34 Ton Side Tipper Truck Hire from R75,500/Month

Side tipper truck hire for mines and haulage contracts

We hire out 34 ton side tippers with drivers, by the month, to mines, coal and chrome haulage contracts, quarries and bulk earthworks anywhere in South Africa. Each truck is a 6x4 truck tractor (the “horse”) pulling an interlink of two side-tipping trailers on seven axles, loaded to about 34 t.

Each bin tips sideways off its trailer, so the truck unloads in minutes at a stockpile, a tip or a power station without reversing up or lifting a tall body into the air. That's why the standard coal truck on Mpumalanga's roads is a side tipper.

Truck and trailer with a driver: R75,500–R92,000 a month
Horse only, with a driver: R42,000–R63,000 a month, to pull your own trailers
Side tipper trailer only: R25,000–R29,500 a month, for your own horse

Need several trucks? Use the long-hire quote at the top of the page, or send the tonnage, route and start date on WhatsApp.

Side tipper hire rates

These are our monthly rates, excluding VAT. A month on a side tipper means the truck is yours for the contract month, with its driver, on your route.

34 t side tipper hire prices, November 2026 (excl. VAT, transport extra)
Size	Rate	Price
34 t side tipper (truck and trailer) with driver	Per month, with operator	R75,500–R92,000
Truck tractor (horse) only	Per month, with operator	R42,000–R63,000
Truck tractor (horse) only	Per day, with operator	about R6,300 *
Side tipper trailer only	Per month, machine only	R25,000–R29,500
Side tipper trailer only	Per day, machine only	about R2,100 *

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

Which option fits:

Truck and trailer with a driver suits a mine or contract that needs moving tonnage from day one and doesn't want to run its own trucks.
Horse only suits a haulier with trailers standing and no truck tractor, or a contract that's short of pulling power for a few months.
Trailer only suits a haulier with spare horses and drivers who needs more bins for a new contract.

Worked example: 3 months in eMalahleni (Witbank)
Example quote (for illustration only)	Amount
34 t side tipper (truck and trailer) with driver, 3 months at R75,500–R92,000 a month with operator	R226,500–R276,000
Transport to eMalahleni (Witbank)	confirmed on WhatsApp

Prices for every machine are on plant hire rates. For several trucks on one contract, the formal quote goes out by email with company documents on request.

Get a side tipper price on WhatsApp

What's in a monthly side tipper contract

Every term below is written on your quote before a truck is allocated, so you know exactly what the monthly rate covers.

How our monthly side tipper hire works
Item	How it works
Driver	One dedicated driver per truck, holding a professional driving permit (PrDP). Drivers attend your mine's induction and medicals before the first load.
Hours and shifts	The rate covers one driver on the shift pattern agreed on your quote. A second driver for double shifts is quoted as its own line.
Diesel	Dry (you supply or pay for the diesel) or wet (diesel included in the monthly rate or a rate per ton). Agreed in writing.
Tolls	For your account, or built into the rate on routes with toll plazas. Agreed in writing.
Tracking	Trucks are tracked. Trip and location reports on request.
Payload	Loaded to about 34 t inside the 56,000 kg legal combination mass, checked on the weighbridge at the loading point.
Maintenance, tyres and breakdowns	Ours. A replacement truck on breakdown, or no charge for the downtime.
Minimum term	One month. Three-, six- and twelve-month contracts on request.
Standing time	Queues at weighbridges and loading points are part of a monthly hire. On day-rate jobs, waiting past the agreed hours is charged at the rate on your quote.
Deposit	A refundable deposit, set on your quote, paid before the truck is allocated. The balance follows the payment terms on the contract.
Insurance	The truck is insured. Goods-in-transit cover for your load is confirmed on the quote.
Documents	Company documents on request for your vendor registration, plus driver PrDPs and vehicle roadworthy certificates.

Side tipper load capacity: how much does a 34 ton side tipper carry?

A 34 ton side tipper carries about 34 t, and the number comes straight from the road traffic law. The National Road Traffic Regulations limit how much each axle may carry and cap a combination of vehicles at 56,000 kg. An interlink side tipper has seven axles:

Legal axle limits on a 7-axle interlink side tipper (National Road Traffic Regulations reg 240)
Axle group	Legal limit
Steering axle on the horse	7,700 kg
Drive tandem on the horse (two axles, dual wheels)	18,000 kg
Front trailer tandem	18,000 kg
Rear trailer tandem	18,000 kg
Sum of the axle limits	61,700 kg
Legal maximum for the combination	56,000 kg

So the 56,000 kg cap is what counts. Take off the empty mass of the rig and you get the payload. Afrit, for example, lists its 45 m³ tandem-tandem interlink at 11,720 kg empty and rated for a 34,780 kg payload inside 56,000 kg, with the truck tractor making up the rest. A lighter 25 m³ interlink is rated for 36,550 kg.

The legal overall length of the combination is 22 m, and the regulations also apply a bridge formula: any group of axles may carry no more than 18,000 kg plus 2,100 kg for every metre between its first and last axle.

