JunkBossPro Blog — Junk Removal Software

Dump Fee Overage: Billing the Tons Over the Included Weight Automatically

Every junk hauler has paid for a heavy load out of their own pocket. The price assumed a normal amount of weight, the load turned out to be roofing shingles, wet carpet or a pile of tile, and the ticket at the scale came in well over. If that weight never makes it onto the invoice, it comes out of your margin. JunkBossPro handles it with three numbers.

Where the Ticket Comes From

Where each load is headed is covered in Haul-To on Every Job: Dump, Transfer Station, Donation Center or Metal Recycler. When the truck crosses the scale at the dump or transfer station, the crew gets a ticket with the weight. That ticket is the starting point for dump fee overage.

Many junk companies include a set amount of weight in their prices and charge per ton over that. It's a fair way to price, because a half load of old clothes and a half load of concrete take the same room but cost very different amounts to dump. The hard part has always been remembering to bill it.

The Three Numbers

On the job, enter:

1. Ticket tons — the weight on the dump ticket
2. Included tons — how much weight the price already covered
3. Per-ton rate — what you charge for each ton over

JunkBossPro does the subtraction and the multiplication, and adds the overage to the invoice as its own line. If the ticket shows 0.78 tons, the price included 0.5 tons, and your rate is $70 a ton, the invoice gets this line:

“Dump fee overage (0.28 tons @ $70.00) = $19.60”

If the ticket comes in under the included weight, there's no overage line. Nothing to remove, nothing to explain.

Setting Your Included Weight and Rate

The included tons and per-ton rate are yours to decide. Some common approaches:

• Included weight by load size. A quarter load includes less weight than a full load. Set the included tons to match the load size on the job.
• A rate tied to your dump's rate. Many haulers set their per-ton rate a little above what the dump charges them, to cover the trip and handling.
• Heavy-material jobs priced up front. For a job you know will be heavy, like a shed teardown or a pile of brick, you can price it as its own service and still use overage as a backstop.

Whatever you choose, say it clearly on your estimates and website. A customer who was told up front that the price includes a set weight and heavier loads are billed per ton won't be surprised by the line.

Why Automatic Matters

Overage gets missed for simple reasons. The ticket stays in the truck. The crew forgets to mention it. The office doesn't want to do the math. By the time anyone notices, the invoice has already been paid, and going back to the customer feels awkward.

When the overage is added from three numbers on the job, it's just part of closing the job out. The math is the same every time, the line is labeled the same way every time, and the customer sees exactly how it was calculated: the tons over, the rate, and the total.

Overage and the Card on File

If the customer has a card on file, there are a couple of ways to handle timing. Some owners charge the card at completion for the base price and add the overage once the ticket is entered later. Others wait to charge until after the dump run so it all goes on one charge. Billing can charge on completion or on a schedule, so set it up the way your trucks actually run. More on that in Junk Removal Billing: Invoices, Sales Tax, Card on File and Charging at Completion.

Keeping the Ticket

The overage line is only as good as the ticket behind it. Have the crew photograph the ticket so it stays with the job. If a customer ever asks why there's a dump fee overage on their invoice, you can show them the scale weight and the math. That conversation goes a lot better with the ticket in hand.

For loads that combine more than one customer, split the weight the same fair way each time and note how you did it on each job.

Getting Paid for Every Ton

Dump fee overage isn't about squeezing customers. It's about not paying for their heavy loads yourself. With the ticket tons, included tons and rate on the job, the overage gets billed the same way every time. To see how it fits with the rest of a junk job, go back to the JunkBossPro junk removal software page.