How much trackway before the van sinks?
The item nobody budgets until a caterer's Sprinter is axle-deep in the gateway. Measure once, estimate in seconds.
Our optimiser adds it automatically when your venue is a field. Get the complete kit list for your event.
Done. Watch your inbox: your kit list is on its way.
That did not send. Try again, or email [email protected].
Aluminium trackway hire typically costs £20 to £40 per metre installed, with a minimum charge of £500 to £800. Measure the vehicle route from the hard road to where suppliers stop for your metres, plus a 10 to 20 metre pad where vehicles turn or unload. A typical field site uses 40 to 100 metres, landing most quotes between £1,500 and £3,000.
Why this is the optimiser's favourite item
Trackway is the purest example of what EventSpeed exists for: an item that appears on no one's wish list, decides whether every other supplier can do their job, and costs triple when it is arranged in a panic after the first vehicle sinks. When your venue is a field, our kit list adds it before the marquee company asks.
The vehicle maths is unforgiving: a loaded marquee lorry runs 12 to 18 tonnes, a toilet servicing tanker around 10, and wet grass supports roughly none of that. The years it stays dry, standby terms mean you paid a reservation, not a rescue.
Route, pads, people
Think in three layers: the roadway (gate to working area, full vehicle weight), the pads (turning, parking, unloading: where damage actually happens), and people routes (lighter matting for guests, wheelchairs and pushchairs, priced separately). The trackway hire guide covers all three with prices.
Trackway: quick answers
How much does aluminium trackway hire cost?
Aluminium panel roadway typically runs £20 to £40 per metre installed, with minimum charges around £500 to £800. A typical 60-metre field route with a turning pad lands between £1,500 and £3,000.
Do I need trackway for a field event?
If suppliers deliver in anything bigger than a car and the ground is grass, plan for it. The marquee lorry alone weighs several tonnes, and toilet servicing tankers visit even during dry weeks. Some suppliers offer standby terms: reserved, only charged if conditions demand.
What does event trackway hire actually include?
A full-service price, not a self-lay kit. The supplier delivers the panels, a crew lays the route and any turning pads, then returns to lift and collect at the end. You are hiring a laid roadway for the weekend, not a stack of planks to place yourself.
What is the difference between trackway and ground protection mats?
Aluminium trackway takes full HGV weight and makes a roadway. Plastic mats handle light vans, pedestrians and wheelchair routes at a fraction of the price. Most field events need some of each: roadway for the supplier route, mats for people.
How quickly does trackway go down?
Crews lay roughly 100 metres in the first half day on site. It is scheduled as the first delivery, because every other supplier drives in over it.
Is aluminium trackway priced per day or for the whole event?
For the whole event, not per day. The £20 to £40 per metre installed price covers delivery, laying and collection across your event dates, the same as a weekend hire and a single-day hire cost about the same, since laying and lifting the route are the main cost, not how long it stays down. A multi-day festival with the same footprint does not pay extra per day.