Load Size

Visualize your truck bed divided into eighths. A couch plus a coffee table fills roughly 1/8. A full bedroom set — bed frame, mattress, dresser, nightstand — fills about 1/4. A packed single-car garage is typically 1.5 to 2 full loads on a standard 15 cu yd truck. The fastest way to build accuracy is to photograph every job before and after loading for two weeks, then compare your estimate to the actual fraction filled. Most operators reach 90% accuracy within 30 jobs.

Use load-based pricing for the majority of jobs because it directly ties your revenue to the truck capacity consumed. Switch to per-item pricing only for single-item pickups like a mattress ($75–$125), hot tub ($250–$450), or refrigerator ($100–$175) where the item itself defines the scope. Once a job hits five or more items, convert to load-tier pricing — item-by-item quotes on large jobs almost always undercharge by 15–25% compared to the equivalent load fraction.

Add a heavy-material surcharge for concrete, dirt, brick, roofing shingles, and large appliances. Most operators charge $30–$60 per item for heavy appliances and $75–$150 per cubic yard for construction debris above standard rates. The reason is dump fees — landfills charge by the ton, and a half truck of concrete can weigh 3,500 lbs versus 600 lbs for furniture at the same volume. Always weigh your truck or estimate tonnage before heading to the landfill so you are not eating surprise overage charges.

A standard junk removal truck holds 12 to 16 cubic yards, with 15 cubic yards being the most common configuration in the industry. That is roughly equivalent to a 10×10 storage unit or about six standard pickup truck loads. Larger operators sometimes run 20 cu yd trucks for commercial and estate cleanout work, while urban operators in tight-street cities often use 10 cu yd trucks. Your load tiers and pricing must be calibrated to your actual truck dimensions — never copy another company's price card unless their truck matches yours.

Most operators set a base price for each load fraction — 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and full — then adjust for disposal cost, labor difficulty, and material type. A typical 15 cu yd market prices a full truck between $500 and $800 depending on metro dump fees and local competition. Your 1/8 tier is usually your minimum charge ($75–$150) and covers a single item or small pickup. To stay profitable at 38–52% gross margin on residential jobs, your full-truck price should be at least 2.5× your total cost per load including dump fees, fuel, and crew labor.