Dumpster rental
Equipment & units
Add each container size on the Equipment screen, set the number of units that creates bookable containers, and understand how a rental is priced and what customers see.
This is part of the Dumpster rental workflow
Doing junk removal? Start with the quote workflow.The Equipment screen is what customers can buy. For dumpster rental it holds one equipment item per container size. Nothing on your website renders until this is filled in.
Add a container size
- 1Go to Equipment in the sidebar and add an item in the Equipment tab.
- 2Name it the way customers say it: "20 Yard Dumpster", not "RO-20".
- 3Set the base price -- what the rental costs for the days it includes -- then the rental terms below it.
- 4Set the Number of units -- how many of this size you actually own.
- 5Add specs (dimensions, weight limit, what fits) and a photo. These show on the product page and are what make it convincing.
- 6Save. HaulHQ creates that many equipment units automatically. From then on you add or retire units in the item's Units editor, which is the one source of truth for how many exist.
The number of units is your real fleet, not a wish
Each unit is a specific container that can be reserved for specific dates. Set it to what you own. Too high oversells you; zero makes the size unbookable while still showing on your site.
Rental terms: how a rental total is built
The base price is a flat amount that covers a set number of days and a set weight. Everything else is charged only when the customer goes past one of those two limits. A rental total is: base price + delivery fee + extra days + extra weight, plus any add-ons the customer picked and any tax you charge.
The base price is not a daily rate
It is charged once, no matter how long the rental runs. If you set $350 on a container and the customer keeps it three weeks, the base is still $350 -- the extra time is billed by Overage $/day instead. Setting your daily rate in the base price field is the most expensive mistake you can make on this screen, and it undercharges you, so no customer will ever tell you.
| Field | What it does | What happens if you leave it blank |
|---|---|---|
| Base price | The flat price of the rental, covering the included days and the weight limit. | The rental is free. |
| Minimum rental days | The shortest window a customer is allowed to book. A booking limit, not a price. | Defaults to 1 day. |
| Included rental days | How many days the base price actually buys. | Treated as 0, so the per-day overage is charged from the very first day. |
| Overage $/day | The daily rate for each day beyond the included days. | Extra days are free. |
| How weight is billed | Three choices: Included weight, then a rate (so many tons in the base price, a rate past them), All weight billed (a weigh fee on every pound), or No weight charge. | Defaults to no weight charge. |
| Tons included in the base price | With "included weight" chosen: how much the base price covers, checked against the scale ticket at the dump. | Cannot be left blank once that model is chosen -- the save is refused. |
| Rate past the included weight / Weigh fee rate | What you charge per ton or per pound -- your choice, set beside the field. | Cannot be left blank once a weight model is chosen -- the save is refused. |
| Delivery fee | A flat fee added once per rental. | No delivery fee. |
| Number of units | How many of this container you own. Creates the bookable units. | Nothing can be booked. |
Minimum days and included days are not the same number
This is the pair operators mix up most, because the names are nearly identical. Minimum rental days is the shortest window a customer may book. Included rental days is how many days your base price covers. They are often the same, and when they differ it is deliberate: a container with a 3-day minimum and 7 included days means nobody can book for less than 3 days, but nobody pays extra until day 8. Set the minimum to 7 with 3 included days instead, and every customer who books your own minimum window is immediately paying four days of per-day overage.
The two overages are different things
HaulHQ has two separate overage charges and they are never interchangeable. Overage $/day bills time past the included days, and it is calculated at checkout. The weight charge bills weight past the included tons -- or every pound, under "All weight billed" -- and it cannot be calculated until the container is on the scale, so it is charged after pickup, when your driver records the weight at the dump. Wherever you see the word "overage" on its own, check which one is meant.
Price weight by the ton or by the pound
Haulers quote weight both ways and HaulHQ supports both. Pick the unit beside the rate field and enter the number the way you would say it to a customer: $95.00 per ton, or $0.05 per pound -- five cents. HaulHQ does the conversion when it bills, and shows the rate back to your customer in the unit you chose, so a customer quoted five cents a pound never sees a line reading dollars per ton.
The weight limit is always in tons
Only the rate has a unit. The included weight stays in tons whichever way you price the weight charge -- which is how the trade quotes it anyway: "2 tons included, $0.05 per pound over".
Half a weight rule cannot be saved
The included tons and the rate are halves of one rule, and the screen refuses to save one without the other: choose "Included weight, then a rate" and both fields are required, or choose "No weight charge" and neither shows. Under "All weight billed" only the rate applies. A container set up before this rule with a limit and no rate still charges nothing for weight -- open it and pick a model.
A worked example
A 20-yard container set up with a $350 base price, 3 included days, 2 tons included, $30 Overage $/day, a $95 per-ton rate past the included weight and a $95 delivery fee. The customer books it for 6 days, no closed days fall in the gap, and it comes back from the dump at 3.4 tons.
| Line | How it is worked out | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Base price | Charged once, covers the first 3 days and the first 2 tons | $350.00 |
| Delivery fee | Flat, once per rental | $95.00 |
| Extra days | 6 days booked - 3 included = 3 extra days x $30 | $90.00 |
| Paid at checkout | Base + delivery + extra days | $535.00 |
| Extra weight | 3.4 tons - 2 included = 1.4 tons over x $95 | $133.00 |
| Rental total | Checkout total + the weight charged after pickup | $668.00 |
Two moments, two charges
The customer pays $535 when they book. The $133 weight charge cannot exist yet -- nobody knows what the container weighs until it is on the scale. It is billed after pickup, from the weight your driver records at the dump, and it can be adjusted or waived before it is charged.
