# How tall is a concrete truck? Most ready-mix mixer trucks stand roughly 11 to 13 feet tall at the highest point, usually the charging hopper. No national standard sets mixer height. Federal law does not regulate vehicle height at all, and states set their own limits, most commonly 13 feet 6 inches. Measure your clearances before delivery day. ## Short version - Figure 11 to 13 feet, but confirm with the supplier — there is no standard mixer height. - Federal regulation covers width, length and weight, not height. States set height limits. - 29 states and DC cap commercial vehicle height at 13 ft 6 in; the other 21 allow 14 to 15 ft. - Service drops, tree limbs, carports and garage soffits are the usual residential obstacles. - Never let equipment near an energized line without contacting the utility first. ## How tall is a ready-mix truck? Roughly 11 to 13 feet, with the tall point almost always the charging hopper at the back of the drum rather than the drum itself. Consider that a planning range rather than a specification, because truck height varies with the drum size, the chassis, the number of axles, and whether the unit is a rear-discharge or front-discharge mixer. Nothing standardizes it. Mixer trucks are built by individual manufacturers on chassis chosen by individual suppliers, and there is no national dimension anyone is required to meet. Two trucks from two yards in the same county can differ by more than a foot. That variability is exactly why you call the supplier rather than trusting a number online. Dispatchers deal with clearance questions constantly and they know their own equipment. Tell them what your tightest overhead obstacle measures and let them tell you whether the truck fits. Loaded height does not change meaningfully. A mixer sits a little lower on its suspension with a full drum, but not enough to turn a no-fit into a fit. Truck width, gate clearance, and driveway access are covered separately on the [concrete truck width](/questions/ready-mix-delivery/how-wide-is-a-concrete-truck/) page. ## Is there a legal height limit for a concrete truck? There is no federal vehicle height requirement for commercial motor vehicles, which surprises most people. Federal truck size regulation under 23 CFR Part 658 addresses width, length, and weight — 658.15 is the 102-inch width rule — and simply does not set a height. FHWA's summary of federal size regulations states that because no federal height requirement exists, states may set their own. State limits cluster in a narrow band. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia cap commercial vehicle height at 13 feet 6 inches. The remaining 21 states allow taller vehicles, generally from 14 up to 15 feet. Individual roads, bridges, and tunnels carry lower posted clearances regardless of the statewide limit. For a homeowner none of this is the operative constraint. Your driver already knows the legal limit and the posted bridges. What the driver does not know is the height of your carport, your gate arch, your garage door opening, or the branch hanging over the end of your driveway. Measure those, in feet and inches, before delivery day. A tape measure and a ladder beat an estimate every time. ## What overhead obstacles cause problems on residential deliveries? Five obstacles account for most refused or damaged residential deliveries, and all five are things a homeowner walks under daily without noticing. The electrical service drop is the most serious. The overhead line from the utility pole to the house crosses the yard at a height set for clearance over the ground, not for a 13-foot truck, and it is frequently the lowest thing on the property. Tree limbs are the most common. A branch that clears a pickup by two feet will scrape a mixer drum, and a large limb can damage the truck or come down on it. Carports, porte-cocheres, and low garage door openings stop a truck cold. So do gate arches, pergolas, and decorative entry structures, which are typically built to look right rather than to pass commercial vehicles. Awnings, satellite dishes, basketball hoops, and low bridges on the access road round out the list. On rural properties, a low farm gate frame or a cattle guard structure can be the pinch point. Walk the whole route with a tape measure, at truck height, and write down the tightest number. ## How close can a concrete truck get to overhead power lines? Not close, and this is not a judgment call to make on site. Contact with an energized overhead line is one of the most lethal hazards in construction, and it does not require touching — electricity can arc across a gap. OSHA regulates minimum approach distances for equipment operating near power lines. For equipment covered by 29 CFR 1926.1408, which addresses power line safety for lines up to 350 kV, the employer must either determine that no part of the equipment can get within the specified minimum clearance distance, or take one of the other listed protective measures — including having the utility de-energize and ground the line, or maintain the specified separation with a dedicated spotter. The practical rule for a homeowner is simpler. If a truck, a pump boom, or any long tool will operate anywhere near an overhead line, call the utility before the pour and ask them to advise, de-energize, or install line covers. Utilities do this routinely and usually at no charge for residential situations. Boom pumps deserve particular caution, because a boom reaches far higher than any truck and can swing into a line that looked safely distant. The American Concrete Pumping Association publishes safety guidance covering power line clearance for pumping operations. Never assume an insulated-looking line is safe. Service drop insulation is weather protection, not electrical protection. ## What do you do when the clearance is not there? Move the concrete instead of the truck. The truck stays at the curb or at the top of the drive, and the material travels the rest of the way by another method. A concrete pump is the most capable answer. Line pumps push concrete through a hose along the ground and around obstacles, which sidesteps overhead clearance entirely as long as the hose route is planned. Boom pumps reach over structures but need vertical room and a wide, level setup pad, so a boom is often the wrong tool where clearance is the problem in the first place. A powered buggy moves substantially more per trip than a wheelbarrow and travels a path a truck could never take, though it needs firm ground and a manageable grade. Wheelbarrows still work for small volumes. A cubic yard weighs around 4,000 lb, so honestly count the trips and the people before choosing this route. Bagged concrete mixed on site is reasonable for very small pours where nothing else will reach, though quantity, consistency between batches, and cure timing all become your problem rather than the supplier's. Tell the dispatcher about the clearance issue when you order, not when the truck arrives. NRMCA's guidance on ordering ready mixed concrete treats access information as part of the order. ## Common mistakes - **Trusting a published truck height instead of asking the supplier** — no national standard exists, and fleets differ by more than a foot. - **Overlooking the electrical service drop** — the line to the house is often the lowest overhead obstacle on the property and the most dangerous. - **Measuring clearance at the wrong point** — the charging hopper is the tall spot, not the middle of the drum. - **Setting up a boom pump near an energized line** — OSHA sets minimum approach distances precisely because arcing does not require contact. - **Raising the clearance problem when the truck is already on site** — access belongs in the order, when the supplier can still send the right solution.