Around here a cord of wood means face cord that's how it's all sold. So a pick up truck full of loose stacked wood would be a cord I guess. Ask someone how much wood they burn and they are almost always talking about a face cords.
I traded a cord of wood for a nice chainsaw a few weeks ago.
Well.. the guy was expecting a face cord, not a cord.
As far as loading it loose in the truck, I won't do it and sell it as x cords.
I've hauled wood home loose, measured it out in the truck just for s&gs. It worked to "around" 175-200 cu ft per cord.
Too much guessing. 25 cu ft of foot is $55. Times that by 500 cords, that's ~27,000.
Stacking a cord is about an hr of work, we'll worth it. Plus the debris coming off the conveyor can get cleaned out and the wood inspected.
It's also a CYA for less than honest customers. Quite easy for someone to say, "hey that loose load was 1/4 cord short". Where when it's stacked in the truck, that's not possible.