Why you measure before the truck leaves
Once a load is scattered across the driveway and the truck is gone, there is no way to prove what actually arrived. A driver who dumps a genuinely short load is betting that nobody restacks and measures it that same afternoon — and most buyers don't. Doing it while the truck is still there turns a dispute you can't win into a conversation you can.
This only takes two tools: a tape measure and a flat wall, fence line, or pair of stakes to stack against. No special equipment, no math beyond multiplication.
- A tape measure at least 8 ft long
- A flat wall, fence line, or two stakes to stack against
- A few minutes before the driver leaves
Restack it into one tight pile
Loosely thrown or round-stacked wood always reads as more volume than the same wood stacked tightly, because it traps more air between the splits. Move the pile against a wall, fence, or two posts, and stack it as tightly as you reasonably can — split face out, minimal gaps. This is the same stacking standard the industry and most state statutes assume when they define a cord as 128 cubic feet.
If the delivery is large, you don't have to restack all of it — a representative section is usually enough to catch a load that is short by more than a rounding error.
Measure height, length and depth
Measure the stack in feet: height off the ground, length along the wall, and depth (how far the split logs extend outward). Multiply the three together for total cubic feet. A standard full cord works out to 4 ft high × 8 ft long × 4 ft deep = 128 ft³, the same "ranked and well stowed" definition used in NIST Handbook 130 — but your stack doesn't have to match those exact dimensions individually, only the total.
Use the cord to cubic feet converter to turn your measured total straight into a cord-equivalent, or the reverse with the cubic feet to cord converter if you were quoted a price per cord and measured in cubic feet.
| Stack size (H × L × D) | Cubic feet | Cords |
|---|---|---|
| 4 × 8 × 4 ft | 128 | 1.000 |
| 4 × 8 × 3 ft | 96 | 0.750 |
| 4 × 8 × 2 ft | 64 | 0.500 |
| 4 × 6 × 4 ft | 96 | 0.750 |
Check the number against the invoice
Compare your measured cord-equivalent to what the invoice or verbal quote said you were buying. A small shortfall — a few percent — can come from honest stacking variance and isn't worth a fight. A shortfall of 15 to 20 percent or more, especially on a load billed as a full cord, is worth raising with the seller on the spot, while the truck and driver are still there to make it right.
If the seller quoted a unit other than cord — a face cord, rick, or stove cord — get the cut length they used and run it through the matching converter before you compare, since those units carry no fixed depth on their own.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to restack the entire delivery to check it?
No — restacking and measuring a representative section of the pile is usually enough to catch a meaningfully short load. Full restacking matters more if you're disputing a specific, large shortfall.
What if the driver won't wait while I measure?
Ask before the delivery is scheduled, not after the truck arrives — most reputable sellers expect buyers to check a load and will build in a few minutes for it. If a driver refuses to wait at all, that itself is worth noting for future orders.
Is a slightly short cord always a problem?
Not necessarily — a percent or two of variance is normal restacking noise. It becomes worth raising when the shortfall is large enough that it could not be explained by stacking alone, particularly on a delivery explicitly billed as a full cord.
