ADT dump truck for hire

ADT sizes: 20–25 t, 30 t, 40–45 t and 50–60 t

ADTs are named roughly by the load they carry. A “B30” is a 30 t class truck and a “B40” a 40 t class; on the maker's sheets a B40E is rated 39 t and a B45E 41 t. These are the four classes we hire, with the payload and heaped body volume of a common model in each class.

Why payload and body go together: divide the payload by the body volume and every class comes out at about 1.6 t a cube. That's the weight of a loose cube of crushed rock or wet soil on Caterpillar's reference tables (1.60 t), so with typical material the body is full just as the truck reaches its payload. Lighter material, such as topsoil at 0.95 t a cube, fills the body first; heavy ore reaches the payload before the body is heaped.

Picking a size: more tons per trip means fewer trucks and operators, but the truck must suit the loader. A 30 t ADT is the usual choice when a 20–25 t excavator or a 950 to 966 class loader loads; a 40 t and bigger suits a 36 t+ excavator. Haul distance matters too: on a long haul, bigger trucks cut the number of trips.

ADT hire rates

Our prices for ADTs with operators, excluding VAT. Lowbed transport both ways is quoted as its own line.

* Few price points for this one, so treat it as a guide; the exact price comes back on WhatsApp.

Wet, dry and monthly

• Day rate with operator: R5,650–R5,900 for a 30 t. The diesel basis is written on your quote.
• Dry: operator included, you pay the diesel. A 20–25 t ADT is R370–R420 an hour dry. Mines and farms that buy diesel in bulk usually hire dry.
• Wet: operator and diesel included. A 30 t is about R600 an hour wet, a 40–45 t about R1,000.
• Monthly: a 30 t ADT for a month of about 200 machine hours is about R158,000 dry. Twenty-two days paid one at a time would be R124,300–R129,800, so steady work belongs on the monthly rate.

Fewer price points stand behind some ADT sizes than behind our everyday machines, so treat the starred prices as a guide; the exact rate comes back in writing. Every machine's price is on plant hire rates, and wet and dry are explained in our wet vs dry hire guide.

What changes the price

• Size and number of trucks, and how long the contract runs.
• Hours and shifts: a single day shift, double shifts or round the clock. Extra hours over the monthly block are charged at the rate on your contract.
• Diesel: wet or dry.
• Haul road condition: steep ramps, rock and deep mud wear tyres and slow the cycle.
• Standing time: trucks waiting on a broken loader, a blast or a closed road are charged as agreed on your contract.
• Lowbed transport both ways, from the nearest main centre.

How many ADTs per excavator?

The loader and the trucks must be sized together, or either the trucks queue or the loader stands. A 36–55 t excavator (Cat 352 or similar) carries a 1.90–2.69 m³ bucket, so it fills a 30 t ADT's heaped body of about 17–19 m³ in about 7–10 passes, roughly three to four minutes. See excavator hire.

Then count the cycle. Example: loading takes 4 minutes, the haul to the dump and back takes 16 minutes, and tipping and turning take 2 minutes. Each truck's cycle is 22 minutes and the excavator loads one every 4 minutes: 22 ÷ 4 = 5.5 trucks. With five, the excavator waits a minute or two now and then; with six, it never stops and a truck queues briefly instead. A longer haul needs more trucks; a shorter one fewer.

On stockpiles and at the plant, a front end loader loads ADTs instead. Off the haul road, the dust from a busy truck cycle is kept down by a water truck: see dust suppression.

ADT operators: certificates and site rules

On a construction site, an ADT is mobile plant under regulation 23 of the Construction Regulations, 2014. The operator must be trained, certified competent with proof of competency, authorised in writing, and hold a medical certificate of fitness from an occupational health practitioner. The truck must have an acoustic warning device and an automatic reversing alarm, and the operator inspects it every day before use against a checklist recorded in a register kept in the machine.

On a mine, trackless mobile machines fall under the mine's mandatory code of practice. The guideline for that code requires procedures to select, train and appoint operators, records of their training, and a written, site-specific appointment that the operator accepts in writing. We send copies of operator certificates and training records for your appointment process, on request. See safety and certificates.