A Regional Estimate is our AI-powered estimate of the product price for your order, based on what vendors near your delivery location currently charge. Estimates are marked with blue wherever they appear.

What's included

The product price only. Delivery, freight, fuel and other logistics charges are not included.

Where the prices come from

We collect prices from vendors across the country, and use the latest price from each vendor within 50 miles of your delivery location. Each vendor counts once, so no single vendor can skew the result. We require at least 3 prices to make an estimate.

For some aggregates, when fewer than 3 vendors sell the exact product within 50 miles, we include equivalent products from the same family:

All other products, including fill sand, fines, RCA and rip rap, are only ever matched exactly.

If there still aren't 3 prices, we use the 5 nearest vendors instead and mark the estimate as low confidence.

How we calculate it

• We put prices on a common basis. Vendors charge different rates for different order sizes, so we convert every price to its standard-volume equivalent.
• We remove outliers. Prices more than 30% above or below the median are left out.
• We take the median. We use the middle value of what's left, so one unusually high or low price can't pull the estimate around.
• We adjust for your order size. We apply the volume discount for your quantity, shown below.

Volume pricing

Every Regional Estimate has a confidence rating that shows how certain our agent is about the price it provides. This certainty is based on three factors:

• How closely vendor prices agree. The less prices vary, the higher the confidence.
• How many prices we have for the material in your area. If we have too few nearby, or had to use vendors further away, confidence is Low.
• Whether equivalent products were used. Estimates that include equivalent products from the same family are rated Medium at most.

You can hover over any Regional Estimate to see its confidence rating and the reason it was given.

A Freight Rate Estimate is our AI-powered estimate of the hourly rate to hire a truck and driver to haul a material, based on the latest freight rates in your job site's state. Like all auto-estimates, it's marked in blue.

What's included

An hourly rate for the truck with the driver included. The material price, fuel charges and other surcharges listed separately from the rate (such as tolls and standby time) are not included.

Which truck type we use

Each material category has a set truck type. We only use rates for that exact truck type and never combine rates across truck types.

Where the rates come from

We use the latest rate from each source in your job site's state. Older rates still count. We need at least 3 rates to make an estimate.

We leave out "from" or minimum prices and retail or small-volume delivery rates.

If there aren't 3 rates, we use the national average for that truck type instead and mark the estimate as low confidence.

How we calculate it

• We put rates on a common basis. Rates quoted per load, ton, cubic yard, mile or ton-mile are converted to an hourly rate with the driver included, using a standard 50-mile trip: 35 mph average speed and 15 minutes each to load and unload. Rates are also converted to their standard-volume equivalent.
• We remove outliers. Rates more than 30% above or below the median are left out.
• We take the median. We use the middle value of what's left, so one unusually high or low rate can't pull the estimate around.
• We adjust for your order size. We apply the volume discount for your quantity, shown below. If you haven't entered a quantity, we show the standard rate.

Volume pricing

Freight rates use the same order-size bands as Regional Estimates. Other material categories always use the standard rate.

Every Freight Rate Estimate has a confidence rating that shows how certain our agent is about the rate it provides. This certainty is based on three factors:

• How closely freight rates agree. The less rates vary, the higher the confidence.
• How many rates we have for that truck type in your state. If fewer than 3 remain after outliers are removed, confidence is Low.
• Whether the national average was used. Estimates based on the national average instead of rates in your state are rated Low.

You can hover over any Freight Rate Estimate to see its confidence rating and the reason it was given.

A Landed Cost Estimate is our AI-powered estimate of the delivered price per unit from a specific facility to your job site. It adds the trucking cost to the Regional Estimate for the material. Like all auto-estimates, it's marked in blue.

What's included

The Regional Estimate for the material, plus the cost per unit of trucking it from the facility to your job site. Hover over any Landed Cost Estimate to see each cost separately.

Concrete doesn't get a Landed Cost Estimate, because delivery is usually included in the price of concrete.

How we calculate the trucking cost

• We start with the Freight Rate Estimate. We use the hourly Freight Rate Estimate for the truck type near your location as the basis for the calculation.
• We measure the route. We use road miles from the facility to your job site.
• We work out the trip time. Each load takes 15 minutes to load, the drive there and back at an average of 35 mph, and 15 minutes to unload. Each estimate is billed for at least 1 hour in total, however many loads it takes.
• We count the trucks. Each truck carries 20 tons. Orders are rounded up to whole trucks, so a small order is charged a full truck.
• In search results, we divide by your quantity. To show a cost per ton, we divide the total trucking cost by your order quantity, or by a placeholder quantity (see below) if you haven't entered one. In projects, we don't divide, so you see the total (see Why do estimates in projects show a total?).

When you haven't entered a quantity

We calculate the trucking cost for a standard quantity instead: 25 tons for cement and SCMs, and 20 tons for other materials.

In a project, the Landed Cost Estimate shows the estimated total cost to deliver the full quantity on that line, not a price per ton. We don't divide the costs down by your quantity, so you can see what the whole delivery is likely to cost.

Project line items always have a quantity, so we never use a placeholder quantity there. The confidence rating works the same way as for any Landed Cost Estimate. Hover over the estimate in your project to see each cost separately.

A Landed Cost Estimate is built on our other two estimates: the Regional Estimate for the material and the Freight Rate Estimate used for trucking. It takes the lower confidence rating of the two.

You can hover over any Landed Cost Estimate to see the confidence of each part and the reason for the overall rating.