Know Your Costs First — Or You’re Just Guessing
Before you price your portable toilets or roll-offs, you need to know your real operating costs. Here’s how to calculate them right.
Let’s cut to it:
If you’re pricing jobs without knowing your actual cost to operate, you’re not running a business — you’re rolling the dice.
Fuel prices shift. Dump fees rise. Payroll changes.
That means your costs should be reviewed quarterly at minimum — not just when things feel tight.
Let’s break it down.
🧻 For Portable Toilets, Include:
✔️ Unit Depreciation
If a unit costs $600 and lasts 5 years, that’s $10/month — or about $2.50/week per unit.
That’s before it gets cracked, tagged, or burned.
✔️ Weekly Service Labor + Supplies
Factor in time for pumping, wiping, restocking — plus gloves, TP, blue, and deodorizer.
✔️ Fuel + Truck Maintenance
Add fuel and PM expenses, then divide by your route count. Long drives = higher unit cost.
✔️ Admin / Dispatch Time
The hours spent scheduling, invoicing, routing — that’s not free labor. It’s overhead.
✔️ Delivery & Pickup Costs
Count every site visit: fuel, labor, and wear on the truck.
✔️ Insurance and General Overhead
Truck insurance, liability, office rent, uniforms, phones — divide across all active units.
🧮 Most operators underestimate this.
The true weekly cost per unit often lands around $25–$40 — before you see profit.
🚛 For Roll-Offs, Calculate:
✔️ Container Cost + Refurb
A $4,000 box used 100 times = $40/load (plus welding, repainting, and touch-ups).
✔️ Hauling Time (Round Trip)
Factor load/unload time, miles to landfill, wait time, and route detours.
✔️ Dump Fees & Landfill Rules
Know your pricing for MSW, C&D, green waste — and what materials cost extra or get rejected.
✔️ Fuel + Wear and Tear
Heavy bins = more fuel, more brake wear, more shop time.
✔️ Driver Pay + Benefits
Include taxes, insurance, and PTO — even if you are behind the wheel.
✔️ Office/Admin + Compliance
DOT filings, customer calls, quote prep, invoicing — every task has a cost.
🧮 A typical 20-yard dumpster can cost $150–$225 per round — just to run.
💬 Bottom Line:
If you don’t know your real numbers, you’re not pricing —
you’re hoping.
And hope is not a business plan.
Know your cost per unit. Know your cost per bin.
Then price accordingly — with confidence, not desperation.
📣 Call to Action:
Want help building a cost-per-unit worksheet?
Message us or email stories@builtonwaste.com — we’ll build one to share.