Junk removal: quote every job from real costs, not a gut feeling. Free, no signup.
This counts every hour: loading, driving to the job, and the dump run. The dump run is the hour everyone forgets.
Base = full-load price times truck fraction. Everything below stacks on top of it.
Heavy and awkward items are where margin goes to die. Charge per item.
Fuel, insurance, maintenance, wear. $0.70/mi is a starting point, set your own.
Set your bar: the minimum dollars per hour you will work for ($60 default), which counts every hour, loading, driving to the job, and the dump run the note calls the hour everyone forgets. Pick how full the truck is: Min (one eighth), quarter, half, three-quarter, or full, against your editable full-load price ($550 default) and margin target (30 percent default). The base is the full-load price times the truck fraction, and everything below stacks on top of it. Enter flights of stairs and the stair fee per flight ($40), then tick special items with quantities: mattress, tires, refrigerator with freon, TV and e-waste, hot tub, piano, yard waste, eviction help, each with an editable fee. In job costs enter loading hours (1.5), drive plus dump hours (1), the dump or tipping fee ($60), round-trip miles (30), and truck cost per mile ($0.70 default). Results show the recommended cost-plus quote rounded up to $5, your effective hourly rate net of hard costs, and a reality-check verdict, PRICED FAIRLY, WORKING TOO CHEAP, or LOSING MONEY, based on the gut quote you would have given off the top of your head. The day planner multiplies the per-job take-home by jobs per day.
Example only, not typical pricing. Use the defaults against a $60 bar: a half truck at a $550 full-load price gives a $275 base. With a 30 percent margin target the cost-plus quote is $275 divided by 0.7, or $392.86, rounded up to $395. Hard costs are the $60 dump fee plus 30 miles at $0.70, or $81, and total time is 1.5 loading hours plus 1 dump-run hour: 2.5 hours, so the effective rate is $125.60 per hour. A gut quote of $350 sits above the $275 true cost but below the $395 quote: WORKING TOO CHEAP, skipping the margin. The day planner shows 3 jobs like this take home $942 in 7.5 total hours.
**How is the recommended quote built?**
The base is the full-load price times the truck fraction, plus stairs and special-item fees. That subtotal is divided by one minus the margin percent, then rounded up to $5, so the margin survives the hard costs.
**Why are drive and dump hours entered separately?**
Because the dump run is the hour everyone forgets. Entering it explicitly drags the effective hourly rate down to reality, which is the point of the tool.
**What does WORKING TOO CHEAP mean?**
Your gut quote covers the true cost but skips the margin. The verdict names the cost-plus quote you should have given instead.
**What counts as hard costs?**
The dump or tipping fee plus the truck cost, miles times cost per mile. The effective rate and day planner net these out before judging the quote.
**Are the special-item fees standard prices?**
No. They are editable starting points, and the note says to set the per-mile cost to your own truck. Set fees from your dump's surcharges.