How Much Mulch, Gravel or Dirt Fits in a Pickup or Dump Truck?
A full-size pickup bed 5 ft by 8 ft filled level holds 2.22 yd³[1] by the Town of Conway's graphic, and a single-axle dump truck normally carries 6 yd³[2] of aggregate by TxDOT's manual. Weight is a separate limit: a cubic yard of gravel weighs far more than a cubic yard of mulch.
Estimates for planning, not professional advice. Read the full notice.
Work it out for your own sizes
Work out the mulch for your own bedExample to try: Length 10 ft, Width 10 ft, Depth 3 in
Pickup and dump truck volumes, and trips for one job
Cubic yards a pickup bed or dump truck holds, as its source gives it, and the loads one job of cubic yards takes by volume alone
| Truck and source | Volume it holds | Loads for 5 cubic yards |
|---|---|---|
| Compact pickup, bed 4 by 6 ft, filled level (Town of Conway graphic) | 1.33 yd³ | 4 loads |
| Compact pickup, bed 4 by 7 ft, filled level (Town of Conway graphic) | 1.56 yd³ | 4 loads |
| Full-size pickup, bed 5 by 7 ft, filled level (Town of Conway graphic) | 1.94 yd³ | 3 loads |
| Full-size pickup, bed 5 by 8 ft, filled level (Town of Conway graphic) | 2.22 yd³ | 3 loads |
| Single-axle dump truck (TxDOT) | 6 yd³ | 1 load |
| Tandem-axle dump truck, lower figure (TxDOT) | 12 yd³ | 1 load |
| Tandem-axle dump truck, upper figure (TxDOT) | 14 yd³ | 1 load |
Estimate for planning, from what you entered and the product data shown. Check product labels and your supplier before you buy.
Loads are the job's volume divided by the truck's volume, rounded up once; weight is not used here, and the second table shows what the same volume weighs. A dump truck's capacity is the source's figure for aggregate.
What a cubic yard weighs, beside the bed volume
Weight of a cubic yard of mulch, topsoil and gravel as their sources give it, and the weight of a level-full pickup bed of each
| Material and source | Weight of a cubic yard | Weight of a level-full bed of the largest size above |
|---|---|---|
| Mulch (wood chips, green), EPA: the source does not say loose or compacted | 473 lb | 1,050 lb |
| Topsoil, New Mexico EMNRD: the source does not say loose or compacted | 1,600 lb | 3,552 lb |
| Gravel (AASHTO #57 stone), Penn State: loose | 3,000 lb | 6,660 lb |
Check your truck's door sticker for its payload: this chart states no payload, because no cited source gives one. Each weight is the source's figure times the volume.
A mulch bed as a load
A bed 10 ft by 10 ft mulched 3 in deep takes 0.93 yd³ of mulch, which is 13 × 2 ft³ bags. Delivered by the yard, that volume is 1 load of a level-full pickup bed of the largest size above, by volume.
At the EPA's figure for green wood chips, that bed's mulch weighs0.22 tons.
Questions
How many yards of mulch fit in a pickup?
By volume, the first table gives what each bed holds when filled level; the Town of Conway's graphic does not use heaped loads. The second table gives what a cubic yard of mulch weighs, beside the other materials.
Will a cubic yard of gravel fit in a pickup?
By volume it fits any bed in the first table. By weight, the second table gives what a cubic yard of gravel weighs at Penn State's figure; the limit is your truck's payload, which is on the sticker in the door jamb.
How many yards are in a dump truck?
TxDOT's manual gives single-axle trucks one capacity and tandem-axle trucks a range; both are in the first table. They are capacities for aggregate, by volume; the truck's own weight limit is a separate figure.
Calculate it for your project
Enter your own sizes to get the amount to buy or the layout figures, with the working shown and a page to print.
Enter your bed in the mulch calculatorSources (2)
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Combined bulky waste pricing and truck size graphic (created by Cedar Grove Composting) (opens in new tab), Cedar Grove Composting (Washington) produced this graphic; it is posted on the Town of Conway, Massachusetts, website, bulky waste pricing effective January 1, 2025.
Code or government.
“Compact Pickup: 4'x6' bed filled to top of bed = 1.33 Cu Yd ... Compact Pickup: 4'x7' bed filled to top of bed = 1.56 Cu Yd”
“Full-Size Pickup: 5'x7' filled to top of bed = 1.94 Cu Yd ... Full-Size Pickup: 5'x 8' filled to top of bed = 2.22 Cu Yd”
Checked November 12, 2026. Figures and codes change; verify with the source. Back to where this is used (Source 1) -
Seal Coat and Surface Treatment Manual, Section 5: Haul Trucks, Size (opens in new tab), Texas Department of Transportation, web manual page, undated.
Code or government.
“The single-axle trucks normally carry 6 cubic yards of aggregate. The bed capacity for tandem-axle trucks is usually 12 or 14 cubic yards.”
Checked November 12, 2026. Figures and codes change; verify with the source. Back to where this is used (Source 2)
These are summaries of what the sources say, not professional advice. Codes and product data change. Check with your building department and the product label about your own project.