Where Should the Driver Tip the Load?

You get about fifteen seconds to decide this, usually with a truck idling in the road, and the decision costs you either twenty minutes or an entire weekend. Work it out before the driver arrives.

The rule: as close to the work as the truck can safely get, on a hard surface, downhill of nothing you care about.

Distance is the whole game

A wheelbarrow holds about three cubic feet, so a cubic yard is nine barrow loads. Five yards is forty-five. Every extra thirty feet between the pile and the work adds a minute or so to each round trip — on five yards that is an extra hour, pushing a loaded barrow.

Ten yards means ninety barrow loads. At that point the difference between tipping beside the beds and tipping at the end of the drive is most of a day.

Choosing the spot

In order of importance:

Close to where the soil is going, allowing for the fact that the truck needs headroom to raise the bed — typically around sixteen feet, so nothing overhead.
On a hard surface, not on lawn. Soil tipped on grass kills it within days, and the last few inches come up with the turf.
Not blocking access you need for the next few days — the garage, the gate, the path to the door.
Downhill of nothing you mind losing. Rain moves the outside of a fresh pile. Keep it away from drains, ponds and the neighbor's yard.
Away from tree trunks. Soil heaped against bark holds moisture against it and can rot the collar.
Somewhere you can get a barrow in and out of without a step or a soft patch.

Protect what is under it

Whatever the surface, put something down first:

A tarp under the pile. The single most useful thing you can do. It keeps the last few inches clean, it stops the soil staining a drive, and it makes shovelling the bottom of the pile possible instead of miserable.
Plywood on pavers or resin. Both stain, and both are hard to clean once wet soil has sat on them.
A second tarp over the top if it will sit for more than a few days — see how long topsoil can sit.

Tipping on the street

Sometimes it is the only option, and sometimes it is the safest one if you are worried about the drive — see will a dump truck damage my driveway. Before you plan on it:

Check local rules. Many places require a permit to deposit material on the public highway, and some prohibit it entirely.
Assume you must clear it the same day. A pile blocking a sidewalk after dark is a liability.
Cone it off, and keep a shovel and broom on hand.

Tell the driver, do not point

Walk the spot before the truck backs up. Drivers reverse to a person, so stand where you want the front of the pile and say what you want plainly — "as far up the drive as you can get, tip on the tarp." Most will do more than you expect if they know what you are trying to achieve, and they know better than you where their truck fits.

If access is tight, say so on the phone when you order, not when the truck is in the road. A yard with a smaller truck would rather send it than have a delivery fail.

Two things worth doing while you are out there. Stay until the bed comes down, because a load that looks short can only be measured and settled before you start spreading it. And if the driver went out of their way to place it well, see whether you tip a delivery driver — the short answer is that a review naming them is worth more than cash.