In-stock delivery
1 to 3 days
[PRICE-TBC]price per cubic yard
Delivery & trucking
Dump trucks, 18-wheelers and haul-off
Roughly 90 percent of what a load of dirt costs is trucking. That 1 fact explains why speed changes the price, why the minimum is 20 cubic yards, and why site access is worth 5 minutes of your attention before dispatch. Deliveries run 8am to 5pm, and most orders arrive within 1 to 3 days from material we hold in stock.
Dump truck or 18-wheeler, which one comes?
We deliver by dump truck and by 18-wheeler. Which one shows up is a function of how many cubic yards you need and what your site will physically take.
A bigger truck moves more yards per trip, which is cheaper per yard. But it needs room to get in, room to turn around, firm enough ground not to sink, and clearance to raise a bed. A raised bed is tall, far taller than the truck itself. Overhead power lines and tree limbs over the tipping spot are the 2 things that most often stop a delivery on arrival.
Smaller trucks get into places a big rig cannot, at the cost of more trips. On a tight residential lot that trade is usually worth making. Describe your access when you order and we will size the equipment to the site rather than finding out the hard way with a driver on your street.
What do you need to know before dispatch?
The delivery address, and whether it is the same as the billing address. How many cubic yards. Which material. Where exactly you want the load tipped, not the driveway but which end of it. Whether there is anything overhead. How wide the gate or the entrance is. Whether the ground is soft, and whether it has rained in the last few days. Whether anyone will be on site.
And whether you have a machine to move the pile. A driver tips a load. A driver does not spread it. If you have no loader and no tractor, the material stays exactly where it lands, so it needs to land in the right place. A 20 cubic yard pile is about 30 tons and 180 to 280 wheelbarrow loads, and moving it 60 feet because the truck tipped in the wrong spot is a weekend nobody enjoys.
How does dirt removal and haul-off work?
It runs the other way too. We do dirt removal, dirt haul-off and general dump truck work: excavation spoil, pool demolition spoil, surplus from a cut, material that has to leave a site before the next trade can start.
Haul-off is priced differently from delivery because the constraint is different. With delivery you are paying to get material to you. With haul-off you are paying for truck time plus somewhere legitimate for the material to go, and disposal is a real line item rather than a rounding error. Tell us what the material is and whether it is clean, because contaminated spoil is a different job entirely and it goes to a different place at a different rate.
If you have clean surplus dirt and a neighbour needs fill, the cheapest haul in this business is a short one. Say so when you call. We would rather move 40 cubic yards half a mile than take it to a disposal site 30 miles away and charge you for both ends.
Why do delivery dates move?
Deliveries are made on a continual daily basis between 8am and 5pm until the amount you have ordered is met. Large orders arrive across multiple loads and sometimes across multiple days, so a 200 cubic yard order is not a single event you need to block out a morning for.
Because of the nature of the work and the weather, a delivery date can take 5 to 45 business days depending on the tier you choose, excluding holidays, weather days and dry time days. That is not hedging. Saturated ground genuinely cannot be driven on or compacted, and a truck stuck on a soft lot is a bad day for everyone, usually including your lawn.
The seasonal pattern differs by metro. In Denver the freeze closes the placing season and everything wants to happen in the same spring-to-autumn window. In Sacramento the wet half of the year runs roughly November through March. In Houston and DFW rain moves individual dates rather than closing seasons. When the weather moves a date, we will tell you.
Why must I never pay the driver?
We contract to third-party carriers on some runs. Make payments to American Dirt Delivery only. Do not pay drivers directly, for any part of the order, for any reason, no matter what is said on your driveway.
This is in our published policy and we repeat it here because it is the most common way customers in this industry lose money. A driver who asks for cash on site is either not authorised to take it or is not planning to pass it on, and in both cases you will have paid twice. If anyone on your site asks you for a payment, call us before you hand over anything.
What stops a delivery on arrival?
A truck that turns around at your gate costs the same to dispatch as one that tips. These are the 5 things that actually stop a delivery, in the order we see them, and every one of them is cheap to fix the day before.
Every item here is a 5 minute conversation at order time and a wasted truck on the day. Cancellation terms apply to a load that has already been dispatched, so it is worth the 5 minutes.
| What goes wrong | How often | Fix it before the truck rolls |
|---|---|---|
| Overhead power lines or tree limbs | Most common | Stand where you want the load and look straight up. A raised dump bed is much taller than the truck. If anything is over the tipping spot, pick another spot or tell us so we send a truck that tips lower. |
| Gate or driveway too narrow | Very common | Measure the narrowest point of the approach and tell us the number. If a gate can come off its hinges for an hour, say so, because it may be the difference between 2 loads and 4. |
| Ground too soft to carry the weight | Common after rain | A loaded tandem is well over 20 tons on 2 axles. If it has rained in the last few days or the approach crosses grass, tell us. Moving the date beats pulling a truck out of your lawn. |
| Nowhere to turn around | Common on acreage | A truck that can get in and cannot get out has not made a delivery. Check the turning space at the tipping end, not just the entrance, and tell us if the neighbour's driveway is available. |
| Nobody on site and no machine | Avoidable | The driver tips where you direct them, once. If nobody is there to direct and you have no loader to move the pile afterwards, the load lands in a default spot and stays there. Say so at order time so we can agree the spot in advance. |
Delivery speeds
In stock, or sourced for volume
Most orders leave from stock in 1 to 3 days. Very large orders can be sourced to the cheapest supply instead. Each window excludes holidays, weather days and dry time days.
Sourced for volume
500+ load orders
[PRICE-TBC]price per cubic yard
Tier pricing sits on the live WooCommerce shop with no unit printed anywhere on the product page, and the site's own banner says online ordering is switched off. We will not publish a number we cannot state the unit for. Confirm the unit and whether delivery is included and this becomes a one line change.
Delivery and trucking questions
How long does dirt delivery take?
Most orders run 1 to 3 days, delivered from material we hold in stock at the pit. On very large orders, around 500 loads and up, we can source the cheapest supply for the job instead, which takes longer. Every window excludes holidays, weather days and dry time days. Deliveries themselves run between 8am and 5pm on a continual daily basis until the ordered amount is met.
Do you deliver by dump truck or 18-wheeler?
Both, and which one comes depends on your yardage and your site access. A tandem dump typically carries 8 to 12 cubic yards of dirt and an 18-wheeler 16 to 24. Bigger is cheaper per yard if it can physically reach the tipping spot and raise a bed safely.
Will the driver spread the dirt?
No. A driver tips the load where you direct them and that is the extent of it. Spreading and compaction are your crew's job. For clay fill in particular you want a skid steer, a tractor with a loader or a small dozer on site, because 20 cubic yards is about 30 tons.
Do you do dirt removal and haul-off?
Yes. Excavation spoil, pool demolition spoil, surplus from a cut and general dump truck work. Haul-off is priced on truck time plus disposal rather than on material, so tell us what it is and whether it is clean. Contaminated spoil goes somewhere different at a different rate.
What happens if it rains on my delivery date?
The date moves and we tell you. Saturated ground cannot be driven on or compacted, and a loaded truck on a soft lot does real damage to your site and risks getting stuck. Our published windows allow for weather days and dry time days for exactly this reason.
Can I pay the driver on delivery?
No. Make payments to American Dirt Delivery only. We contract to third-party carriers on some runs and paying a driver directly is the most common way customers in this trade lose money. If anyone on your site asks for a payment, call us before you hand anything over.
Got a tight site or a tight date?
Describe the access and the deadline before you order. It is the difference between a delivery and a truck that turns around at your gate.