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The container's rated capacity as the hire company advertises it.
This is a nominal struck capacity to the top rail, and it is what the container is named after and priced on. It is not a promise about what you can put in it — that is exactly the gap this page measures.
The share of the rated capacity the load will actually occupy.
Broken slab and masonry loaded by machine sits somewhere in the middle of this range: pieces bridge on one another and leave voids no amount of shaking closes. Mixed light waste tipped by hand goes higher; long steel or timber that has to be laid in flat goes a lot lower. Weigh tickets against past exchanges are the best source for this number.
The as-loaded bulk density of the material stream going in.
Loose, not in-place. Demolition arisings swell substantially once broken, so a solid unit weight taken from a materials table will overstate the density of what actually enters the container. Weigh tickets divided by measured loads are the honest source; a hauler who runs this stream regularly will usually have the figure.
The payload ceiling the hauler applies to this container.
Usually set by the truck's licensed axle loading rather than by the container itself, so it belongs to the vehicle and the road, not to the box. Overweight exchanges are refused at the gate or surcharged, and either outcome costs a slot in the sequence.
The largest dimension of a typical broken piece in the load.
Judge it from the breaker or processor you are using rather than from the structure being demolished. A hydraulic hammer working to a size that suits the crusher produces a far tighter distribution than indiscriminate pulling down, and the tight distribution loads better.
The inside depth of the container from floor to top rail.
Used only for the bridging indicator, which compares lump size against the smallest dimension the load has to settle through. A shallow, wide container tolerates large lumps better than a deep narrow one of the same capacity.
Loose volume achievable per exchange
22.5 yd³
- Volume the fill efficiency allows
- 22.5 yd³
- Volume the payload ceiling allows
- 26.37 yd³
- Load mass at the achievable volume
- 8.53 tons
- Rated capacity left unused
- 7.5 yd³
- Lump size as a fraction of container depth
- 0.22 ratio
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Debris Container Fill Efficiency Calculator: 22.5 yd³ — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- Achievable volume = the lesser of (rated cube × fill efficiency) and (payload ceiling ÷ loose density). Both branches are arithmetic on figures you supply; no container or debris data is assumed here.
- Bridging indicator = nominal lump size ÷ container depth, reported as a ratio. The bulk-solids RULE OF THUMB that lumps above roughly a third of the opening dimension start to bridge is quoted as a rule of thumb and nothing more.
Inputs used
- Container Rated Capacity
- 30 yd³
- Fill Efficiency (%)
- 75
- Loose Density of the Stream
- 758.5 lb/yd³
- Payload Ceiling
- 10 ton
- Nominal Lump Size
- 11.75 in
- Container Internal Depth
- 4.5 ft
Intermediate steps
- Volume the fill efficiency allows
- 22.5 yd³
- Volume the payload ceiling allows
- 26.37 yd³
- Load mass at the achievable volume
- 8.53 tons
- Rated capacity left unused
- 7.5 yd³
- Lump size as a fraction of container depth
- 0.22 ratio
What this calculation does not cover
- Nothing here knows about level-load rules, sheeting requirements or the height a machine can reach to place material.
- Segregated streams behave differently from mixed ones; run each stream separately rather than averaging a density across them.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-08-30 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.0.0
Regulatory standards & verification citations2
- Achievable volume = the lesser of (rated cube × fill efficiency) and (payload ceiling ÷ loose density). Both branches are arithmetic on figures you supply; no container or debris data is assumed here.
- Bridging indicator = nominal lump size ÷ container depth, reported as a ratio. The bulk-solids RULE OF THUMB that lumps above roughly a third of the opening dimension start to bridge is quoted as a rule of thumb and nothing more.
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