Short Loads Aren't Our Penalty Fee. They're Our Name.
Most plants treat a two-yard order like a favor — minimums, surcharges, “we'll fit you in Thursday.” Our volumetric trucks batch exactly the concrete your project needs, at published rates plus one flat delivery charge, whether that's half a yard or a full pour.
Why small orders get treated badly — and why ours don't
A conventional batch plant loads a 10-yard drum whether you need 10 yards or 2. The truck, the driver, the wash-out and the plant time cost the same, so small orders get minimums, surcharges and the worst slot on the schedule. Then whatever you over-ordered gets dumped, and you paid for that too.
We built the business around the opposite bet — it's on the truck door. A volumetric mixer carries raw sand, rock, cement and water, and only makes concrete while it's pouring. Two yards is a normal order. Three-point-four yards is a normal order. The price is the published rate times what actually left the chute, plus one flat delivery fee.
- Fence posts and deck footings — batched in an hour, no bag-mixing marathon.
- Patios, walkways and pads — the classic 1–4 yard jobs plants don't want.
- Curbs, steps and stem walls — odd quantities, poured exact.
- Sidewalk panels and ramps — see rapid-set sidewalk repair.
Bags vs. U-cart vs. short-load truck
| Option | 1 yard looks like | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| 80-lb bags | ~40 bags + mixer rental | Hours of labor; 40 slightly different batches curing on 40 clocks |
| U-cart / tow mixer | ~1 yd behind your hitch | You're towing 4,000+ lbs, racing the set time, and returning the cart |
| Short Load PNW volumetric | Exact yardage, batched on site | One flat $200 delivery + $25 fuel — that's the whole catch |
Plant-grade, uniform, spec-strength concrete — with rapid-set designs available when the pour has a deadline. Rates published below.
Transparent pricing. No surprises.
The rates don't change because the load is small — material by PSI for the yardage poured, plus the flat delivery and fuel charges. That's the entire price sheet.
| Mix design | Material rate |
|---|---|
| 3300 PSI / CDF | $215 / yd³ |
| 3500 PSI | $231 / yd³ |
| 4000 PSI ★ most specified | $247 / yd³ |
| 4500 PSI | $263 / yd³ |
| 5000 PSI | $279 / yd³ |
| Base delivery | $200 |
| Fuel charge | $25 |
Published rates as of July 2026 — confirm current rates and yardage with dispatch at (503) 925-1002. High-early and specialty admixture designs are quoted per spec.
Dispatched from the Tualatin Valley. Serving the I-5 corridor.
Short loads run all day across the Portland metro — bundled routes make even the smallest pours schedulable, usually within a day or two.
Outside these cities? Call — corridor jobs and DOT work are routed case-by-case.
More rapid-set resources
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a “short load” of concrete?
In the trade, anything under a drum truck's economic minimum — commonly 3–4 yards — gets branded a short load and surcharged accordingly. Our fleet is volumetric, so the economics are different: we batch on site, in any quantity, and charge published material rates plus one flat delivery fee.
Is there a minimum order?
No practical one — half-yard and one-yard pours are routine. The $200 base delivery and $25 fuel charge apply per trip regardless of size, so tiny pours are honest about their real cost instead of hiding it in a per-yard penalty.
Why not just rent a U-cart or mix bags myself?
For anything past a few wheelbarrows, bagged mix and tow-carts get expensive, slow and inconsistent fast — a yard of concrete is roughly forty 80-lb bags, every one mixed slightly differently, curing on different clocks. A volumetric truck delivers plant-grade, uniform, spec-strength concrete with none of the mixing labor, and you're not towing 4,000 pounds home.
Won't leftover concrete get wasted?
That's the volumetric trick: there isn't leftover concrete. Materials ride in separate compartments and only become concrete as it pours, so the truck stops when your forms are full. You pay for yardage poured — metered, not estimated.
Can one delivery cover several small pours?
Yes — that's the ideal use. Deck footings at 3500 PSI, a walkway at 4000, and post bases after lunch: quantities and even mix designs change at the controls, one trip, one delivery fee.
However small the pour, it gets a real truck.
Fence posts to full driveways — dispatch prices it in one call, from rates you can read right on this page.
(503) 925-1002