Three ways a hauling job gets priced
| Method | Best for | What drives the number |
|---|---|---|
| Per load | Material delivered to one address | Truck size, distance from the pit, material cost, tipping if any |
| Per truck-hour | Site work: spoils, snow, anything where the site sets the pace | Truck size, minimum hours, whether portal to portal |
| Per day or per month | A week of hauling, or a monthly snow plowing contract | Committed trucks, a response window, the whole winter on one monthly number |
We quote every job in writing before a truck moves, and the quote shows the pieces: material at the pit price, trucking, and any disposal fee at cost. If a number changes on the day, because the pit was out of 3-inch minus or the disposal site charged for gravel in the snow, it is on the ticket and you hear about it before the invoice.
What the material itself costs
The pit gate price is public and you should know it, because it tells you how much of a delivered price is trucking. Anchorage gate prices this season run about $9 a yard for pit run, $11 for 3-inch minus, $14 for 3/4 minus, $30 for D-1 and $25 for screened topsoil with peat. The larger producers sell the same material by the ton over a scale at the Klatt Pit. Out in the Valley, the Palmer and Wasilla yards price by the yard or by the 10-yard load.
What trucking costs in this market
The going published rate for an end dump in Anchorage is around $145 an hour, one-hour minimum, fifteen-minute increments after. Nationally a delivered 10 to 13 ton load of common gravel runs roughly $500 to $1,000, with distance surcharges past a base radius. Anchorage sits at the higher end of national because the pits are few and the season is short. Our own rates are on the quote, not the website, because they move with fuel, season and how far the truck has to go; call and you will have them in writing the same day.
Minimums by area
Distance is most of a delivery's cost, so the minimum load grows with the drive. This is how every Anchorage hauler does it, five yards inside the Bowl and ten for Hillside, Eagle River and Peters Creek being the common split, and we work the same way.
| Area | Typical minimum | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Anchorage Bowl | Partial loads welcome | Midtown, Downtown, Spenard, Sand Lake, South Anchorage, Muldoon |
| Hillside and the upper Bowl | Fuller loads | Grades and long driveways; we look at access first |
| Eagle River, Chugiak, Peters Creek | Full tandem | Glenn Highway run; see the area page |
| Wasilla, Palmer, Mat-Su | Full load, Valley-sourced material | Often cheaper than hauling from Anchorage; see Mat-Su |
| Girdwood | Full load, scheduled | Seward Highway run; see Girdwood |
Things that move the price
- Weight. Our trucks carry 12 tons, so heavy material like D-1 fills the weight limit at about 8.5 yards while topsoil fills the whole 12-yard bed. Heavy orders take more loads.
- Spring weight restrictions. A restricted road can mean two lighter loads instead of one; see the breakup page.
- Access. Soft ground, tight turns, a long backing run: slower cycles, more hours.
- Disposal fees. Snow, spoils and organics have a tipping fee at the site, passed through at cost.
- Time of day. Rush hour on the Glenn is a real cost on Eagle River and Valley work.
- Season. Trucks are committed to snow contracts in winter and booked by contractors in summer; early booking is cheaper than emergency booking.
Getting a quote
Use the quote form with the material, the quantity, the address and the date, or call 907-743-2522 with the same. If you do not know the quantity, the calculator will get you to a number of loads. You will get a written quote with the pieces broken out, and it holds for the date on it.
Questions we get about this
Why is there no price list on this page?
Because a price that does not know your address, your material and the month is a guess, and a guess that is low costs you and one that is high costs us. The pit prices and the market benchmarks above are real; your quote will be too.
Is delivery free like the national sites say?
Nothing is free; the national sites fold trucking into a higher material price and quote a radius. We show the trucking as its own line. Compare the delivered total.
Do you charge a fuel surcharge?
Not as a separate line. Fuel is in the rate we quote for the date we quote it.
Can I get a discount for volume?
Yes. A season of contractor work or a multi-load order is priced as a block, and the per-load number comes down.