Volume lies about weight
Dry leaves are light, and a full bed of them may be a modest load. The same bed after a rain is water held in every curled edge, and the weight climbs without the pile looking much different. Your truck has a payload rating on the door sticker, and that number includes passengers and the hitch load, not only what is in the bed. If you do not know the number, look it up before you pile leaves to the cab roof. A half-ton truck that looks roomy can be overweight while the leaves are still below the rails. The symptom is a soft rear, a steering wheel that feels light, and headlights aimed at the treetops. That is a weight problem, not a packing problem. Do not fix it by driving faster so the leaves fly out.
How to tell before you leave the curb
Push a shovel into the pile. If water runs out of the leaves in your hand, treat the load as heavy. Fill the bed in layers and stop when the rear tires look underinflated compared with the front, or when the truck sits lower than it did on the last legal load you hauled. A public scale, if you have one you already use, will tell you more than a guess. Do not add boards on top of a sagging leaf load to keep them in. Adding wood adds weight. Split the pile into two trips. Bagging wet leaves makes the weight obvious, because you feel each bag, and it also keeps water from pouring out through the tailgate onto the car behind you. Empty standing water from the bed before you go. A puddle in the bed is cargo.
Driving a load that is already heavy
If the truck is squatting, take bags off until the stance looks normal and the steering feels like it did when you arrived empty. Leave extra room to brake. Wet leaves shift as a mass when you turn, especially if they are in a slippery bed. Strap a net over loose leaves so the top layer does not peel off, but remember a net does not reduce weight. At the site, tell the attendant you have wet leaves so they can send you to organics or to trash according to their rule. Unload gently. A tailgate dropped under a waterlogged pile will slam, and the pile will surge out faster than dry leaves. If the bed was overweight on the way in, do not reload it the same way for the second trip.
Before you go
- Read the door-sticker payload before you fill the bed with wet leaves.
- Stop loading when the rear sits low or the steering feels light.
- Split the pile into two trips instead of stacking above the rails.
- Net the top so leaves stay in, and leave extra room for braking.
Filling the bed to the cab roof with rain-soaked leaves because the pile still looks fluffy.
Questions people ask
Does a net make a wet load legal?
No. A net only keeps leaves from blowing out. The weight still counts against the payload on the door sticker.
Should I drain the bags first?
If water is pooling in a bag, drain it at home into the lawn, not into a storm drain full of gutter grit. Wet leaves themselves can still be heavy after they stop dripping.
Search Dumpmapper by ZIP code or city, then call the site before you load the truck. Hours and accepted materials change.