What is haul cycle time?

Haul cycle time is the total time one truck takes to complete one round trip: spotting and loading at the loader, loaded travel to the dump, dumping, and empty return. It sets the upper bound on how many loads a single truck can deliver per hour.

How does road grade affect haul time?

Grade increases rolling resistance for the loaded leg (uphill) and reduces it for the empty return (downhill), or vice versa. A common rule of thumb adds roughly 1% grade to 10 kg/tonne of total resistance per percent of grade, but this calculator uses a simplified speed-penalty model: for each 1% uphill grade, effective loaded speed is reduced by a fixed factor. Adjust loaded and return speeds manually if you have manufacturer rimpull curves.

What is truck utilization in this context?

Fleet utilization is the required fractional truck count divided by the whole number of trucks deployed, multiplied by 100. It is 100% when the requirement is a whole number; otherwise it shows the average utilization needed across the rounded-up fleet to meet the target production rate.

Why does the tool show "trucks required" as a ceiling?

You cannot deploy half a truck. The ceiling (rounding up) ensures the fleet can always meet the target rate. The extra capacity shows up as utilization below 100% on the fleet.

Does this account for mechanical availability or operator delays?

No. This calculator assumes 100% availability and ignores queue delays at the shovel or dump. For a realistic mine plan, multiply the raw truck count by a utilization factor (typically 0.75–0.85) to account for downtime and queuing.

What units does this tool use?

Distance in metres, speed in km/h, time in minutes, payload in tonnes, and production rate in tonnes per hour. All intermediate conversions are handled automatically.

Haul Cycle Time Calculator

Enter haul distance, speed, grade, payload, spot and load time, and dump time to calculate truck cycle time, fleet productivity, trucks needed, and utilization.

Truck & Route Parameters

Haul Distance (one way) metres

Loaded Speed km/h

Empty Speed km/h

Road Grade % — positive = uphill loaded

Each 1% uphill grade reduces effective speed by ~3% on the affected leg.

Spot Time min

Dump Time min

Fleet Sizing

Payload tonnes/truck

Target Rate t/hr

Enter parameters and click Calculate

Cycle Time Breakdown

Total Cycle Time

Trips / truck / hr

Tonnes / truck / hr

Trucks required

Fleet utilization

Fleet Production Summary

Metric	Value

Summary

Haul cycle time is the total elapsed time for one mining truck to complete a full trip: from the loading area, through haulage to the dump point, and back again, including spot and loading time at the shovel and time spent dumping. Fleet productivity (tonnes per hour) follows directly from cycle time and truck payload. This calculator also solves the inverse problem: given a target production rate, how many trucks does the fleet need, and what utilization should be expected per truck?

How it works

Enter the one-way haul distance (metres) from the loading point to the dump.
Set the average loaded haul speed (km/h) and the average empty return speed (km/h).
Enter the road grade (%) — positive for uphill loaded, negative for downhill loaded. The grade penalty is applied automatically to loaded and return legs.
Enter combined spot and loading time (minutes) at the shovel and dump time (minutes) at the tip.
Enter truck payload (tonnes) and the target production rate (tonnes/hour) for fleet sizing.
Click Calculate to see cycle time, single-truck productivity, trucks required, and fleet utilization.

Use cases

Estimate how many haul trucks are needed to hit a target ROM production rate.
Compare productivity impact of shortening haul distance versus upgrading to faster trucks.
Evaluate the effect of road grade on cycle time and fleet size requirements.
Benchmark modelled cycle times against actual GPS dispatch data.
Plan equipment requirements for a new open-pit or quarry operation.
Assess the productivity loss caused by increasing dump wait time during high-traffic periods.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 2026-06-18 · Reviewed by Nham Vu