How Many Cubic Yards Can I Fit in a Truck Bed?

Truck beds come in all shapes and sizes, making it difficult to estimate just how many cubic yards of material can fit into one. If you’re considering hauling a large load of dirt, soil, gravel, or other material in your truck, it’s important to figure out approximately how much you can fit into the bed before heading out to collect the materials.

Calculating Cubic Yards
The most important factor when determining the amount of cubic yards that can fit into a truck bed is the size of the bed itself. A full-size pickup truck with an 8-foot bed will be able to hold up to 10 cubic yards of material, while a mid-size pickup with a 6-foot bed will be able to hold up to 7 cubic yards.

The amount of material that can fit in the bed also depends on how tightly packed it is. If the material is compressed too much, it won’t be able to fit as much as if it was loosely packed.

Bed Size and Material Type
In addition to bed size, the type of material being hauled can affect how much can fit into a truck bed. Softer materials like mulch or soil will compress more than denser materials like gravel or sand and therefore take up less space.

If you’re hauling loose soil or mulch in an 8-foot pickup truck bed, you may be able to squeeze up to 12 cubic yards into it. However, if you’re hauling gravel in the same size truck bed, you may only be able to get 8 cubic yards in there due to its higher density.

Truck Bed Coverings
Another factor that can affect how many cubic yards your truck can hold is whether or not you have a cover over your truck bed. A solid cover like a tonneau cover will keep the material from shifting around while you drive and allow for more space in your truck bed since it won’t need as much room for compression. However, if you don’t have a cover on your truck bed then some of the material may shift around while driving which could cause some of it to fall out and reduce the amount that fits into your truck.

Conclusion: How many cubic yards can fit into a truck bed depends on several factors including size of the bed, type of material being hauled, and whether or not there is a covering over the truckbed. Generally speaking, an 8-foot pickup truck with no covering should be able fetch approximately 10 cubic yards of loose materials such as soil or mulch; however if denser materials such as gravel are being hauled then this number may drop down closer 8 depending on how loosely packed they are.

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Karen Watkins