JunkBossPro Blog — Crew App

Entering the Dump Ticket: Getting the Weight Overage Onto the Invoice

A lot of junk companies price a load with a set weight included and charge for anything over it. It is a fair way to price: a half load of pillows and a half load of roofing shingles cost you very different amounts at the scale. But the overage only gets billed if the number on the dump ticket makes it from the cab of the truck to the invoice. In a lot of companies, it does not.

Where the Overage Gets Lost

The photos and notes that settle questions about what was hauled are covered in Handling 'You Took the Wrong Thing' Calls With Job Photos and Notes. The dump ticket is the other piece of paper that matters, and it is the one most likely to end up crumpled on the floor of the truck.

The usual story goes like this. The crew unloads, gets the ticket, tosses it on the dash and drives to the next job. The invoice already went out when the job was finished. At the end of the week, somebody finds a stack of tickets and has no idea which job each one goes with. The overage never gets billed, and the company eats the extra dump fee.

How JunkBossPro Handles It

JunkBossPro puts the dump fee overage on the job itself. Three numbers do the work:

• Tons on the ticket. What the scale says this load weighed.
• Tons included. The weight included in the price you quoted.
• Per-ton rate. What you charge for each ton over the included weight.

Enter those, and the overage is added to the invoice automatically as its own line. If the ticket says 1.78 tons, the price included 1.5 tons and your rate is $70 a ton, the invoice gets a line that reads “Dump fee overage (0.28 tons @ $70.00) = $19.60.” If the load came in under the included weight, there is no overage line at all.

Why a Separate Line Matters

Putting the overage on its own line, with the tons and rate spelled out, does more than add the money. It explains it. A customer who sees “Dump fee overage (0.28 tons @ $70.00)” can see exactly where the extra $19.60 came from. That is a much easier conversation than a total that is higher than the quote with no explanation.

It also helps to say it up front. When the estimate or the booking says what weight is included and what you charge per ton over, the overage line on the invoice is no surprise. Your own service list and estimate templates are a good place to spell that out.

Getting the Ticket Into the Job

The weak spot is the gap between the scale and the job. A few habits close it:

• Enter it before the next drive. The crew should get the tons onto the job while the ticket is still in hand, before pulling out of the dump.
• One load, one job. When a load is a single job, the ticket goes with that job. When a truck carries several small jobs to the dump at once, decide ahead of time how you handle weight on those, since one ticket covers them all.
• Keep the paper too. A folder in the truck for tickets gives the office something to check against if a number looks wrong.
• Snap a picture. A quick photo of the ticket alongside the job photos gives the office a backup if the paper goes missing.

Think about timing, too. Cards on file can be charged when the job is completed or on a schedule. If most of your jobs carry an included weight, charging on a schedule gives the ticket time to reach the job, so the customer is charged once for the full amount instead of twice.

Tons Included Should Match the Quote

The tons-included number has to match what the customer was told. If your full load price includes a certain weight and your half load includes less, set those up consistently so the crew is not guessing. When they are consistent, the only number the crew really has to enter is the one on the ticket.

If you also drop dumpsters, the same thinking applies to rental days: dumpster drop jobs can carry the days included and a daily rate after that, so extra days are billed the same way extra tons are.

Before the Ticket: Planning the Run

On a heavy job, like a shed teardown or a load of construction debris, the truck may need to unload before the next stop. That changes the order of the day and sometimes the route. Planning around it is covered in Dump Runs Mid-Route: When the Truck Fills Before the Day Is Done.

Bill What You Pay

Dump fees are a real cost on every load. If your price includes a set weight, every unbilled overage comes straight out of your margin. Three numbers on the job close that gap. To see how dump ticket overage fits with the rest of the crew's tools, visit the JunkBossPro junk removal app page.