Dump truck covers fall into two material families: solid vinyl covers and mesh covers. Vinyl dump truck covers are valued for being 100% waterproof, making them an ideal choice for sealing off hot asphalt from any outside moisture. Mesh covers are intentionally built with an open weave that lets air and water pass through, which reduces wind lift during long, high-speed highway drives. Mesh dump truck covers are not waterproof at all. This guide breaks down every cover we make by material, weight, and closed weave so you can match the tarp to what is actually in your bed.
Dump Truck Tarp Types Compared
Vinyl seals the load; mesh breathes. The table below compares all six dump truck tarps by material, weight, and closed weave so you can match a cover to your bed.
| Cover | Material | Weight (oz/yd²) | Closed weave | Waterproof? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 oz Vinyl | PVC-coated polyester | 18 | 100% (solid) | Yes | Loads that must stay dry; hot asphalt |
| Iron Mesh | 100% polypropylene | 8.1 | 95% | No (air-permeable) | Fine materials, high coverage, lightweight |
| Maxi Mesh | PVC-coated 1000D polyester | 9 | 72% | No (air-permeable) | Flame-resistant jobs; higher coverage |
| Super Mesh | PVC-coated 1000D polyethylene | 6 | 55% | No (air-permeable) | Lightest, maximum airflow, coarse loads |
| Multi-Mesh HD | PVC-coated 1000D polyester | 10 | 54% | No (air-permeable) | Heavy-duty everyday aggregate |
| 11-11 Mesh | PVC-coated 1000D polyester | 11 | 51% | No (air-permeable) | Heaviest, most durable mesh |
Vinyl Dump Truck Tarps: Waterproof Covers for Asphalt
When a load has to arrive dry, or when you are hauling hot asphalt, the solid 18 oz vinyl is the cover you want. It is a PVC-coated tarp built with a 100% closed weave, so it repels rain instead of letting it soak through. Vinyl is the only fabric in the dump truck line that is genuinely waterproof. If you are weighing that against other materials, our guide on waterproof versus water resistant tarps shows where each one lands.
That waterproof seal earns its keep with any material that spoils, clumps, or loses value once it gets wet, from mulch and topsoil to sand, salt, cement, and recyclables. A mesh cover will hold these in the bed, but it does nothing to keep the rain out. Vinyl keeps the load dry from the yard to the jobsite.
Asphalt is the other job made for vinyl. Hot mix needs a cover that seals out rain, which would cool the mix and affect the finished mat, and that shrugs off heat and abrasion load after load. Our 18 oz vinyl tarp material is built for exactly that, which is why it is our asphalt-suitable cover.
Vinyl is heavier and fully closed, so it is the most abrasion-resistant cover in the line and the longest lasting under a steady load. The trade-off is weight and wind, since a solid tarp catches more air at highway speed than an open mesh does. That makes a secure arm-system attachment matter more here, which we cover below. For standard beds we stock set sizes, and for anything outside them we fabricate custom dump truck tarps to your exact dimensions.
How to Read Mesh Tarps: Closed Weave and Weight
Two details tell you almost everything about a mesh cover: its closed weave and its weight. Closed weave decides what the cover can hold and how much sun and spill it blocks. Weight determines how long it lasts. Read them in that order and the optimal grade reveals itself quickly.
Start with closed weave, because it follows your load. Closed weave is the percentage of the mesh that is solid material rather than open space, so a higher number means a tighter surface. Fine, wind-borne materials like sand, topsoil, mulch, and fine aggregate need a high closed weave to stay in the bed and to keep dust from streaming off the back at speed. Coarse loads like large stone and demolition debris do not, so a lower closed weave works fine and lets more air through. Matching closed weave to the size of what you haul is the single most important call in this section.
Then set weight to your duty cycle. Weight, in ounces per square yard, reflects how much material and coating are built into the fabric, which tracks abrasion resistance and service life. A crew that tarps a few loads a week can run a lighter cover for years. An operation cycling several loads a day over sharp aggregate will earn its money back from a heavier grade that resists tearing at the edges and folds. Weight is about how hard the cover works, not what it holds.
The two specs move independently, which is why the lineup is not a simple light-to-heavy ladder. A cover can be high in closed weave yet light in the hand, or open in weave yet built heavy. It is also why mesh is the right tool for loose-load containment: it holds material in the bed and cuts the dust and spillage that invite a citation. If staying compliant on the road is the priority, our guide to dump truck tarping laws by state covers what the rules require.
The Five Mesh Grades, Compared
Humphrys builds five mesh grades. They share the same open-weave principle but differ in coverage, weight, and the yarn they are woven from. Here is where each one fits.
Iron Mesh
The high-coverage grade. Woven from 100% polypropylene at 95% closed weave, it holds fine material almost as well as a solid cover while weighing just 8.1 ounces per square yard. Reach for Iron Mesh when you haul sand, topsoil, or fine aggregate and want to keep dust and spillage down without the bulk of a heavy tarp.
Maxi Mesh
Coverage plus flame resistance. A PVC-coated 1000 denier polyester mesh at 9 ounces per square yard and 72% closed weave, it blocks a good share of sun and spill while staying breathable. The flame-resistant build makes Maxi Mesh the grade to choose around hot work or spark exposure, covered in the next section.
