Free tool
Truck bed volume calculator
Turn your bed's length, width and depth into cubic feet and cubic yards — then see how much mulch, soil or gravel fits, and what it weighs against your payload.
Level to the rails. Wheel wells and a tapered floor trim real usable volume by roughly 10–15%. Heaping loose material above the rails (cover off) can add 25–50% more.
What it weighs — the payload reality check
Heavy material runs out of weight long before it runs out of room. Pick what you're hauling and your payload to see how much you can actually carry.
Over your payload — carry at most 0.54 cu yd (25% of a level bed) to stay safe.
Enter your truck's payload to see how much you can safely carry.
Bed volume — frequently asked
How do I calculate my truck bed volume?
Multiply the bed's interior length × width × depth in inches, then divide by 1,728 to get cubic feet, or by 46,656 to get cubic yards. For example, a 78 × 60 × 21 inch bed is 98,280 cubic inches ÷ 1,728 ≈ 56.9 cubic feet ≈ 2.1 cubic yards, filled level to the top of the rails. Wheel wells and a tapered floor reduce the real usable volume a little.
How many cubic yards does a truck bed hold?
Filled level to the rails, a typical 5.5 ft short bed holds roughly 1.8 cubic yards, a 6.5 ft bed about 2.1, and an 8 ft bed about 2.6. You can heap loose material higher than the rails for more, but only without a cover — and weight, not volume, is usually the real limit.
Why can't I fill my bed with gravel or soil?
Because weight runs out before volume. Gravel weighs around 2,800 lb per cubic yard, so a level 2-cubic-yard bed would be over 5,000 lb — far past a half-ton truck's ~1,500 lb payload. You can usually only carry half a yard or so of heavy material safely. Always check the weight against your payload, not just whether it fits.
Does a tonneau cover reduce how much I can haul?
For loose material, a closed cover caps you at a level-full load — you can't heap above the rails with the cover shut. For most hauling that's plenty, and a roll-up or folding cover simply opens out of the way when you need to pile it higher or carry something tall. For dense material like gravel or soil you'll hit your payload limit long before the cover is in the way.
How much does a full truck bed of mulch weigh?
Bark mulch is light — roughly 600 lb per cubic yard — so a level 2-cubic-yard bed is about 1,200 lb, usually within a half-ton's payload. That's why mulch and wood chips are some of the few materials you can actually load a bed full of. Wet mulch weighs noticeably more.
