Why two bin rental quotes differ
When two bin prices are far apart for the same job, the difference is rarely the bin itself. It is what the price includes, and the two things that most often differ are the tonnage allowance and the rental period.
A quote sixty dollars cheaper with half a tonne less allowance costs more the moment the load goes over, and heavy loads nearly always do. A quote with seven days instead of ten costs more again if the job runs long, which jobs generally do. Neither of those differences is visible in the headline number, which is exactly why the headline number is the wrong thing to compare.
The third difference is quieter and shows up only at invoicing: a surcharge added afterwards. A fuel levy, an environmental fee or an administration charge can turn the cheaper quote into the dearer invoice without anything about the job having changed.
The five lines a quote should carry
A quote that contains these five things can be compared with another one. A quote that contains a single number cannot.
- The bin size in yards, and ideally its dimensions
- The tonnage allowance included in the price
- The per-tonne rate charged beyond that allowance
- The rental period in days, and the cost of an extra day
- What the price covers: delivery, collection and disposal
If any of those is missing, ask for it. None of them is commercially sensitive and all five change what you will actually pay. A supplier who will not put the overage rate in writing before you book is telling you something about how the invoice will read afterwards.
Ours runs at roughly a tonne included on a 6 yard, a tonne and a half on a 10 or 14, two tonnes on a 15 or 20 and three tonnes on a 30 or 40, with overage at $120 a tonne off the scale ticket. The full table sits on the bin rental prices page. Figures shown are example ranges rather than quotes, because disposal rates vary by region and by what the receiving facility charges on the day.
Why weight decides the final bill
Bins are priced on volume and disposal is charged on weight, and the two come apart the moment anything dense goes in. Soil and concrete weigh roughly a tonne a cubic yard. Old tile, plaster and anything that has been rained on are not far behind.
So a 20 yard bin of furniture will finish comfortably inside a two tonne allowance, and the same bin with a bathroom floor mixed through it may not. That is the whole mechanism, and it is why the allowance matters more than the size.
What to do about it
Keep heavy material in its own small bin at the inert rate rather than mixing it into a general load. A clean fill bin takes concrete, brick, soil and rock on their own and goes to a different facility at a lower rate. Two bins loaded correctly routinely cost less than one bin loaded wrong.
The same logic runs the other way for light bulky waste. Branches, hedging and packaging weigh almost nothing, so the constraint there is space, not weight, and a bigger bin is the cheaper answer. The what size bin page works through both cases with room counts and pickup loads.
What each bin size actually holds
Yards are a volume, not a weight, and most people picture them wrongly the first time. A 10 yard is about three pickup loads. A 20 yard is about eight. A 40 yard is about fifteen, which is why it is a construction bin rather than a driveway one.
For a roof, count bundles instead: roughly 140 in a 10 yard and 180 in a 14. For a house clear, count rooms, because furniture is bulky and light and fills volume long before it troubles the scale.
Whatever the size, the load has to finish level with the top rail. A heaped bin cannot be tarped, and a bin that cannot be tarped cannot legally be driven, so it does not get collected that day. The full range and dimensions are on the bin sizes page.
The extra fees worth asking about
Four charges can legitimately be added to a bin rental, and all four are predictable: weight over the allowance, extra rental days, a trip charge where the truck cannot place or collect the bin, and a separate disposal if a prohibited item is found in the load.
What should not appear is a fuel surcharge, an environmental levy or an administration fee. If a quote carries one, the headline number is not the number you will pay. Every charge that can reach our invoices is listed on the bin rental fees page, and there are four of them.
- Ask what the per-tonne overage rate is
- Ask what an extra day costs
- Ask what triggers a trip charge
- Ask whether any surcharge is added at invoicing
The trip charge is the one people argue about, because nothing was collected and it still costs money. What was consumed is a truck, a driver and a slot on the route, and those cost the same whether the bin comes back loaded or empty. It is also the most avoidable: a car moved the night before and a gate left open prevent nearly all of them.
Where the bin sits, and who decides
A driveway placement needs about sixty feet of straight approach and enough headroom for the truck to lift, which rules out low branches and some carports. Boards go under the rails so the bin never rests on the surface, and nothing is dragged. Warm asphalt in summer is the one case worth flagging when you book rather than on the day.
If the bin has to go on the street, that is a municipal permit rather than something the hauler can grant. Cost is typically twenty to a hundred and fifty dollars and issue times run from several days to several weeks, so it is the first thing to start and the last thing people think of. Rates vary by municipality.
Delivery is usually next day, and you do not need to be there. Mark the spot with cones or a photo and the driver places it and sends a photo back. The bin delivery page covers access, windows and what has to be true on collection day.
How to check the invoice against the quote
Ask for the scale ticket. Every load is weighed at the transfer station, in and out, and the difference is your tonnage. A supplier who provides that ticket is showing you the arithmetic; one who does not is asking you to take the figure on trust.
With the ticket in hand the check is simple: tonnage on the ticket, minus the allowance on the quote, times the per-tonne rate. If that equals the overage line on the invoice, the bill is right. If it does not, you now have the one document that settles it.
The ticket also tells you where the load went, which matters more than it used to. Clean loads are sorted and diverted rather than buried, and the recycling and diversion page sets out which streams go where and why a separated load is cheaper than a mixed one.