Precast Transportation Calculator
Calculate truck loads, trips, delivery schedule, and cost to haul precast elements from plant to jobsite.
About this calculator
Hauling precast concrete is a packing problem before it's a cost problem: a standard flatbed can only carry about 44,000 lbs of payload after truck and trailer tare, so the calculator checks piece weight against that legal limit and piece dimensions against a 48-foot trailer bed, 8.5-foot legal width, and roughly 8.5 feet of stackable height, then takes whichever constraint — weight or dimensions — allows fewer pieces per load. That binding constraint matters: a single load of light, bulky pieces can hit its trailer-length limit long before it comes close to the weight limit, while dense, compact pieces do the opposite. Permit flags fire independently for weight, width, height, and length whenever a piece or load exceeds the standard legal limits, adding a flat $200 average permit fee per trip once any one of them trips — oversize loads also typically need escort vehicles that this estimate doesn't price in.
Delivery schedule assumes 1 to 3 trips per day depending on haul distance, since short local hauls fit more round trips into a work day than long-haul deliveries can. Cost per trip combines fuel at a fixed 5.5 mpg loaded-truck assumption, driver time including an hour for load/unload, and the permit fee when applicable — all of it before considering crane time to actually unload and set the pieces once they arrive.
Inputs
Results
Total truck loads
15
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the total number of precast pieces and their average weight, length, width, and transport height.
- Set the one-way haul distance in miles, the current diesel fuel cost per gallon, and the driver hourly rate.
- Read Pieces per Truck and Total Truck Loads to understand the delivery schedule.
- Check Oversize Permit Needed (Yes/No) — pieces exceeding standard limits require permits and escort vehicles.
- Use Total Transport Cost and Cost per Piece to include delivery in your subcontractor bid.
- Review Delivery Days to coordinate just-in-time deliveries with the erection crew schedule.
How the result changes with Transport height per piece
| Transport height per piece | Total truck loads |
|---|---|
| 1.5 | 10 |
| 2.25 | 10 |
| 4.5 | 30 |
| 7.5 | 30 |
What each input means
- Total pieces
- Total number of precast pieces to deliver.
- Average piece weight
- Average weight per precast element.
- Average piece length
- Average length of precast pieces.
- Average piece width
- Average width of precast pieces.
- Transport height per piece
- Height of each piece during transport (may differ from installed orientation).
- Haul distance (one-way)
- One-way distance from precast plant to jobsite.
- Fuel cost
- Diesel fuel cost per gallon.
- Driver rate
- Truck driver hourly rate.
What each result means
- Total truck loads
- Number of truck loads required.
- Pieces per truck
- Maximum pieces per load (limited by weight or dimensions).
- Delivery days
- Estimated calendar days for all deliveries.
- Total transport cost
- Total cost for all deliveries.
- Cost per trip
- Cost per round trip including fuel, driver, and permits.
- Cost per piece
- Average delivery cost per precast element.
- Load weight per truck
- Total cargo weight per truck load.
- Oversize permit needed?
- Whether the load exceeds weight, width, height, or length limits.
- Fuel cost per trip
- Diesel fuel cost for one round trip.
- Total fuel cost
- Combined fuel cost for all trips.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersTotal pieces = 30, Average piece weight = 12000, Average piece length = 30, Average piece width = 8 = 8 input(s) provided
- Calculate Total truck loadsTotal truck loads15 = 15
- Calculate Pieces per truckPieces per truck = max(12 = 2
- Calculate Delivery daysDelivery days8 = 8
Engine last updated . Checked against 2 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the calculator decide whether weight or size limits the load?
It computes pieces-per-truck two ways — one from the ~44,000-lb payload divided by piece weight, one from how many pieces fit within the trailer's length, width, and stacking height — and then uses whichever number is smaller. That's the binding constraint for your specific pieces, and it can flip between weight-limited and dimension-limited depending on piece size even at the same weight.
What triggers the oversize permit flag?
Any one of four independent checks: total load weight over the legal 80,000-lb GVW, piece width over the trailer's 8.5-foot legal width, piece height that pushes total transport height (deck height plus piece height) over 13.5 feet, or piece length beyond the trailer's 48-foot bed plus a 5-foot overhang allowance. Tripping any single one adds the flat permit fee to every trip's cost.
Why does delivery take more calendar days on a longer haul even with the same trip count?
Because trips-per-day drops as haul distance grows — the calculator assumes 3 trips a day for hauls under 30 miles, 2 for hauls up to 75 miles, and just 1 beyond that, since a single round trip eats more of the workday when the jobsite is farther from the plant. Fewer trips per day stretches the same total trip count across more calendar days.
Does this include the cost of unloading and setting the pieces on site?
No — this calculator only prices the haul itself: fuel, driver time including one hour total for load/unload across the round trip, and any permit fees. Crane time, rigging, and erection labor to actually set the precast pieces once they arrive belong to a separate erection budget, such as the Erection Sequence calculator.
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