How much does fill dirt cost? Real truckload pricing for 2026
What moves the price of fill dirt: volume, haul distance, the type of dirt, timing and site access, with national 2026 market ranges per cubic yard and per load, and 5 ways to pay less.
Fill dirt and topsoil guides
Straight answers on buying bulk dirt, written by owner Jerry Surber III and the crew that loads the trucks. Start with what a load of fill dirt costs and how many cubic yards fit in a dump truck, then work out your own yardage with the calculator before you place your 20 cubic yard minimum order.
Guides and tips
Latest articles
Written for people ordering 20 cubic yards or more. Each guide answers one question we hear on the phone, with the numbers we use to size real loads.
How many yards of dirt fit in a dump truck?
Realistic dirt loads by truck type, from a half-ton pickup to an 18-wheeler, why weight decides the load, and worked examples for backyards, pools and foundations.
Plan your project
Tools and materials
Work out your yardage, pick the right material and size the truck before you ask for a price. It takes about 5 minutes and saves a second delivery.
Dirt calculatorEnter length, width and depth and get the cubic yards you need, with a compaction allowance built in.Work out your yards MaterialsClay fill, select fill and topsoil side by side, and what each one must not be used for.Compare materials Dump truck sizesWorking yardage by truck class, and the 4 things that stop a big truck reaching your site.Size your truck Weight and conversions1 cubic yard is 27 cubic feet and about 1.5 tons. Bags, wheelbarrow loads and pickup payloads per yard.Convert yards to tons Fill dirt vs topsoilWhich one your job needs, and the fill plus topsoil combination most grading jobs call for.Pick the right dirt How ordering works6 steps from quote to delivery, the 20 percent deposit, and most orders delivered in 1 to 3 days.See the steps
Our standard
How these guides are written
Most of what goes wrong with a dirt order goes wrong before the truck leaves the pit. Somebody orders topsoil where clay fill would do, measures a pool in feet and orders in tons, or books a tandem dump truck for a site an 18-wheeler could have served in half the trips. These guides exist to catch those mistakes while they are still free to fix.
Every figure in them is either our own working number, such as the 20 cubic yard minimum and the 1.5 tons per cubic yard we use to size loads, or a national market range with its source named. Where a figure is a market average and not our price, the guide says so in plain words.
They are written for all 15 metros we deliver into, from Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and College Station in Texas to Denver, Sacramento, Phoenix, Atlanta and Miami. The ground changes from Blackland Prairie clay to Front Range claystone, but the arithmetic of 27 cubic feet to the yard, tons per load and loads per job stays the same, and most orders still arrive within 1 to 3 days.
Need dirt delivered?
Tell us the address, the material and the cubic yards, and we will price the material and the haul for your site.