Import, Export and Haul-Off of Soil and Spoil

A tandem dump truck holds roughly ten to fourteen cubic yards. A building pad two feet deep over a few acres needs thousands of cubic yards. The math puts hundreds of truck trips on the road, and every trip passes through an intersection, a ramp or a school zone that someone has to plan for. That is what haul-off really is: traffic management with dirt.

We import select fill and base stone to sites that cannot make their own, and we export unsuitable clay, topsoil surplus, demolition debris and spoil from excavations. We coordinate the trucks, track every load with tickets and decide the route before the first truck rolls, because a good haul plan is the cheapest way to avoid a bad day at the site entrance.

Loads in, loads out

On the import side we locate approved borrow sources, get the material sampled and approved by the project's testing agency and haul it in on a rotation matched to the spreading and compaction crew. Select fill, flexible base, bedding stone, sand and cement-stabilized backfill all come this way. Approved sources matter: a load of the wrong clay can be refused after it has been placed, and removing it costs more than the load did.

Export covers unsuitable soil from over-excavation, excess cut from grading, topsoil that exceeds the finished landscape need, concrete and asphalt from demolition and tree and stump debris. Material goes to approved disposal sites, recycling yards or other owners' fill projects, and we keep manifests for the loads that need them. Clean fill and regulated waste are handled differently; if we see anything that looks contaminated we stop and report it.

Where possible, we reuse material on the same site. Our cut and fill planning tries to leave the least to haul, since each mile saved comes straight off the price.

Fitting trucks into a working site

The site entrance is the bottleneck. A stabilized entrance with room to turn and a gate crew that logs tickets can handle a truck every two to three minutes. Without them, the line backs up onto the public road. We design the traffic pattern with the general contractor, set up one-way loops where the site allows and keep haul roads graded and watered so trucks keep moving.

Weather decides the pace. A haul road in red clay becomes slick within an hour of rain, and trucks with full loads get stuck or slide into things. We shut down hauling when the road cannot carry loaded trucks, put down stone in the worst areas and resume as soon as the surface firms up. The erosion control trade crew keeps the entrance clean and the road swept.

Roads we haul on

Texarkana sits where several highways meet. The city's own description of its location is that Interstate 30 runs along the north side, U.S. Highways 59, 67, 71 and 82 meet at its junction and Loop 151 follows the west side with I-369 sharing the western part of the loop. That network lets us reach sites in Nash, Wake Village, Leary, Hooks and New Boston and into Cass County along US 59 without crossing the downtown core.

Construction changes the routes. TxDOT announced that the westbound Exit 220B ramp from I-30 to Richmond Road would close beginning January 5, 2026 for several months while new pavement was built to the widened main lanes, with Exit 222 at Summerhill Road as the suggested detour. We plan around closures like that, and we check TxDOT notices before every major haul. US 82 is described by TxDOT as part of the Texas Freight Corridor, and the planned widening there will change traffic patterns again. See the I-30 corridor and US 82 corridor pages.

Why haul cost is hard to guess

Trucking costs run by the hour or by the load, and both depend on distance, queue times and dump site rules. A short haul with no waiting is cheap. A longer haul with an hour of queue time at each end costs several times as much per yard. Disposal fees vary too: clean fill is inexpensive or free to the right receiver, while debris with metal and wood has tipping fees.

We bid import and export as unit prices per cubic yard or per ton with the haul distance stated, so a change in the quantity is simple arithmetic. For owners comparing proposals, ask whether the bid includes trucks waiting at the site, route fuel, dump fees, and tickets. Developers of logistics and warehouse sites move the largest volumes and care most about those details.

Trucks, public roads and neighbors

Haul traffic has to share roads with school buses, commuters and local businesses. We assign flaggers at the entrance when needed, post speed limits on haul roads, require tarped loads when material can blow or spill and sweep public roads at the end of the day. Drivers are briefed on the route and on no-go streets before the first load.

Dust and noise go with the territory. We schedule hauling to avoid peak traffic and school hours where the project permits, and we speak with neighbors before the work starts, not after the first complaint.

Services that share the trucks

Haul-off is part of nearly every earthwork scope: demolition and site prep, topsoil stripping and stockpiling and over-excavation all create loads that leave the site. We schedule them together so the same trucks serve all three.

Timing helps the budget here. When an excavation sends out wet clay while a pad elsewhere on the same site is waiting for fill, the right sequence turns two haul bills into one short move. We walk the site with the superintendent early, mark where each material is going and keep the truck count flexible, because a haul plan that cannot change when the weather changes is not much of a plan.

Get a haul plan with your price

Send quantities, the site address and the schedule. We will return unit prices, a route and a truck count you can plan around.

Common Questions

How do you track loads?

Every load gets a ticket recording date, source, destination, material and quantity. Imports are checked against the approved source, and exports are matched to the disposal receipt. Copies go to the general contractor with the pay application.

Can you find a place to take clean fill?

Often yes. Surplus clean soil is useful to other projects, and we keep contacts for fill sites and recyclers around the area. Availability changes by season, so we confirm a destination before we start digging.

What if the soil turns out to be contaminated?

We stop hauling, secure the area and notify the owner and the environmental consultant. Regulated material needs testing, manifests and a licensed disposal facility, which are outside normal clean-fill rules.

Who is responsible for mud on public roads?

We keep it from reaching them with stabilized entrances, wheel cleaning and sweeping. If mud still reaches the road, we clean it the same day. The stormwater plan requires it, and so does being a good neighbor.

How many trucks will we see?

It depends on volume and distance. We calculate trips per hour from the quantity and haul cycle during planning and share the number, along with the route, so you can warn neighbors and tenants.

Related