Truck payload and wood load estimate
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. Type a gross vehicle weight rating and a curb weight, and a volume of wood, to see the rating minus the curb weight next to an estimate of what that volume of solid green wood weighs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, whose Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards hold the two weight definitions, is the office named here.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Published tables are revised: the source has the last word.
Work it out
How the answer is worked out
Rating minus curb weight = the gross vehicle weight rating minus the curb weight, both changed to kilograms and shown in pounds and kilograms.
Estimated wood weight = volume in cubic feet times the green weight in pounds per cubic foot for the chosen species. The last pair of lines is the first figure less the second.
What the sources say
The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards definitions in 49 CFR 571.3 say the gross vehicle weight rating is the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a single vehicle. They define curb weight as the weight of a vehicle with standard equipment; the maximum capacity of engine fuel, oil and coolant; and, if fitted, air conditioning and the extra weight of an optional engine. They define unloaded vehicle weight as the weight of a vehicle with the maximum capacity of all fluids necessary for operation, but without cargo, occupants, or accessories that are ordinarily removed from the vehicle when they are not in use.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations define the same rating for their own rules in 49 CFR 390.5 as the value specified by the manufacturer as the maximum loaded weight of a single motor vehicle. The two rules word it differently.
The wood estimate treats the volume as solid wood with no gaps and no bark. Stacked logs hold gaps and chips hold air, so the same body can hold less than solid wood of that volume. The weights come from Forest Service Research Note NRS-38, Table 1A, which calls its values "rough estimates for localized areas".
This is not a scale reading. A weighbridge reading is the measured weight; nothing on this page is.
Arithmetic only. The answer is only as good as the numbers entered. It is not a plan or a safe working load for any job.
Sources
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 49 CFR 571.3 Definitions (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards), read October 8, 2026
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 49 CFR 390.5 Definitions (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations), read October 8, 2026
- USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Research Note NRS-38, Miles and Smith, 2009, Table 1A and the green weight section, read October 8, 2026
- NIST, Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SP 811), Appendix B.8 factors for units listed alphabetically, read October 8, 2026