Sod Order for a One-Day Yard Job
The Riverside crew has one day to sod a rectangular yard measuring 48 feet by 30 feet. Sod arrives on pallets; each pallet covers 450 square feet and costs $137. The foreman wants 10 percent extra sod for cuts and waste, and every pallet must be whole - the supplier will not split one. The company's flatbed holds 4 pallets per trip and gets 9 miles per gallon on the 22-mile round trip to the supplier; diesel costs $3.85 per gallon. Two workers will lay the sod, each paid $16.50 per hour for a 6-hour day, and the dump charges a flat $60 to haul away pallet debris and trimmings. Each worker can lay about 80 square feet of sod per hour.
1. How many pallets must the crew buy, and what will the sod cost before any other expense?
Read the worked answer
Step 1 - Area to cover 48 ft × 30 ft = 1,440 sq ft.
Step 2 - Add 10% waste 1,440 × 1.10 = 1,584 sq ft of sod needed.
Step 3 - Convert to whole pallets 1,584 ÷ 450 = 3.52 pallets. Since the supplier sells only whole pallets, round up to 4.
Step 4 - Check the rounding matters 3 pallets cover 1,350 sq ft, which is 90 sq ft short of even the bare yard, so rounding down is not an option.
Sod cost 4 × $137 = $548.00.
Note that the 10% waste allowance, not the raw area, drives the answer: 1,440 ÷ 450 = 3.2 would also round to 4 here, but the crew should still order against 1,584 sq ft when checking coverage.
2. Compute the full cost of the job - sod, fuel, labor, and dump fee - and explain how the truck's capacity affects the fuel line.
Read the worked answer
Sod: $548.00 (4 pallets).
Fuel: The flatbed holds 4 pallets, so all 4 fit in a single trip. 22 miles ÷ 9 mpg = 2.444 gallons. 2.444 × $3.85 = $9.41 (rounded to the cent). If the truck had held only 2 pallets, the crew would need 2 round trips and the fuel line would double to about $18.82 - capacity, not distance, controls that cost.
Labor: 2 workers × 6 hours × $16.50 = $198.00.
Dump fee: $60.00 flat.
Total 548.00 + 9.41 + 198.00 + 60.00 = $815.41.
The fuel is under 1.2% of the total, so a small error in the mileage estimate would not change the decision; the pallet count is the line that actually moves the budget.
3. Can the two workers lay all the sod inside the 6-hour day? Give the time required and one realistic way to fix the shortfall.
Read the worked answer
Laying rate 2 workers × 80 sq ft/hour = 160 sq ft per hour.
Time required 1,440 ÷ 160 = 9 hours of laying.
Conclusion: No. A 6-hour day provides 960 sq ft of coverage, leaving 480 sq ft unlaid - a third of the yard.
Options, with the arithmetic
- Add a third worker: 240 sq ft/hour → 1,440 ÷ 240 = 6 hours. Fits the day exactly, with no cushion for weather or breaks.
- Keep two workers and pay 3 hours of overtime: 9 hours total, costing 2 × 3 × $16.50 = $99 more.
- Split the job across two days, which risks the unlaid sod drying out on the pallets.
Adding a third worker is the cleanest fix, but because it leaves zero slack, the foreman should plan the overtime option as backup.