Closed days in the middle of a rental
Rental days run from delivery to pickup. When the pickup lands after a day you are closed -- a Sunday, a holiday on your blocked dates -- the customer could not have had it collected earlier, and you decide whether those days count. The setting is Closed-day pricing policy, in the Dumpster Rentals card under Settings > Scheduling.
| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| Don't charge for closed-day gaps (the default) | Closed days that fall after the included period are taken out of the extra days. The customer keeps the container over your closed days at no extra cost. Industry standard. |
| Charge for all days on site | Every day between delivery and pickup counts, closed days included. The customer pays Overage $/day for every day past the included ones. |
The price the customer sees at checkout already reflects your choice, and a per-day add-on is charged for every day on site either way.
What you cannot skip, and what can wait
A container needs six things to be bookable and correctly priced. Everything else makes the listing better without changing the money.
| Essential | Why |
|---|---|
| Name | What the customer picks from. |
| Base price | Blank or zero and the size cannot be booked online at all -- it still shows on your page, but customers reach you as a lead to quote instead of booking. |
| Number of units | Zero units means nobody can book it, however good the pricing is. |
| Included rental days | Blank means Overage $/day starts on day one. |
| Overage $/day | Blank means every extra day is free. |
| A complete weight rule | Included tons and a rate, all weight billed, or no weight charge. The screen will not save half of one. |
A container with no base price cannot be booked online
It still appears on your page -- you own the container, and hiding it would leave an operator who rents one size with nothing on their page at all. What changes is the booking: online checkout is refused, and the customer is saved as a lead with their dates, address and what they are throwing out, for you to quote and book by hand. Set the base price and the size books online again. The Price your rentals row in your header tracks this.
- Optional, and worth doing: photo, dimensions, capacity, what it is suitable for, prohibited items, delivery fee, short description. These sell the container. None of them change the price.
- Minimum rental days sits in between: it changes nothing about the price, but it stops customers booking a window that does not work for you.
Add-ons
Add-ons are items in the Add-on category, and they are their own step in the booking flow -- the customer sees them after picking a size and dates. Create one, set a price, and switch on Show in booking flow so it appears at checkout. Driveway protection boards, a lock, or a permit fee are the usual ones. A per-day add-on is charged for every day on site, closed days included. If you never create any, your customers are simply never offered any, and nothing on the booking page says so.
Do not use an add-on to charge an overage
It is tempting to create an "Extra day" or "Overweight fee" add-on. Do not. Overages are calculated automatically from the rental terms above, and an add-on is something the customer chooses at checkout -- nobody chooses to pay an overweight fee. An add-on priced "per ton" is charged as a single flat amount, because the weight is not known at checkout. Charging a weight overage twice, once through the rental terms and once through an add-on, is the failure this warning exists to prevent.
What the customer sees before they book
Your container listing and the booking flow show the size, the price, the included days, the delivery fee and the weight limit in tons. The customer agrees to the checkout total before paying.
Your weight terms are shown before they book
The booking page, the checkout summary and the confirmation email all state your included weight and, if you have set one, your weight overage rate and that the weight comes from the disposal facility scale ticket. If you have not set a rate, nothing is said about weight charges -- which is correct, because none will be made. Set both fields and your customer sees the terms before they pay.
Equipment is not Vehicles
Two different things, and they are easy to confuse. The Equipment screen is what you rent to customers -- the containers. Settings > Vehicles is what you haul with -- your trucks and trailers. A truck never appears on your website.
The slug
Each item has a slug, a short url-safe name like 20-yard-dumpster. You need it for haulhq_product when you give a size its own page, and for the product attribute on haulhq_booking. The item shows the ready-made shortcode with a copy button -- copy that rather than typing the slug, because a wrong slug renders nothing for visitors.
Categories
| Category | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | Something the customer rents and you collect | 20 yard dumpster |
| Service | Work you perform. The tab exists for junk removal companies; a dumpster-only company does not see it. | Junk removal, single item pickup |
| Add-on | Something extra the customer adds at checkout | Driveway protection boards, lock, permit |
Common mistakes
"My dumpsters page is empty but I added the shortcode."
The Equipment screen is empty, or the items are not in the Equipment category. [haulhq_products type="equipment"] shows equipment only.
"I set up the container but nobody can book it."
The number of units is zero, so there are no bookable units. Set it to what you own.
"I put my trucks in the catalog."
Trucks go in Settings > Vehicles. The Equipment screen is what customers buy or rent.
"I set my daily rate as the base price."
The base price is charged once for the whole rental, not per day. Your daily rate belongs in Overage $/day, which bills days beyond the included days. Setting a daily rate as the base undercharges you on every long rental.
"I set the included tons, so heavy loads get charged."
Only with a rate beside them. Pick Included weight, then a rate and fill both fields, or All weight billed with a rate. A container saved before that chooser existed, with tons and no rate, charges nothing for weight until you open it and choose.
"Minimum rental days and included rental days are the same thing."
Minimum is the shortest a customer may book. Included is what the base price covers. If the minimum is longer than the included days, every customer pays a per-day overage on the shortest booking you allow.
"I made an add-on for extra days so I can charge for them."
Extra days are already charged automatically by Overage $/day in the rental terms. An add-on is something the customer chooses at checkout, and adding one for a day or weight overage bills it twice.