Overweight fees: set them clearly, capture them every time, collect them without a fight

Overage is where a dumpster company's margin hides. It is also where customer disputes come from. Both problems have the same fix: be clear up front and have the ticket.

Set included tons by size and debris

A common structure is 1 ton included on a 10-yard, 2 on a 20, 3 on a 30, 4 on a 40 for mixed household and construction debris — with heavy materials (concrete, dirt, brick, shingles) either restricted to smaller sizes or given their own included weight. Your transfer station's rate and your truck's legal payload set the ceiling.

Price overage at cost plus margin, per ton, prorated

If disposal is $48/ton, $65–$75/ton overage is normal. Bill to the hundredth of a ton from the scale ticket rather than rounding up to whole tons; customers accept "0.42 tons over at $70 = $29.40" far more readily than "1 ton over, $70."

Say it three times before the can arrives

1. On the quote: "Includes 2 tons; $70 per ton over."
2. In the rental agreement they e-sign.
3. On the confirmation text with the delivery time.

By the time the invoice shows an overage line, it is not a surprise.

Capture the ticket at the scale

Landfill and transfer-station tip fees vary widely by region; the EPA's materials and waste figures are a useful baseline for what a ton of C&D debris costs to dispose of. The driver photographs the scale ticket in the app at the transfer station. The tonnage attaches to the order and the order gets flagged as having unbilled tonnage until someone invoices it. No ticket on the dash, no envelope of tickets at month end.

Bill it the same day, with the ticket attached

An overage invoice sent the day of the dump, with the ticket image and a pay link, gets paid. The same invoice sent three weeks later, with no ticket, gets a phone call. If you took a card on file at booking, charge it per your agreement and send the receipt with the ticket.

Run the report weekly

An Unbilled tonnage report that lists every completed pickup with a ticket weight over the allowance and no overage invoice is a five-minute weekly task that recovers real money.