How big is a yard of gravel is asked by somebody with a wheelbarrow and a driveway, and the honest answer has two halves: the volume, which is fixed, and the weight, which is not. A yard is a cubic yard, 27 cubic feet, a cube three feet each way, and at a stated depth it covers a stated area. What it weighs depends on the material and its moisture, and the supplier states a density per yard for each product. This page gives the coverage at the common depths, works the weight from the supplier's density, and says what that means for a pickup, a trailer and a dump truck. The aggregate calculator on this site works a base or a drive into yards and tons; the page on how many yards in a ton of gravel works the conversion.
The volume, and the area it covers at each depth
Twenty-seven cubic feet spread at 3 inches, a quarter of a foot, covers 108 square feet; at 4 inches, 81 square feet; at 6 inches, 54. So a yard is a 9 by 12 foot patch at 3 inches, or a 9 by 9 at 4. A 30 by 20 foot pad at 6 inches, the aggregate calculator's worked example on this site, is 600 square feet over 54, about 11.1 yards. Gravel compacts when it is rolled, so a base placed at 6 inches loose is thinner once compacted, and the calculator's compaction allowance is the reason a base is ordered above the finished depth.
The weight: the supplier's density times the yards
A yard of gravel weighs what the material weighs, and that varies by the stone, the size, the fines and the moisture: a washed pea gravel, a crusher run with fines and a wet bank-run are different weights for the same 27 cubic feet. The supplier states a density per yard for each product, and the weight of the order is the yards times that figure, which is how the same order is quoted in tons. The Census Bureau's construction series, linked below, is a reference for the industry's pricing conventions, and the aggregate calculator on this site takes the density typed in from the supplier's sheet rather than assuming one.
What carries a yard: pickup, trailer, dump truck
A yard of gravel at a typical supplier density is well beyond a half-ton pickup's rated payload and a load for a heavier one, so a pickup carries a fraction of a yard of most products, a single-axle trailer a yard or two by its rating, and a dump truck several yards by its size. The vehicle's rated payload in the door jamb and the supplier's density decide the number, not the bed's volume, because a bed that holds a yard by volume does not carry it by weight. NIST Handbook 44, linked below, is the reference for the scales the supplier's ticket is weighed on.
From the yard to the order
The order is the area times the depth over 27, plus the compaction and the waste, in yards, and the supplier converts to tons at the product's density and prices by whichever unit they sell in. For the 30 by 20 pad the aggregate calculator on this site reports the yards and the tons from the density typed in; the page on how many yards in a ton of gravel works the conversion in both directions. DrawScheduleWorks Pro keeps the order against the job so the tickets can be added up and compared to the calculated yards when the base is in.
Questions people ask about how big is a yard of gravel
How much area does a yard of gravel cover?
108 square feet at 3 inches deep, 81 at 4 inches, 54 at 6 inches, before compaction. A base is ordered above the finished depth because it compacts when rolled.
How much does a yard of gravel weigh?
The supplier's stated density for the product times one yard; it varies with the stone, the fines and the moisture. The aggregate calculator on this site takes the density from the supplier's sheet.
Will a yard of gravel fit in a pickup?
By volume perhaps, by weight usually not: a yard of most products exceeds a half-ton pickup's rated payload. The vehicle's rated payload and the supplier's density decide the load, not the bed's size.