Truck capacity selection for earthmoving

In a major earthmoving operation involving a loader and trucks, a careful selection of equipment size can result in substantial savings both in time and cost. When planning an earthmoving operation, usually the size of the loading unit is selected based on the production required. The optimal truck capacity is either selected by comparing the production cost of various truck capacities or by using a rule of thumb that recommends truck capacities four to five times the capacity of the selected loader. The objective of this study is to investigate the optimal truck capacity for various loader sizes. To achieve this objective, specifications and costs of a number of loaders and trucks commonly used in earth moving are used.