What a dumpster price is made of
Whether the customer sees one number or five lines, almost every roll-off price has the same parts:
- The base price (the haul). Taking the can out, bringing it back, and the truck and driver time in between.
- Weight. Either a set number of tons included in the base price, or a per-ton rate from the first ton.
- Rental days. A number of days included, then a daily charge.
- Fees. Swaps, dry runs, relocations, prohibited items, permits.
There are two common ways to put them together. A flat price with tons included (“includes 2 tons and 14 days”) is easy for a homeowner to compare. A base plus per-ton price (“$395 plus $68 a ton”) suits contractors with heavy debris, because the weight risk sits with whoever loads the can.
Either way, put the included tons, the included days and every overage rate on the quote and in the rental agreement. An overage the customer never agreed to in writing becomes a dispute, even when it’s fair.
The base price: what it has to cover
The base price pays for everything that happens whether the can comes back with one ton in it or ten:
- Two trips of truck and driver time, including the run to the dump.
- Fuel, truck payments, insurance and maintenance.
- The can: buying it, repairing it, and the days it isn’t on a second rental.
- Office, phones, software and the invoices that never get paid.
Distance moves the base price more than anything. A site forty minutes out adds most of an hour of truck time to every trip, which is why many haulers price by zone.
Be careful about hiding the dump fee inside the base price. It’s your biggest cost that changes with every load. If you include tons in the base, you’re promising to pay for them whatever goes in the can.
Tons included and the per-ton rate
The facility charges you by the ton, often at different rates for construction debris, household trash, clean concrete and yard waste. Your per-ton rate has to cover the tipping fee, the time in line at the scale and the extra wear, and still leave a margin.
If you include tons in the base price, price those tons at the most expensive facility the load could end up at, not the cheapest.
Bill tonnage from the scale ticket, never from an estimate. The net weight on the ticket is a number the customer can check, so keep a photo of it with the job. The scale tickets guide covers reading and matching them.
Decide how you round and write it down. Billing to the hundredth of a ton (10.61 t) is easy to defend. Rounding up to the next half ton is fine too, but only if the agreement says so.
Heavy material is a limit, not only a price
Concrete, dirt, brick and shingles get heavy fast. A large can filled with concrete can be more than the truck can legally or safely carry. Set rules before the can goes out: heavy material only in smaller cans, or a fill line.
Rental days and the extra-day charge
Most haulers include a set rental period, often somewhere between 7 and 14 days, then charge a daily rate. The daily rate is less about wear on the can than about lost rentals: if every 20-yard can you own is out in July, one sitting on a finished job for three extra weeks is revenue you can’t book.
Write down how you count days, and count them the same way every time:
- Does delivery day count as day one?
- Does the clock stop when the customer asks for the pickup, or when your truck gets there? Stopping it at the request is the fairer rule, because the customer shouldn’t pay for your schedule.
- On a swap, does the fresh can start a new rental period? If so, bill the extra days on the can you pull.
A contractor with a can on site for two months is usually better on a monthly rate than on daily overages that add up to an invoice nobody expected.
Swaps, dry runs and other fees
- Swap. Pull the full can and drop an empty one. It costs you a full haul, so price it like one, plus the tonnage on the can you pulled.
- Dry run or trip fee. The driver went out and couldn’t do the work: a blocked driveway, a locked gate, a car where the can goes, or a can overfilled past the point it can be hauled safely. The truck still made the trip. Have the driver take a photo that shows why.
- Relocation. Moving the can on the same site.
- Prohibited items. Tires, mattresses, appliances with refrigerant, paint and batteries cost extra at the facility or get turned away. Charge per item, with a photo.
- Permits. A can on the street often needs a city permit. Either pass the cost through or tell the customer up front that it’s theirs to get.
Every one of these should be on your rate sheet before the job starts. A fee the customer sees for the first time on the invoice feels like a trick.
A worked example
This is the sample job used across the Excern site. Harbor Plaza LLC is an example customer, not a real one. The terms: $395 per haul plus $68 a ton from the first ton, 14 days included, $10 for each day after that.
Can #30-114 was delivered to 1412 Dock St on August 24 and swapped on Tuesday, September 15 (job #0419). The load weighed 10.61 tons net.
| Line | How it’s figured | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Haul (swap) | Base price | $395.00 |
| Tonnage | 10.61 t × $68 | $721.48 |
| Rental | Aug 24 to Sep 15 is 22 days; 14 included, so days 15–22 are 8 × $10 | $80.00 |
| Invoice total | $1,196.48 | |
Now the cost side of the same load. It tipped at Metro Transfer on ticket A-48812: 10.61 tons at $42.50 a ton, a $450.93 dump fee. The tonnage line brought in $721.48 against that $450.93, leaving $270.55 to pay for the time at the scale and to earn a margin, while the $395 haul pays for the truck and driver.
The point isn’t these numbers. It’s that your per-ton rate has to sit well above the tipping fee, or every heavy load costs you money.
When a subcontractor runs the job
When another hauler runs the job, it has two price sheets: yours to the customer and the hauler’s to you. When they don’t include the same things, the difference comes out of your margin.
To keep that from happening:
- Before you quote a brokered job, put the hauler’s terms next to yours: days included, daily rate, tons included, per-ton rate, trip fee and swap price.
- Match your included days and tons to the hauler’s, or build the difference into your base price.
- Keep every overage rate you charge the customer at or above the hauler’s.
- When the hauler’s bill comes in, check it against the scale ticket and your own dates before you pay it.
The guide to brokering a dumpster job walks through that check line by line.
In the product
How Excern handles this
In Excern, the days included come from the customer’s rate sheet. Past them, the extra days wait for your approval with the dates attached. Tonnage comes from the scale ticket: tons over what the rate includes become a tonnage line, priced from the customer’s rate sheet and queued with the ticket photo. A swap restarts the rental clock on the new can.
Overages such as tonnage, extra days, contamination and dry runs are queued with the evidence attached, and you approve, adjust or waive each one. Nothing is charged automatically. On a brokered job, the hauler’s quoted cost sits next to the customer price from the start.
More on billing and payments, inventory and pricing and what Excern costs.