Side tipper capacity in cubes: coal vs chrome

The tonnage is fixed by law; the bin size changes with the material. Coal is light, so coal interlinks run big bins of 40–45 m³ to reach 34 t. Chrome ore and other dense ores reach the same mass in about 25 m³, which is why an ore trailer's bins look half-empty. Bin sizes vary by builder: Afrit, for example, lists 25 m³, 40 m³ and 45 m³ interlinks.

A tri-axle side tipper semi-trailer (six axles in all) is a smaller option: Afrit rates its 40 m³ tri-axle at 49,500 kg combination mass and a 30,540 kg payload.

PBS side tippers

Performance Based Standards (PBS) trucks are longer-wheelbase designs approved to run heavier on set routes. The CSIR's study of Eskom coal haulage compared the standard 56 t, 22 m interlink with a 74 t, 22 m tridem interlink, and found about 60 PBS coal trucks working in 2019. A PBS truck only runs where the route and the client's contract allow it.

Typical side tipper routes: coal, chrome and aggregate

Where side tippers work in South Africa
Load	From	To	Bins
Coal	Collieries around eMalahleni (Witbank), Middelburg, Ogies, Kriel, Secunda and Ermelo	Eskom power stations in Mpumalanga, coal sidings, and the coast at Richards Bay	40–45 m³
Chrome ore	The western Bushveld around Rustenburg and Brits, and the eastern limb at Steelpoort and Burgersfort	Richards Bay, Durban and Maputo ports, and smelters	About 25 m³
Aggregate and sand	Quarries and sand pits	Road projects, ready-mix plants and big sites	About 25 m³

Coal to Eskom power stations

Eskom's coal mines and coal-fired power stations are mostly in Mpumalanga, and a large share of their coal comes by truck. The CSIR found that road haulage carried about 35.4 million tonnes in 2018/19, roughly 30% of Eskom's coal, with an average road haul of about 97.5 km. In 2015 Eskom put its road haulage at about 3,200 km of Mpumalanga roads on 30 to 40 haulage routes, with more than 2,000 trucks.

Distances from our nearest centres: Kriel is about 52 km from eMalahleni (Witbank) by road, Secunda is about 106 km from eMalahleni (Witbank) by road and Ermelo is about 104 km from Middelburg by road. Witbank and Middelburg are main centres for us, so trucks start from inside the coalfield.

Chrome from the Bushveld

Chrome ore from the platinum belt moves by road to three ports. When rail and port backlogs built up in 2022, chrome producers trucked ore from Johannesburg and Rustenburg to Maputo through Mbombela, and Maputo handled almost 60% of South Africa's chrome ore shipments in April and May that year, against a usual 30–35%. Durban and Richards Bay handle most of the rest. Steelpoort is about 150 km from Polokwane by road; Brits is about 53 km from Pretoria by road.

Aggregate and bulk earthworks

On road and dam projects, side tippers carry crushed stone and sand from the quarry when the haul is long and on public roads. For short hauls on site, rigid tipper trucks or off-road ADTs are the better fit.

Coal transport contracts: how hiring side tippers works

Whether your contract is with a colliery, a coal trader or an Eskom coal haulage tender, the steps are the same:

Send the contract details: tonnes per month, loading and tipping points, the route, the start date and how long the contract runs.
We work out the trucks you need from the cycle time, and say whether horse-and-trailer, horse-only or trailer-only hire fits.
You get a formal quote by email at info@basaltplanthire.co.za, with diesel, tolls, deposit and term written out. Company documents on request.
Pay the deposit; trucks are allocated and drivers go through your site induction.
Trucks run your route, invoiced monthly, with weighbridge tickets for every load.

Worked example: how many side tippers for 20,000 t a month?

Example only, to show the method. A 100 km haul (close to the CSIR's 97.5 km average) is a 200 km round trip. At an average of about 50 km/h that's 4 hours on the road, plus about an hour for loading, the weighbridge and tipping: roughly 5 hours a cycle, so two loads in a long day shift.

Two loads × 34 t = 68 t a day per truck
68 t × 26 working days = about 1,770 t a month per truck
20,000 t ÷ 1,770 t = 11.3, so 12 trucks
12 trucks at R75,500–R92,000 each = R906,000–R1,104,000 a month for trucks and drivers, before diesel and tolls

Shorter hauls, faster loading or double shifts cut the number of trucks. We redo this calculation with your real route before quoting.

Load and haul: side tippers, ADTs or tipper trucks?

Load and haul is the cycle of loading material, hauling it, tipping it and driving back. In mining it's the biggest daily cost after the digging itself, so the right truck for the haul matters.

