Every load ticket
- Date and your truck number
- Job or project name and number
- Material hauled
- Pickup and dump locations
- Weight from the scale, or the count
- Signature and printed name from the pit, plant or site
Dump trucks
Dump truck dispatch that keeps your tickets, your hours and your pay lined up.
Dump work doesn't run on rate cons and bills of lading the way van freight does. It runs on load tickets, daily time sheets and a contractor who signs them. Lose a ticket and the load might as well not have happened. Our dump truck dispatcher desk finds the work, checks the pay basis before you accept, and keeps every ticket and hour matched to the job so the invoice adds up.
Aggregate, dirt, sand, asphalt, demolition and site work, whatever your body and permits fit. Every job is offered to you first, and the decision stays yours.
How dump work is paid: hourly, per ton or per load.
The same day of hauling can pay very differently depending on how the job is priced. Put in a day you ran: the hours on the ticket, the loads, the tons per load and three rates. The card prices the day all three ways and marks which came out highest.
Hourly protects you when the site is slow, the loader is down or the dump is backed up. Per ton and per load reward fast turns: short hauls, quick loading, an empty dump site. On a long cycle, hourly usually wins. On a short one, the tonnage rates often do.
That's why we ask about cycle time before you accept a job: how far to the dump, how long the loader takes, how many trucks are on the job. A per-load rate that looks generous on a job with one loader and twelve trucks can mean a day of waiting in line.
Standby time matters too. If a job pays by the load but you sit two hours waiting for the site to open, there should be a standby rate on the agreement. We ask for it in writing.
hrs
t
$/hr
$/t
$
Hourly9 hrs × $115$1,035highest today
Per ton7 loads × 18 t × $7.5$945
Per load7 loads × $140$980
Every figure depends on signed tickets. A missing ticket is a load that didn't happen on paper.
The ticket and time sheet checklist.
Print it for the cab. Every item below can hold up a dump invoice when it's missing, and almost all of them take seconds to get on site and days to fix later.
Every daily time sheet
- Start time on site, not when you left the yard unless agreed
- Breaks and any standby or downtime, with the reason
- Stop time and total hours
- Number of loads that day
- Foreman or superintendent signature
- A photo of it before you leave the site
Scale tickets work a lot like load tickets on other freight: they're the weight proof. Our guide to reading a scale ticket covers what each line means. To stay legal on weight, run your numbers through the max payload calculator before you accept heavy material.
Jobs you approve, not jobs you're sent to.
Each job comes to you with the site, the material, the pay basis and the rate, the expected hours or loads, the start time and any standby terms. You say yes or no. Say yes, and the agreement is yours to sign. Say no, and it costs nothing.
Tell us the contractors you like, the sites with bad roads or long lines, the materials you won't haul and how far you'll drive to start the day. We filter for it.
The two offers here are made up, but the difference between them is real. One pays by the hour with a minimum and standby written in; the other pays by the load with no standby at all. On a day when the loader breaks or the dump backs up, those terms decide whether you get paid for sitting. We put that difference in front of you before you choose.
Load offer 1 of 2
ExampleQuarry to job site, Phoenix, AZ
- Miles
- 38
- Rate
- $1,100
- Per mile
- $28.95
- Hourly rate, 8 hr minimum
- Signed load tickets each trip
- Standby time paid by the hour
Pickup Thu 06:30
A day on an hourly job, with us on the phone.
- 05:45You get the confirmed start time, the site contact and the gate code the night before. You already said yes.
- 06:30On site. You photograph the time sheet with your start time and the foreman's initials.
- 09:10The loader breaks down. You text us. We note the standby start time and remind the contractor it's on the agreement.
- 10:20Back to hauling. Standby ends on the sheet.
- 15:30Last load dumped. Seven signed tickets, one time sheet, all photographed before you leave.
- 16:00We match tickets to the job, flag nothing missing, and line up tomorrow.
Example A made-up day to show who does what. Real jobs vary.
Running several dump trucks? The same desk plans each truck's day and collects each driver's tickets, so the end-of-job invoice for a contractor covers every truck and every load in one packet, instead of a pile of paper from three cabs.
Steady work in a seasonal trade.
Dump hauling follows construction: busy when the ground is open and projects are running, slow in bad weather and between projects. The way to steadier weeks is fewer one-day jobs and more relationships with contractors and plants that run for weeks. We build those, plan your days around them, and fill gaps with one-off jobs that fit.
We won't promise every day is booked. Rain, permits and a contractor's schedule decide that. What we can do is see the gap coming and look for the next job before it opens.
In the slow months, some dump truck owners switch to other work their truck can do, like hauling for municipalities, snow and ice materials, or nursery and garden supply. Tell us what your truck is set up for and we'll look there too.
Before we offer a job, we check:
- Pay basis, rate, minimum hours and standby terms
- Material, and that your body and liner suit it
- Weight per load against your legal limit
- Site access, hours and any gate requirements
- Insurance the contractor requires against your certificate
- How and when the contractor pays
The same fee as every truck we dispatch.
5% of what you bill for the work we booked, for one truck past 6 months of authority; 4% for two trucks or more; 7% for a new authority until month 7. Standby time we negotiate counts as job pay. Reimbursed tolls and scale fees don't. Example A week of five hourly days at $1,035 a day comes to $5,175 billed and a fee of $258.75. More on the pricing page.
Other trucks, same rules: dry van dispatch and flatbed dispatch.
Dump truck dispatch questions
What should a dump truck load ticket show?
At minimum: the date, the truck number, the job or project, the material, the pickup and dump locations, the weight or count, and a signature from someone authorized at the pit, plant or site. Hourly work also needs start, stop and break times on a daily time sheet. Missing any of these is the most common reason a load isn't paid.
How is dump truck work paid?
Three common ways: by the hour, by the ton, or by the load. Hourly protects you when a site is slow; per-ton and per-load reward fast turns and short hauls. Many jobs mix them, with an hourly rate plus a minimum, or a per-ton rate with standby time. Which pays best depends on the cycle time of the job.
Can you find steady dump truck work?
We look for it. Dump work is local and seasonal, and steady work usually comes from contractors, plants and brokers who need trucks for a project that runs weeks or months. We build those relationships and plan your days around them, but we can't promise a job runs every day: weather, permits and project schedules decide that.
How do you track tickets and hours?
Each day you send us photos of the signed tickets and the time sheet. We match them against the job, the rate and the expected count, flag anything missing that same day so you can get it signed before the site forgets you, and build the invoice from them at the end of the job or pay period.
What insurance does a dump truck need?
It depends on your state, whether you haul across state lines, and what each contractor or job requires. Most require auto liability and often general liability, and many want to be named on your certificate. We check each job's requirements against your certificate before we book you, so you aren't turned away at the gate.
Do I approve every job before it's booked?
Yes. Every job is offered with the site, the material, the pay basis and rate, the hours or loads expected, and the start time. You accept or decline. Declining costs nothing, and you can tell us the sites, materials and contractors you'd rather not work for.
Every ticket signed, every hour on the invoice.
Send the application with your truck, body and the area you work. Your first job comes with the pay basis and standby terms laid out.
You approve every load. No setup fee. No contract.