Concrete delivery cost and truck loads
A small order costs far more per yard than a full truck: 3 cu yd at $174 a yard plus a typical $150 short-load fee comes to $672, or $224 a yard. A typical truck drum holds 9 to 12 cu yd.
How much concrete a truck holds
A typical truck mixer has a drum of 9 to 12 cubic yards, its size limited by the weight of the loaded truck on the road. The drum is never filled: under the AASHTO M 157 standard, a truck that mixes the concrete may carry no more than 63% of its drum volume, and one carrying concrete already mixed at a central plant no more than 80%. Every truck carries a plate with its rated load, and that figure is the most it may deliver, so ask the plant what its trucks carry. The table assumes 9 or 10 cu yd a truck.
| Order | Trucks at 10 cu yd | Trucks at 9 cu yd | 80 lb bags instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cu yd | 1 | 1 | 45 |
| 3 cu yd | 1 | 1 | 135 |
| 5 cu yd | 1 | 1 | 225 |
| 8 cu yd | 1 | 1 | 360 |
| 10 cu yd | 1 | 2 | 450 |
| 15 cu yd | 2 | 2 | 675 |
| 20 cu yd | 2 | 3 | 900 |
| 30 cu yd | 3 | 4 | 1,350 |
For a 12 cu yd driveway pour, that's two trucks at the list price, $2,088 at $174 a yard, with no short-load fee. Work out the yards first with the concrete calculator or the slab and pad calculator.
Short loads, minimums and standby
Plants make their money on full trucks, so a small order pays extra. The terms differ from plant to plant; these are four published in 2025:
| Plant | Short-load fee | Minimum order | Unloading time, then |
|---|---|---|---|
| SiteCrete, Caldwell, ID (2025) | Under 5 cu yd: $150 | 1 cu yd | 10 min a yard, then $2 a minute |
| Townsend Concrete, Vacaville, CA | Under 3 to 6 cu yd by area: up to $100 | A minimum charge of 1 to 5 cu yd by area, plus $120 to $350 delivery a load | 5 min a yard, then $10 every 5 minutes |
| HC&D, Oahu, HI (2025) | Under 6 cu yd: $132 to $213 by zone | 1.5 cu yd | 5 min a yard or 30 min a load, then $2 a minute |
| BLT Companies (2025) | none stated | 4 cu yd | 6 min a yard, then $1 a minute |
Unloading time is free for a few minutes per yard, then charged by the minute, so have the forms, the barrows and the help ready before the truck arrives. Weekend deliveries cost more at all four plants. Some plants also charge a delivery fee per truck by distance; enter yours under Prices.
Truck or bags
For less than about a cubic yard, bags usually cost less than a truck once the short-load fee is added, and the bag calculator counts them. Above that, ready-mix wins on price and on labor: a cubic yard is 45 bags of 80 lb mix, each mixed by hand. Some plants, such as Townsend in the table, mix the concrete on site in the truck, which helps with small and slow pours; ask what your local plants offer.
The price per yard
The concrete itself averaged $174 a cubic yard nationally, the 2023 industry average carried forward by the government price index; see concrete price per yard for the trend and regional differences. If a contractor is pouring for you, the cost to pour a concrete slab gives installed prices from city bids.
Sources
- Rigid Pavement Truck Types, Pavement Interactive (citing NRMCA and AASHTO), reference desk, read November 2026. A typical truck mixer has a 9 to 12 cubic yard drum, limited by the gross weight of the loaded truck; drums are filled to at most 63% of their volume for truck-mixed concrete and 80% for central-mixed; producers load at or near the rated capacity; discharge chutes are 10 to 20 ft long.
- Technical Advisory TA-120: maximum volume of concrete in a transit mixer, Alabama Department of Transportation, read November 2026. AASHTO M 157 requires a plate on every truck mixer giving the drum volume and its capacity in mixed concrete, which may not exceed 63% of the drum when truck-mixed or 80% when central-mixed; the plate figure is the most the truck may deliver.
- Small load and batch concrete delivery rate sheet, 2025, SiteCrete, Caldwell, Idaho, effective 1 January 2025. 3,000 psi $184 a cubic yard to 4,500 psi $203; short-load fee $150 under 5 cu yd; 1 cu yd minimum locally; 10 minutes of unloading per cubic yard, then $2 a minute; Saturday $100, Sunday $500.
- Ready mix concrete price list, Townsend Concrete, Vacaville, California, read November 2026. Delivery fee per load of $120 to $350 by area; short-load thresholds of 3 to 6 cu yd with a fee of up to $100; a minimum concrete charge by area; 5 minutes of unloading per cubic yard included, then $10 every 5 minutes.
- Oahu ready-mix concrete price schedule, HC&D, Honolulu, Hawaii, effective 1 January 2025. Minimum delivery 1.5 cu yd; orders under 6 cu yd pay the plant price plus a minimum delivery charge of $132 to $213 by zone; unloading 5 minutes per cubic yard or 30 minutes a load, then $2 a minute.
- Terms of service: concrete delivery, BLT Companies Building Supplies, 10 February 2025. Minimum delivery 4 cu yd; 6 minutes per cubic yard of standby free, then $1 a minute; Saturday $10 a cubic yard extra.
- Annual Performance Benchmarking Survey and State of the Industry, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, October 2024 (2023 data). Average selling price of ready-mixed concrete: $159.68 per cubic yard in 2023, $137.99 in 2022, $122.98 in 2021; 2023 quartiles $150.03 to $170.66.
- Producer Price Index by Industry: Ready-Mix Concrete Manufacturing (PCU327320327320), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, via FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis), monthly, latest September 2026. Index 402.82 in September 2026 (June 1981 = 100), 393.59 a year earlier and 307.18 five years earlier; 2023 average 369.67.