Which haul truck for which job
Truck	Payload	Where it works
34 t side tipper	About 34 t	Public roads, long hauls from the mine to a power station, siding or port
ADT (Bell B30E or similar)	20–60 t classes	Inside the pit and on rough haul roads, steep ramps, wet ground
Rigid tipper, 10–18 cube	About 17–22 t	Short hauls on construction sites and between site and tip

Load and haul cycle time

Cycle time = loading + loaded haul + weighbridge + tipping + empty return + waiting. Waiting is the part you can fix. If the loader takes 10 minutes per truck and the round trip takes 5 hours, one loader can feed up to 30 trucks; with fewer trucks the loader stands, with more the trucks queue.

Load and haul optimisation

Match the loader to the truck. A front end loader or excavator should fill a truck in a few passes; too small a bucket stretches every cycle.
Keep the weighbridge and the tip moving. Ten minutes saved per load across 12 trucks is two extra hours of hauling a day.
Keep haul roads graded and watered. A grader and a water truck keep speeds up and dust down.
Load to the legal mass, not the bin. Overloads get fined and damage tyres and roads; underloads waste trips.

Loading machines for the other end of the haul: excavator hire, front end loader hire and mining plant hire. Loaders and excavators travel to the mine on a lowbed, and a TLB handles small loading jobs at a siding or stockpile.

Side tipper trailer hire, horse only and back tippers

34 ton side tipper trailer for hire

A side tipper trailer on its own is R25,000–R29,500 a month, or about R2,100 a day for short work. You pull it with your own horse and driver. Tell us the bin size you need (about 25 m³ for ore, 40–45 m³ for coal) and the hitch on your horse.

Horse only, with a driver

A 6x4 truck tractor with a driver is R42,000–R63,000 a month, or about R6,300 a day. It pulls your side tippers, flat decks or other trailers. For flat decks and superlinks, see truck and trailer hire.

Back tipper (end tipper) trailers

Back tippers tip off the rear and suit sticky material and tight tipping points. Exact price on WhatsApp: send the material, tonnage and route.

Side tipper hire near you

Side tippers drive to your site, so travel inside a main centre is small and confirmed with your price. Town pages with local routes and loads:

Side tipper hire in Witbank (eMalahleni), in the middle of the coalfield
Side tipper hire in Pretoria
Side tipper hire in Johannesburg

More local detail: plant hire in Mpumalanga, plant hire in Witbank, Middelburg, Rustenburg, Richards Bay and mining plant hire in Witbank.

Price your side tipper

Pick the option and the number of months for a price guide with transport to your town.

Formal quotes and company documents

For a tender, a mine vendor pack or more than a few trucks, email info@basaltplanthire.co.za with the tonnage, route, start date and term. The formal quote comes back with the rate, diesel and toll terms, deposit and minimum term. Company documents on request.

How booking works, from the deposit to the first load: how it works.

WhatsApp us your route and tonnage

Questions people ask

How much does it cost to hire a 34 ton side tipper?

A 34 ton side tipper with a driver costs R75,500–R92,000 a month, excluding VAT. The horse alone is R42,000–R63,000 a month with a driver, and the side tipper trailer alone R25,000–R29,500 a month. Short jobs can run on a day rate: about R6,300 a day for a horse and about R2,100 a day for a trailer.

What is the load capacity of a side tipper?

A standard 7-axle interlink side tipper carries about 34 t. The law caps the whole combination at 56,000 kg, and the truck and trailers weigh roughly 21 t empty, which leaves about 34–35 t for the load. Total bin volume is usually 40–45 m³ for coal and about 25 m³ for heavy ore such as chrome.

Is diesel included in side tipper hire?

It can be either way, and it's written on your quote. On dry hire you supply the diesel or pay for what the truck uses; on wet hire we include the diesel and price it into the monthly rate or a rate per ton. Tolls work the same way: for your account or built into the rate.

Can I hire a side tipper trailer without a truck?

Yes. A 34 t side tipper trailer on its own is R25,000–R29,500 a month, or about R2,100 a day for short jobs. You pull it with your own horse and driver. If you need the horse too, it's R42,000–R63,000 a month with a driver.

What is the best truck for coal transport?

On public roads, the 56 t, 22 m interlink side tipper (a 6x4 horse with two side-tipping trailers, about 34 t of coal) is the standard coal truck in Mpumalanga. Where a route is approved for Performance Based Standards (PBS) trucks, a 74 t tridem interlink carries more per trip; the CSIR counted about 60 of them on Eskom coal routes in 2019, around 3% of the coal trucks.

How much does coal transport cost per ton?

It depends on the distance, the loads per day and who pays the diesel. As a worked example: a truck doing two 100 km loads a day for 26 days moves about 1,770 t a month, so at R75,500–R92,000 a month the truck and driver work out at about R43–R52 a ton, before diesel and tolls. Send us your tonnage and route for a firm rate.

Do you hire side tippers per load or only per month?

Side tippers are hired by the month with a driver, because mines and haulage contracts run month to month. Short jobs can run on the day rate for a horse (about R6,300) and trailer (about R2,100). WhatsApp the tonnage, route and dates and we'll confirm the best way to price it.

34 ton side tipper truck hire

Long-hire and fleet quote