The Three Ways to Buy Concrete
Every concrete project comes down to one of three supply methods, and they line up almost perfectly with pour size. Bagged concrete is dry mix in 60 or 80 lb sacks that you combine with water in a wheelbarrow or a mixer. Ready-mix is wet, batched-to-spec concrete that arrives in a rotating-drum truck and pours down a chute. Short-load (also called metered or volumetric) delivery is a specialty truck that carries the raw ingredients separately and mixes fresh concrete on site, billing only for the yardage you use. The right choice is mostly a function of how many cubic yards you need, which is why the very first step is always the Concrete Calculator.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Factor | Bagged | Short-Load (metered) | Ready-Mix Truck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best pour size | Under ~0.5 cu yd | ~0.5 to a few cu yd | A few cu yd and up |
| Typical use | Post footings, steps, small pads, patch work | Small slabs, sidewalks, footings too big to bag | Driveways, garage floors, foundations, large slabs |
| Effort | High — you mix every batch by hand or mixer | Low — truck mixes; you place and finish | Low — truck delivers ready to place |
| Fees to watch | Cost per bag adds up fast at volume | Per-yard rate; small delivery/setup fee | Short-load / minimum-load fee on partial loads |
| Consistency | Varies batch to batch; easy to over-water | Mixed to spec on site | Plant-controlled, uniform strength |
| Working time | Mix only what you can place before it sets | Mixed on demand as you pour | Place the whole load within the truck’s window |
Read the table top to bottom and the pattern is obvious: bags trade money and labor for flexibility on tiny jobs, ready-mix trades a minimum-load fee for speed and consistency on big ones, and short-load exists precisely to cover the gap where neither of the others fits. For the fee side of this, the concrete cost factors guide breaks down where the money actually goes.
Bagged Concrete: Small Pours, Full Control
Bagged mix shines when the pour is small enough that a truck’s short-load fee would swamp the concrete cost. The math is set by yield: an 80 lb bag yields about 0.60 cubic feet and a 60 lb bag about 0.45 cubic feet, and since one cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, a full yard is roughly 45 of the 80 lb bags or about 60 of the 60 lb bags. That count is the whole story: for a couple of post footings you are opening a handful of bags and it is genuinely the cheapest, most convenient option; for a full yard you are mixing well over a ton of material one batch at a time, and the appeal collapses. Bags are sold in standard strengths — commonly around 3000 to 4000 psi— and reach that rating only if you use the correct water and mix thoroughly. The classic mistake is adding extra water to make mixing easier, which weakens every batch. Mix only what you can place before it starts to set.
Short-Load Delivery: The Awkward Middle
Between a bag project and a full truck sits the volume that is a pain to buy: too much to mix by hand, too little to justify a full ready-mix load and its short-load fee. That is exactly what a short-load metered truckis built for. It carries dry cement, sand, aggregate, and water separately and mixes fresh concrete on site, so you are charged only for the yardage you actually use — typically a per-yard rate plus a modest delivery or setup fee, without the steep partial-load penalty a standard plant charges. For a half-yard to a few-yard slab, footing run, or small pad, it is frequently the sweet spot: truck-mixed consistency and effort-free placement at a fraction of a full-truck commitment. Availability varies by region, so it is worth a phone call before you assume you are stuck between bags and a full load.
Ready-Mix Truck: The Default for Big Pours
Once you are past a few cubic yards, the full ready-mix truck is both cheapest per yard and least work. The concrete arrives batched to your specified psi — typically 3000 to 4000 psifor residential slabs, stepping to 4000 psi and up for driveways and vehicle loads — at a uniform, plant-controlled strength no hand-mix can match. The catch is the short-load or minimum-load feeon any partial load, which is why ready-mix only makes sense once your volume is large enough that the fee is a small slice of the total. It also demands readiness: forms braced, reinforcement in place, crew and tools set, because the whole load has to be placed and finished within the truck’s working window. For a driveway or garage floor, pair this with the rebar slab layout guide so the steel is down before the truck arrives, and follow the concrete slab installation guide for the pour-day sequence.
How to Choose
Work it in one direction: volume first, then effort and access. Calculate your cubic yards with the Concrete Calculator (and add a 5–10 percent waste factor), then drop the number onto the size bands: under about half a yard leans bagged, the half-yard-to-a-few-yards band leans short-load, and a few yards and up leans ready-mix. Where you land near a boundary, let the tie-breakers decide — whether you have the crew and mixer for bags, whether a truck can reach the forms, and how quickly you can place before the concrete sets. If you are still nailing down the volume itself, the how much concrete to order guide walks through measuring and ordering from scratch.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is bagged concrete cheaper than a ready-mix truck?
Bagged concrete usually wins for small pours — roughly under half a cubic yard — where a ready-mix delivery would trigger a short-load or minimum-load fee that dwarfs the concrete cost. Think post footings, a set of steps, a small equipment pad, or a short sidewalk section. Once you climb past a cubic yard or so, the bag count, the mixing labor, and the cost per bag stack up until a truck is both cheaper and far less work.
How many bags of concrete are in a cubic yard?
It depends on bag size. An 80 lb bag yields about 0.60 cubic feet and a 60 lb bag about 0.45 cubic feet, and one cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. That works out to roughly 45 of the 80 lb bags or about 60 of the 60 lb bags per cubic yard. That bag count is exactly why full yards are miserable to mix by hand — 45 bags is well over a ton of material to open, dump, and mix one batch at a time.
What is a short-load concrete truck?
A short-load or metered-concrete truck carries dry cement, sand, aggregate, and water in separate compartments and mixes fresh concrete on site, charging only for the yardage you actually use. It fills the awkward middle ground between a bag project and a full ready-mix load — pours from roughly half a yard up to a few yards — without the steep short-load fee a standard ready-mix plant charges for a partial truck.
Is bagged concrete as strong as ready-mix?
It can be, if you mix it right. Bagged mixes are sold in standard strengths comparable to common residential ready-mix, often around 3000 to 4000 psi, and reach their rated strength when you use the correct water and mix thoroughly. The risk with bags is inconsistency: adding too much water to make mixing easier weakens every batch, and hand-mixed batches vary. Ready-mix arrives at a controlled, uniform strength, which is why it is the default for structural and vehicle-load slabs.
How do I decide which way to buy concrete?
Start with volume — calculate your cubic yards, then match it to the method. Small footings and pads under about half a yard favor bags; the awkward half-yard to a few yards favors a short-load metered truck that skips the big short-load fee; and anything from a few yards up favors a full ready-mix delivery. Then weigh access, how fast you can place it before it sets, and whether you have the hands and mixer for bags.
Related Calculators
- Concrete Calculator — Get cubic yards and an estimated bag count for your pour
- Concrete Prices by State — Current per-yard ready-mix rates where you live
- What Drives Concrete Costs — Where the money goes beyond the concrete itself
- How Much Concrete to Order — Measure and order from scratch, step by step
Written by Daniel McCarney — AceCalc