How a dump run works

A dump run is the simplest hauling job there is: a truck, a crew, your pile, and a trip to the transfer station or landfill. Knowing the steps makes the quote easy to read.

1. The quote

The hauler asks what you have and how much of it. Send photos; a photo of the pile next to a doorway or a car gives a usable sense of scale. The quote covers labor, the truck, fuel and the estimated disposal fee.

2. Loading

The crew loads from wherever the items are. "Curbside" loads cost less than "full service" loads carried from inside the house or the back yard. Heavy items (dirt, concrete, roofing) are loaded last and may change the destination, because some transfer stations refuse them.

3. The transfer station or landfill

Most urban haulers unload at a transfer station, not the landfill itself. The station weighs the truck in and out and charges a tipping fee per ton. Fees run from about $30 per ton in parts of the Midwest to over $150 per ton in California and the Northeast.

4. The receipt

Ask for the scale ticket. It shows the weight and the fee paid, and it is your proof that the load was disposed of legally. A hauler who cannot produce a scale ticket may have dumped the load somewhere it should not have gone, and in many states the property owner of record on the junk can be fined for it.

What you are paying for

Roughly, a dump run bill is one third labor, one third truck and fuel, one third disposal fee. Loads with recyclable metal can come in cheaper, because scrap pays the hauler instead of charging them.