Super Mesh
The lightweight, high-airflow grade. Built from PVC-coated 1000 denier polyethylene at 6 ounces per square yard and 55% closed weave, it is the easiest cover in the line to throw and retract by hand. Super Mesh suits coarse loads and crews that value speed and low weight over maximum coverage.
Multi-Mesh HD
The heavy-duty everyday grade. A PVC-coated 1000 denier polyester mesh at 10 ounces per square yard and 54% closed weave, built for daily aggregate hauling where a lighter cover would wear out. Its openness is close to Super Mesh, but Multi-Mesh HD carries far more fabric to resist abrasion over a hard duty cycle.
11-11 Mesh
The most durable grade in the line. At 11 ounces per square yard it is the heaviest mesh Humphrys makes, woven from PVC-coated 1000 denier polyester at 51% closed weave. The open weave sheds wind and moves air freely, while the weight stands up to the roughest loads and the highest cycle counts. When the truck works hardest, 11-11 Mesh is the cover.
When You Need a Flame-Resistant Dump Truck Tarp
Most dump truck work does not need a flame-resistant cover. You need one when the tarp sits near heat, sparks, or hot material, and three things trigger that: the load (hot or smoldering material, asphalt millings, slag, demolition debris), the environment (yards with cutting, grinding, or welding nearby), and the rulebook. Many refineries, chemical plants, and construction sites strictly mandate fire-rated covers for safety compliance, so the requirement is often set before your truck reaches the gate.
Maxi Mesh delivers that protection without giving up coverage. At 72% closed weave it still holds fine material and blocks sun and spill, while its flame-resistant construction resists ignition. If a site calls for a specific fire rating, our full flame resistant tarps line covers poly, vinyl, and canvas.
Arm-Style Tarp Systems and Custom Pole Pockets
Every cover in this guide can be built to run on an arm-style tarp system, the pivoting arm setup that swings the tarp from the front of the bed back over the load. What makes one fit your truck correctly is is how it is attached.
Instead of relying on grommets, which concentrate the load on a few points and tear out over time, we sew pole pockets into the cover. A pole pocket is a finished sleeve along the edge that slides onto your system's crossbar, spreading the pull across the full width of the tarp so it holds under the wind and the cycling an arm system puts on it. Because we fabricate to your dimensions, we size those pockets to the crossbars on your truck rather than to a generic template, so the cover seats correctly the first time.
That custom fit is the difference between a cover that tracks cleanly and one that fights the arm. Give us the bed dimensions and the crossbar spacing on your system, and we build the cover, and the pockets, to match. It is the same made-to-order approach behind our broader specialty tarps line, where covers are built for the equipment they run on rather than pulled off a shelf.
How to Size a Dump Truck Tarp
Sizing comes down to your bed dimensions and the crossbar your cover mounts to. Our dump truck tarp replacement guide walks through the exact measurements, including the DOT length allowance and a size chart by truck type. Give us those numbers, or your tarp system's spec sheet, and we will build a custom cover to fit your arm system.
Standard Sizes and Custom Dump Truck Tarps
Two ways to buy. If your truck runs a common bed size, a standard cover ships ready to install: pick the grade for your load from the sections above, choose the size closest to your bed, and you are set.
If it does not, we build to order. We have manufactured tarps in our own American facilities since 1874, and every custom cover is cut and sewn to your bed dimensions, with pole pockets sized to your crossbars. You get a cover built for the truck, not one the truck has to work around.
Ready to spec one? Browse our dump truck tarps for a standard order, or send your dimensions for a made-to-order quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an asphalt tarp a special material?
No. Asphalt is the load, not the fabric, so there is no separate "asphalt" material. To haul hot mix you want a solid, waterproof cover that seals out rain and stands up to heat and abrasion, which is our 18 oz vinyl Workhorse. If you have been searching for an asphalt tarp, an 18 oz vinyl tarp is the cover behind the name.
Are mesh dump truck tarps waterproof?
No. Mesh covers are built with an open weave that lets air and water pass through, so they are not waterproof by design. They are made to contain aggregate and loose material while cutting wind lift, not to keep a load dry. If your load has to stay dry, choose the solid 18 oz vinyl cover instead.
Which mesh grade should I choose?
Start with your load. Fine materials like sand and topsoil call for a high closed weave such as Iron Mesh, which holds fine particles and blocks spillage. Coarse loads like large stone can run a more open, lighter grade like Super Mesh. Then match the weight to how hard the cover works: heavier grades like Multi-Mesh HD and 11-11 Mesh last longer under daily, abrasive hauling.
What size dump truck tarp do I need?
Size is set by your bed length, bed width, and the crossbar the cover mounts to, plus an allowance for a full load. Our dump truck tarp replacement guide (linked) covers the exact measurements and a size chart by truck type. Send us those numbers, or your tarp system's spec sheet, and we will build a cover to fit.
Do Humphrys dump truck tarps fit arm-style tarp systems?
Yes. Every cover in this line is built for arm-style (flip) tarp systems. Rather than relying on grommets, we sew custom pole pockets sized to your system's crossbars, so the cover mounts securely and seats correctly on your truck.
