Bagged concrete or a ready-mix truck

A cubic yard of ready-mix delivered runs roughly 145 to 195 dollars in 2026. The same yard in 80 lb bags is 45 bags at about 7.50 dollars each, which is 338 dollars. On those two numbers the truck wins every time, and that is the comparison most buying guides stop at.

It is the wrong comparison for a small pour, because the truck’s price per yard is not what a small pour pays.

The fee that decides small jobs

Suppliers charge a short-load fee on anything under a full load, usually around 50 to 150 dollars in 2026, sometimes expressed as 40 to 60 dollars per yard on orders below ten. The reason is plain enough. The drum, the drive and the driver’s hour cost the same whether they bring one yard or nine.

Add that to a one-yard order and the delivered cost lands near 265 dollars rather than 165. Still under the 338 dollars of bags, but the gap has closed to a quarter, and the arithmetic now turns on volume rather than on the sticker price.

Running it at three sizes

Using 165 dollars a yard, a 120 dollar short-load fee, and 7.50 a bag, all mid-range for 2026. Most suppliers also hold a one cubic yard minimum, so the first three rows below all pay for a full yard of concrete whether or not they take one.

• Half a yard, 23 bags for 173 dollars against 285 delivered on the minimum. Bags win comfortably.
• Three quarters of a yard, 34 bags for 255 dollars against 285 delivered. Bags win, barely.
• One yard, 45 bags for 338 dollars against 285 delivered. The truck wins.

So the money crosses over somewhere around 0.8 of a cubic yard, which is a slab about 8 by 8 feet at 4 inches thick, or roughly 36 bags. Below that, bags. Above it, start ringing suppliers.

Prices move, and these are national middles. West Coast yards ran nearer 190 to 220 dollars in 2026 and Southeast yards nearer 155 to 170, so the crossover sits at a different volume depending on where you are standing. Run your own volume through the concrete calculator first, then price that exact figure with a local supplier rather than working from a national average.

What the money comparison leaves out

Cost is the easy axis. Three others usually matter more, and all three push the same direction.

Mixing forty-five bags is a day you will not enjoy

A cubic yard of bags is 3,600 lb of dry material, lifted twice, mixed in batches of two or three. A hired mixer turns that from an ordeal into a long afternoon and costs about 50 to 90 dollars for the day, which quietly moves the break-even further toward the truck.

The strength argument is the one worth taking seriously, though. Every batch is a chance to get the water ratio slightly wrong, and concrete that is wetter in some batches than others is weaker in those places. A truck delivers one mix, designed, with a strength printed on the ticket.

A slab has to be poured in one go

Bagged mixing is sequential by nature. If the first section has started to set before the last one is placed, the join between them is a cold joint, which is a plane of weakness running through the slab. For footings and post holes that is irrelevant because each one is its own pour. For a patio or a shed base, it is the whole argument for the truck.

The truck has to be able to reach you

A standard mixer needs clearance and a chute that reaches, or a pump, which adds cost. A back garden behind a terraced house is sometimes a bags job at any volume, regardless of what the arithmetic says. Ask the supplier how far their chute reaches before assuming delivery solves the problem.

A middle option worth knowing about

Some suppliers run volumetric trucks that mix on site and charge for what you actually use, which removes the risk of ordering a yard and needing 1.2. They often carry a lower minimum than a standard drum truck too.

They are not everywhere, and they usually cost more per yard than a drum load of the same size. For an awkward volume in the half to two yard range, which is where most home projects land, it is worth one phone call to find out whether anyone local runs one.