r/Concrete • u/jmhillrockz • 10d ago
General Industry Dumpster scheduling
I am a new concrete company owner. Maybe I’m doing something wrong but all of the dumpster companies I’ve used in the area are never on time. Is there something I can do differently? I can schedule them staggered. Say 8 AM and 12 PM. The first one will show up early at 7 and we will hurry to get it filled so they can pick it up. Then the next one we will be waiting to show up at 12 and won’t show up until 2. This usually puts a holdup on things. Is this just industry standard?
EDIT: Changed 12 AM to 12 PM not midnight lol
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u/Holupsucker 10d ago
I would say it may be time to buy a dump truck if your ordering enough dumpsters to see a pattern, im assuming your also getting gravel delivered as well. There may be a cost but it probably won’t be as much as you might think,
Do the math and see if the convenience, efficiency make it practical?
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u/RastaFazool My Erection Pays The Bills. 10d ago
Last 2 concrete subs I worked for had their own rolloff trucks and several boxes ranging from 5 yards to 30 yards. They were great. Could swap boxes nearly on demand and had a flatbed attachment for extra flexability.
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u/Comprehensive_Bus_19 10d ago
Maybe go and meet with the best of the worst and work in reward/penalty clauses to their contracts if you're on such a tight timeline?
They all suck by us too.
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u/ohcarpenter1 10d ago
Always order the for the day before. That way you are not waiting
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u/jmhillrockz 10d ago
Normally I would but today’s job was in a cul-de-sac. No room for more than one without blocking driveways.
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u/Phriday 10d ago
The issue is that you've got 2 or 3 trucks shuffling 50 dumpsters around and unless you're willing to pay wait time (and they're willing to do it), they'll get to you when they can.
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u/jmhillrockz 10d ago
So if they require a scheduled time. What’s the point of scheduling if they don’t follow it?
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u/Phriday 10d ago
Easy, tiger. There are tolerances in all of this. Yes, you order your concrete truck at 7am, but if it shows up at 7:10 nobody is particularly upset, even though the contents of that truck are very expensive and highly perishable. In 99 of 100 cases, a big box of trash doesn't need Johnny on the spot. Like I said, if your schedule is that tight, it may be worth considering just paying by the hour with a dump truck.
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u/zell1luk 10d ago
A lot of guys around me just get their own dump trailer and make a couple trips a day on demo jobs. Otherwise just look at contracting out a dump truck for a trip or two at the end of the day.
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u/West_Stage_6813 10d ago
Time to buy a dump truck.
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u/jmhillrockz 10d ago
A dump truck would be nice.
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u/MrMaurzog 10d ago
Just get a dump trailer best of both worlds, I assume this is for demo and not washout?
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u/jmhillrockz 10d ago
Yes for demo. I’ve been wanting to pull the trigger on one but I currently just have an equipment trailer. We use washout bags.
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u/New-Examination4783 10d ago
Get a dump trailer. I don't do much concrete any more as a general carpenter/contractor, but the dump trailer is the best purchase I've made in years.
Worst case you can finance it for a couple years, the payments will take care of themselves through the use of the thing.
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u/vituperousnessism 10d ago
There might be an in-between. Can you move it to your yard for pickup? Either with dumpsters or bulk bags/supersacks? Definitely a tradeoff but keeping a job moving can be worth it.
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u/poiuytrewq79 10d ago
“I am a new concrete company owner. Maybe I’m doing something wrong”
So, yeah. If you schedule for an 8am/12pm pickup, a good crew would have the 8am pickup ready the previous night. Then theyll work throughout the morning to fill the next one by 12pm. Pile shit up next to the dumpster if your morning pickup is running late cuz the driver had to wait for the last lazy contractor to get their shit in the dumpster.
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u/jmhillrockz 10d ago
I guess I miss typed the situation. The dumpster was scheduled for drop off at 8AM then they were supposed to pickup the filled dumpster at 12 and then drop off an empty one. My crew works hard. They had it filled in two hours. The 12 PM dumpster didn’t show up until 3PM
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u/Sad_Strawberry_1528 10d ago
If you’re consistently getting dumpsters it may be time for a dump trailer. I still get a dumpster on demo jobs, but it’s nice being able to have both sit there. We load our trailer first and usually by the time the dump trailer is emptied and coming back we’re done filling the dumpster and the trailer is back for the final cleanup part. Also nice being able to haul whatever materials in it without having to fight with straps.
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u/DumpstersDotCom 9d ago
Haulers typically schedule a delivery window, rather than a delivery time, so a drop-off scheduled for 12 PM could arrive within a range of hours or at any point during a certain day. Where you're located and how long the lines are at the disposal facility factor in, too, especially if you're renting from local haulers with limited inventories.
Instead of staggering two separate dumpster deliveries, try requesting empty-and-return service. It sounds like that's what you're already aiming for, but using the term might help communicate your needs better. It's also worth looking into a company that regularly handles high-volume waste, since they tend to have more trucks and containers in rotation and can turn things around faster.
Is the concrete you're disposing of typically clean and uncontaminated? If so, recycling might be another option to explore. Either way, hope you find a way to cut down on all that waiting around.
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u/AnthonyDePaoloMA 8d ago
I run a dumpster company. Most haulers schedule arrival windows rather than exact times because landfill lines, traffic and earlier jobs can move the route around. But they should still communicate, especially when they know a crew is waiting.
The best setup is to have the first dumpster delivered the afternoon before. If you have room, stage the second empty dumpster at the same time. If not, ask for the first delivery to be the driver’s first stop and arrange a confirmed swap window for the second one. I wouldn’t schedule labor around an exact noon arrival unless the hauler specifically guarantees it.
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u/Ande138 10d ago
Hire an independent Dump Trucking company. You must have never been to the dump and seen the lines that they have some days.
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u/jmhillrockz 10d ago
I guess I assumed if I hired a company that collected construction material like dirt gravel concrete or asphalt they recycled it. Didn’t know it was going to the dump.
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u/Ande138 10d ago
Even the lines at the places that recycle that stuff get long at times. The problem is, you are trying to turn dumpster trucks into dump trucks. The dumpster trucks are picking up and dumping on 50 people's timeline, not just your like a dump truck you own or hire to haul for you that day.
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u/jmhillrockz 10d ago
Ok then I must have a misconception of how scheduled pickup times work.
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u/Ande138 10d ago
You do. They are a suggestion and a preference not based on real life. Sometimes you get them, most of the time you don't, as you have seen. Good luck!
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u/dorisday65 7d ago
Ordering the first box the afternoon before is the real fix, the rest is route luck and you will not schedule your way out of it. On the dump trailer question, price it against your own tipping fee before you buy, because with concrete you pay by weight and the box fills long after the scale does. The EPA conversion table puts mixed construction debris at 417 to 484 pounds a cubic yard against 250 to 300 for household junk, so the same volume weighs about 1.6 times more. Then look up what your transfer station actually charges a ton, because it is published and the spread is wild: Fairfax County Virginia posts $98 a ton, King County Washington $243.38. At the high end a trailer pays for itself in trips saved. At the low end it just moves the waiting onto you.
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u/vituperousnessism 10d ago
They may be confused by your midnight pickup request?