Weight, scale tickets and overage
How Dumpster Weight Is Billed
Your dumpster is weighed on the landfill's certified truck scale. The net weight of the debris is compared with the tons included in your size, and anything over is billed at $75 per ton by the exact pound. The scale ticket is attached to your final invoice, emailed 3 to 5 business days after pickup.
How is a dumpster weighed at the landfill?
The loaded truck crosses the landfill scale for the gross weight, dumps the load, and crosses again empty for the tare weight. Gross minus tare is the net weight of your debris. That net figure, printed on a certified scale ticket, is the only number used for your bill.
Tare weight means the weight of the empty truck and container. Tipping fee means what the landfill charges per ton to accept debris. Neither is a separate line on your invoice.
Example scale ticket
How much is the overage on a dumpster?
Overage is $75 per ton over the included weight, charged by the pound. A 20-yard includes 3 tons. If the ticket shows 3.4 tons net, you pay for 0.4 tons, or 800 pounds, which is $30. If it shows 2.8 tons, you pay no overage.
Included weight by size is 2 tons for the 10-yard, 2.5 tons for the 15-yard, 3 tons for the 20-yard, 4 tons for the 30-yard and 5 tons for the 40-yard.
What does half a ton or a full ton over cost for each size?
Half a ton over costs $37.50 and a full ton over costs $75.00, whatever the size, because the rate is the same $75 per ton. What changes by size is how many tons you get before overage starts.
| Size | Included | Ticket shows | You pay | Ticket shows | You pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yard | 2 tons (4,000 lb) | 2.5 t | $37.50 | 3 t | $75.00 |
| 15-yard | 2.5 tons (5,000 lb) | 3 t | $37.50 | 3.5 t | $75.00 |
| 20-yard | 3 tons (6,000 lb) | 3.5 t | $37.50 | 4 t | $75.00 |
| 30-yard | 4 tons (8,000 lb) | 4.5 t | $37.50 | 5 t | $75.00 |
| 40-yard | 5 tons (10,000 lb) | 5.5 t | $37.50 | 6 t | $75.00 |
Which materials push a dumpster over its weight limit?
Concrete, dirt, brick, sand, tile, plaster and roofing shingles are the materials that hit the weight limit before the dumpster looks full. Wet carpet and soaked drywall are close behind. Furniture, cardboard, framing scrap and household junk are bulky but light.
- Concrete: solid concrete weighs about 145 pounds per cubic foot. A 4-inch slab is about 48 pounds per square foot, so 100 square feet is about 2.4 tons.
- Shingles: multiply your bundle weight by bundles per square (usually 3) and by squares and layers. 25 squares of 80-pound bundles is 3 tons.
- Heavy debris rule: concrete, dirt, brick and sand only go in the 10 and 15-yard, no higher than halfway up the walls. See concrete and dirt dumpsters.
Use your own numbers where you have them: the bundle weight on the shingle wrapper, the slab thickness you measured. Figures here are typical and the scale ticket is final.
FAQ
Weight and overage questions
What happens if my dumpster is overweight?
An overweight dumpster still gets hauled as long as debris is level with the rim. You pay $75 per ton for the weight over your included tons, by the exact pound, on the final invoice.
How do I know what my dumpster weighed?
The landfill scale prints a certified ticket with the gross, tare and net weight. A digital copy is attached to your final invoice, so the weight you're billed for is the weight on the ticket.
Do you round up to the next ton?
Partial tons aren't rounded up. Overage is pro-rated by the pound from the scale ticket: 300 pounds over is 0.15 tons, or $11.25.
When will I get the final bill?
The final invoice is emailed 3 to 5 business days after pickup, once the landfill processes our disposal logs. It shows the scale ticket, overage and any extra days.
Does rain make a dumpster heavier?
Rain soaks into drywall, carpet, wood and yard waste and adds weight you pay for at the scale. Cover an open dumpster with a tarp when storms are forecast.
Ask us to estimate your tons
Tell us the material and amount. We'll do the weight math on the phone and recommend the size that keeps you under your included tons.