How to price junk removal by truck load

By the Enqovo team · Published 2026-10-28

Price by how much of the truck the load fills

Most customers can’t tell you the weight or the cubic yards of their junk, but they can picture part of a truck. Set a price for each load size:

• 1/8 of a truck
• 1/4 of a truck
• 1/2 of a truck
• 3/4 of a truck
• A full truck

Base each price on your crew time, truck costs, fuel and the dump fees for that much junk, plus your profit. A bigger load should never cost less than a smaller one.

Dump fees

What your local landfill or transfer station charges you changes from place to place, and it can change during the year. Check your own disposal costs and build them in. One simple way is a dump fee for a full load that scales with the load size, so a half load carries half the fee.

Item fees

Some items cost you more to get rid of. Give each one a fixed fee on top of the load price:

• Mattresses and box springs
• Tires
• Fridges, freezers and AC units, which hold refrigerant. Under EPA rules the refrigerant has to be recovered before the appliance is scrapped (EPA: safe disposal requirements)
• TVs, computers and other electronics, which many places don’t allow in the regular trash (EPA: electronics recycling)
• Pianos

Check what your local disposal sites and recyclers charge for each item, and set your fees from that.

Stairs and carry distance

Carrying a couch down three flights of stairs takes longer than lifting it off a driveway. Add a fee for each flight of stairs and for long carries, such as 50 to 150 feet from the truck. Price very long carries yourself.

Surcharges for heavy loads

Construction debris and yard waste are heavier than household junk and can cost more to dump. A percentage surcharge on the load price keeps those quotes fair to you.

A minimum job price

Every job means driving the truck out. A minimum job price, often close to your smallest load price, makes sure a single chair is still worth the trip.

Jobs you always price yourself

Some requests should always come to you:

• The customer isn’t sure how big the load is
• Hazardous waste such as paint, chemicals or asbestos
• Hot tubs and very long carries
• Jobs bigger than what you are happy to price without seeing

Quoting from photos

Most customers can't tell you how much of a truck their junk will fill. Ask for two or three photos of the pile, taken from a few steps back, with something familiar in the shot like a door or a car. Then match what you see to your load sizes.

• Ask what is under or behind the pile, since boxes often hide heavier items
• Ask which floor the items are on and how far the truck can park from the door
• Quote a range of one load size up or down when the photos aren't clear, and say the final price is set on site

Explaining your price on site

A load-based price is easy to explain: "This fills about half the truck, so it's the half-truck price plus the dump fee for half a load." Show the customer the truck if you can. When the job turns out bigger or smaller than the photos, tell them the new price before you start loading, not after.

Common mistakes

• Pricing from the number of items instead of the space they take up
• Leaving out your own time to drive to the dump and back
• Charging the same for a ground-floor garage and a third-floor walk-up
• Never raising prices after your dump or fuel costs go up

Quick checklist

• A price for each load size, from 1/8 of a truck to a full truck
• Dump fees from your own disposal costs
• Fixed fees for mattresses, tires, appliances with refrigerant, electronics and pianos
• Fees for stairs and long carries
• Surcharges for construction debris and yard waste
• A minimum job price
• A list of jobs you always price yourself