How Dumpster Weight Limit Affects The Cost

If you are looking for dumpster rental prices, or have found dumpster rental pricing confusing in the past, this article is for you! We will explain how a dumpster weight limit will affect the total cost. Also, we will provide details on what you should consider when comparing dumpster rental companies.

All dumpster rental companies have to charge based on the weight of the dumpster. Local landfills determine those rates. But the pricing you will get if you call different companies can vary widely. It can be confusing and hard to tell if one company is less expensive than another when the rates are all done differently. The most important thing we hope you take away from this article is to be careful of any companies offering a roll off dumpster rental for a really cheap initial price. There is a real issue in the dumpster rental industry right now with companies openly misleading customers on pricing. And there are several companies outright scamming people. It all starts with a suspicously low price. So let's talk about what a "low price" is, and how the dumpster weight affects that.

Dumpster rental pricing breakdown

The prices for dumpster rentals will either be a flat rate, or what is called "haul plus ton" pricing. Most companies today use flat rate pricing. But regardless to how a company prices it's rentals, there are four things that affect the total cost:

• the haul rate, or delivery rate
• the rental period or other additional fees
• the cost for the weight (tonnage)

The haul rate is usually the bulk of the total cost

Most dumpster rental companies have a flat rate cost. This means the haul rate, or the quoted rate, is the majority of the total cost. I say "majority", because there are 2 things to watch out for when pricing dumpster rentals:

1. Watch out for other (or additional) fees. Ask if the price is all-inclusive. It is VERY common for dumpster companies to quote a price but then to have numerous other fees that increase your total cost. These would be things like fuel fees, delivery fees, pick up fees, environmental fees, or sales tax.
   
2. Watch out for an unusually low price. In the last few years there have been a few dumpster rental companies advertising on Google ridiculously low rates. Some of these companies are scams. Unfortunately we know this for a fact, and you can read more about that in our article "$199 dumpster rental - is it legit?". But most of them are just outright dishonest.
   
   Any company quoting you less than $350 for a roll off dumpster rental is not telling you the whole truth about the total cost. Here is how they attempt to get people to buy from them: they quote a very low haul rate, for example $350. But then you will ALSO have to pay for the total weight by the ton, and often many other fees. We will discuss this more in detail below when we get into how dumpster weight limit affects the cost.

How the rental period affects your total cost

The rental period only costs you more if you keep it longer than the number of days included in the price. Every company will have a set rental period like 5 days, 7 days, or 10 days. If you want to keep it longer, most companies allow that for an extra cost. At Trash Daddy Dumpsters, that is $20 per day, and most companies are a similar price. This won't apply to most dumpster rentals, but we mention it because it can increase your total cost, if you need the dumpster longer.

You also have to ask about other fees like fuel fees, delivery fees, enviornment fees, and more. Most of the time dumpster rental reps will leave out these fees when quoting you a price. These fees can often add anywhere from 10% to 25% to the total cost!

How a dumpster weight limit affects the cost

This is the "meat on the bone" for this article. The most significant factor that determines dumpster rental cost is the weight of the dumpster. That is how every landfill charges all haulers or individuals for disposal of any material.

Most dumpster rental companies offer flat rate pricing. This means there will be a set weight limit included in the price for each size. As long as it weighs the set limit or less, you just pay that one price. If the weight exceeds that limit, then there is an extra charge by the ton.

For example, at Trash Daddy if you get a 30 yard dumpster from us that includes 3 tons of weight. So if the dumpster weighs 3 tons or less, then you just pay the price we quote you - simple, easy, and transparent. This is the case for the majority of all 30 yard dumpster rentals. But when the weight does exceed 3 tons, then there is an extra charge of anywhere from $75 to $125 per ton, pro-rated. The exact amound depends on the service area. So if the dumpster weighs 3.8 tons, and the overage is $75 per ton, then the extra charge would be $60 ($75 per 1 ton x overage of .8 tons). Most dumpster companies today provide this type of pricing. But you still have to be on the lookout for dishonest or misleading companies.

This is where things can get expensive really quickly. And this is the key thing you need to ask about when comparing dumpster rental companies. There are 2 important questions to get answered:

1. How many tons are included in the price?
   
2. How much does it cost over the included tonnage?

What many companies are doing today is quoting an unusually low haul rate to entice you to book the dumpster, but they are only including a lower than normal amount of tonnage in that price. So, it's worth repeating what I said above - just be VERY cautious of any dumpster rental company quoting a lower than average haul rate ($350 or so).

So you can see in this example, if you only paid attention to the quoted haul rate, you may have not ordered with Trash Daddy. But you would have paid more in the end. This is happening a LOT in the dumspter rental world, and many customers are paying well over one thousand dollars for a dumpster that they could have ordered for half that total cost.

Conclusion - dumpster weights

The most important thing I hope you get from this article is to make sure you don't ONLY pay attention to the quoted haul rate when checking for dumpster rental prices. A big problem in the industry right now is dishonest and blatantly false advertising. Some companies try to get you to book the haul with a low haul rate. But then they nail you after the dumpster is picked up with excessive fees or tonnage costs. Remember, the weight ultimately determines the cost for EVERY dumpster rental. And you need to think in terms of total cost, NOT the initial haul rate.

If you have any questions, our team at Trash Daddy would be happy to help. We are proud of our experience in the dumpster rental industry. And every day we work to keep our customers' total dumpster rental costs as low as possible. Thanks for reading!