Heavier junk cost more money

I have been running a junk removal business in Vancouver for a long time, and often my clients are surprised to find out, that heavier junk cost significantly more. Why is that?

When we take garbage to the city landfill, we pay dumping fees, as private contractors. These fees are based on the weight of the items that we dump. It is not uncommon to have a client that is surprised that they have to pay 50% more for a project, than what they enjoyed the previous time, we serviced them.

This is why, I try to educate my clients about the specifics of how rates are finalized. Depending on the job, dumping fees can represents anywhere between 40% and 70% of our total expenses. For example a given client might have some furniture for us to dispose of. Then he hires us next year, but this time he has tiles. The weight of the tiles, can be 3-4 time heavier, than the same volume taken by a couch.

However, we have never had a client, who did not agree, that the extra fees associate with a heavy garbage, are fair. It is just that, I am writing this post, because I prefer if clients are aware of this specific, so they can budget their spending.