Hauling sand

This week, I'll be picking up a 1/2 yard of coarse sand for a paving project (about 1500lbs). The sand and gravel place is only a few miles from my home.

Are there any nuggets of wisdom or warnings about hauling loose material in a 3rd gen Tacoma 5' bed? I'm thinking I'll want to lay in a tarp 1st to keep the sand out of all the gaps.

 

2nd tarp.

 

Rent a utility trailer.

Don’t have to worry about someone smashing your side with a bucket, cleaning all the grit out of every crack it swirled into on the drive, complaining about saggy ass rear springs after overloading (yeah check your door sticker 1500lb is beyond rated payload, and if it happens to be wet..). And it will be lower down to unload it

 

That, or have the yard deliver. It may be cheaper and less inconvenient than the trailer rental. Besides exceeding payload, sand gets EVERYWHERE. And then there's not having to unload it...

 

I put a towel on the back of the cab so the sand/gravel doesn’t hit the cab. With the 5’ bed the have to drop the load sideways into the truck.

 

If they are not very far from home I would just have them deliver. Delivery rates are normally pretty reasonable for short trips.

 

This is borderline if the sand is dry, if wet I wouldn't do it. Depending on your trucks payload rating you're going to be overloaded by 200-500 lbs at least. For a short trip I might try it. In addition to a tarp air up all 4 tires to the max listed on the tires sidewall. Wash the truck afterward. A pressure washer will help get sand out of the nooks and crannies.

 

Have it delivered or rent a trailer.

 

I can’t believe the amount of people saying have it delivered or rent a trailer. He has a truck it’s 1/2 a yard of sand. Put it in the bed and drive home.

 

The delivery fee will be less than the cost of new springs.

 

Its not the volume.

Its the material, loading at the yard, variable weight, overload, clean up.

Sand gets everywhere, even places you don't expect. Ever have sex on a beach? I did once........

 

+1 on the tarp. I had to get 15 large bags of wood chips for the garden and some of the bags were already torn open. There was so much clean up, especially between the bed and tailgate.

 

If your rear sliding window is powered, cover it. My buddy hauled sand in his F-150 and had to have that rear window replaced bc sand got all in the internals in the drive home. Not to mention everywhere else the sand got.

 

Hauling sand sucks; that shit gets everywhere no matter how careful you are! There are times when it makes sense to "pay the man" and this is one of them!

 

+1 on the "have them deliver it" votes.

Also guaran-damn-tee you'll need more than you think resulting in multiple trips making it cheaper to just get it dumped in the first place.

 

OP, if delivery is not an option, get a few of these bags. I find them useful and we have moved a ton of dirt, rocks and sand in them and never had a problem:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/HALSTED...Vgt7ICh37mwXjEAkYAiABEgKO9vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

EDIT: Note that at the place we get materials from they load these gently into the back of the truck with a forklift.

Hope that helps!

 

At $20/bag, a couple of bags would be the delivery fee.

Yes, you still have the bags. Now, you should clean them out and need to store them.

 

The older I get the more time and energy has become more important than money.
Tarps, shoveling, cleaning and cleaning again, the hazard of the yard loading -- just have it delivered and save your time and energy for the project.

 

It's not the weight it's the mess.

 

I would recommend getting it delivered, or buying bags, as others have mentioned. It feels like I am in an infinite loop of doing landscaping projects and always seem to be getting loam, crushed stone, stone dust, or mulch, delivered. Unless I had a dump truck I would not try to take it home in my truck. It's such a pain to get it out of the bed. Plus, if you're mid working and want to stop or go grab lunch, are you going to drive around with whatever material in there? If you get it delivered you can just work form the pile and not feel rushed. I laugh when I see guys at the local material yard pulling up in their pick up trucks and taking pictures. It's like pretending your pickup is a peterbilt has become a thing. Usually the damn bucket is as big or bigger than the truck bed which makes loading it cleanly a pain too.