yards of concrete in a truck the plant normally sends. A truck, a driver, and a washout cost the plant a trip whether the drum holds 1 yard or 10, so suppliers add a flat fee to small loads instead of turning them away.

One published example: Quick Mix Concrete in Douglasville, Georgia, lists 3,000 psi concrete at $195 per yard and a $200 short load fee for loads under 6 cubic yards, sold in half yard steps. Thresholds and fees vary by plant, so treat these as an illustration and get your own supplier’s numbers.

Yes. This is the other side of how many yards of concrete are in a truck: the fewer yards on board, the more each one costs. The table spreads the $200 fee across each order size at $195 per yard (the Quick Mix figures above; fuel and other fees left out):

Look at 5.5 yards against 6. The smaller order costs $1,272.50, the larger $1,170. Below a threshold, ordering up to it can be cheaper than ordering exactly what you need, and the spare half yard can go into a pad, a post footing or a step.

One Yard or Six Yards: What Changes?

A one yard pour costs $395 on this price list, so the yard itself is only half the bill. A six yard pour costs $1,170, or $195 a yard, with no fee at all. Six times the concrete costs about three times as much. For a very small job, it is worth comparing bagged concrete or a supplier that runs smaller trucks before you book a full-size truck for one yard.

How many yards of concrete in a truck? About 9 to 11 for a standard mixer, limited by the drum rating and by weight. Count trucks by dividing your yards by about 10 and rounding up, and check the short load threshold before you order, because a small pour can cost twice as much per yard as a full one.