How to Load a Dumpster Bin

As you already know, renting a dumpster is an excellent way to dispose of all sorts of things around your home or storage areas.

As silly as it sounds, it’s also just as important to know how to load a dumpster container so you can get the best bang for your buck; plus, it's a good safety lesson to avoid hazards and problems with your rental.

Once you learn the basics of loading these types of haul-away containers, you can ensure that you’ve completed a vital part of Dumpster Etiquette 101.

Here's 9 free dumpster tips to help you get the most out of your rental.

Importance Of Proper Loading 

Nearly anyone can look at a dumpster and immediately figure out that it's meant for throwing away debris and junk. Around your home, this is a practical way to get rid of all those unwanted items that have been piling up for years. But just like packing items on a moving truck, a dumpster also has special guidelines that are meant to be followed. If you don't certain legal repercussions will come back to haunt you later.

These include- maximizing junk volume, efficiently distributing weight, and reducing safety hazards, environmental issues, and financial losses. Not to mention that the risk of not following these rules can even result in personal injury. Because a dumpster is often large and cannot be wheeled around so easily, even the placement where a dumpster needs to be placed should be as solid ground as possible.

Worse yet, an improperly packed dumpster that is top-heavy or too much weight off to one side can lead to tipping over when it's loaded onto a dumpster truck bed. This makes it even more deadly for those around a dumpster when it's being moved to a dump site. You also should know that not just anything can go into a dumpster since this can further cause legal problems. Chemical waste expired medical goods, and even old car batteries can violate dumping laws.

If you stash these unapproved items in a dumpster, you can face heavy fines and penalties for violating waste disposal laws. Some people are hired at dumpsites to supervise what comes out of a dumpster and immediately report these violations. Any dumpster service company will trace back their steps to those who recently rented that dumpster. This is just one more ounce of prevention that keeps you from being held responsible for breaking the law.

There is one further issue that has a lot to do with environmental considerations likewise. What goes into a dumpster is just like separating your trash. You don’t want items in the container that should be recycled instead of being buried in a landfill. Many of these so-called plastics do start to degrade and give-off gasses when heat and pressure around them are building up. This is contributing to greenhouse gas problems, and we all know there’s too much of that…

One of the final issues is directly related to overfilling past the recommended waste line. This can cause loose items at the top to slip out and onto city streets or residential areas when it's hauled away. It then becomes a hassle for others who have to deal with this nuisance from unwanted litter or environmental damage. But speaking of damages, it makes sense to not overload your dumpster since there is a weight limit.

These containers are weighed and anything over the limit can cost you more than you bargained for. If that weight is also causing problems for a pick-up driver and items are shifting while being transported, you can be assured that additional fees will apply if there was an accident or repair required to a dumpster or a pick-up vehicle.

9 Best Tips for Loading a Dumpster

If this is your first time or you have never fully used a dumpster service or rented one before, certain tips make these containers more useful. Dumpsters are amazingly versatile, but bad packing and improper placement of items make them utterly useless.

Here's what you should know before you rent one.

#1. Plan Ahead:

Long before you begin dumping anything into a rental dumpster, take the time to assess the items you want to get rid of. Start to organize and consider what you are planning to dump and how these items will fit best inside the container. A little bit of experience playing Tertris also helps since items placed into your debris bin will fit better if they are laid out in a way that all interlocks.

Put your heavier items on the bottom first so you get a steady weight distribution and lower point of gravity. After this, you can then begin to stack another level with items that are slightly smaller than create a second layer (or level of junk). Not only does this help distribute weight better, but it also helps to distribute everything within a container evenly and gives you more room for more items to toss away.

#2. Use All Available Space:

Try to use all the available space that’s inside a dumpster. If this means filling smaller gaps where larger items are placed, fill these up as soon as possible. This is an ideal space for books, plastic bags, clothing, etc. Using this type of thinking will always save you more space for adding layers that all sit on top of each other with very little chance of settling or shifting.

#3. Distribute Weight Evenly:

The heaviest part of a dumpster container is going to be the very bottom, so it only makes sense to have your heaviest items placed on the floor first. When all of these items are arranged correctly, it will distribute the overall weight correctly. Keep your heaviest items in the center rather than off to one side and place equally heavy items off to the sides. If you pack everything nice and tight, there is no chance of the dumpster becoming unstable when it’s picked up.

#4. Disassemble Large Objects:

Bit pieces of furniture, appliances, and things that can be disassembled or broken down into smaller pieces will help in conserving space. This also makes them easier to load into a container as well. This will further bring your efficiency level for packing everything into a dumpster more manageable.

#5. Separate Recyclable Materials:

If you already know how to separate your trash for recyclables, then the same should be done for dumpster projects. Just remember that paper goes with paper and plastic goes with plastic and so on… If you organize your materials that go into the dumpster, it will be easier for them to be put into the correct part of a landfill area.

#6. Keep Items Leveled:

Keeping a level dumpster that is filled with random material and junk is a challenge but not impossible. Create a series of layers that are all a certain height and continue until you have a neatly arranged layer of junk that is inside your container. This will ensure that nothing has a chance to spill out once everything is stacked and packed into the dumpster when it gets transported to its final destination.

#7. Use Boxes or Totes:

If any items are random bits and pieces, put them into disposable boxes that are going to be thrown away anyway. You can easily find used boxes from stores if you ask them if they have any leftover boxes. Plastic bags or totes are another good consideration if you have material that is loose or prone to scatter everywhere. This just makes it more convenient to place into a container and won't allow anything to leak or tip over accidentally when the dumpster is being transported.

#8. Securely Close the Doors:

Most big dumpsters have a read access door that you can open using a special latch. This makes it easier to load items instead of tossing them into the bin. If fragile materials are going in, this is a safer way to reduce the breakage of things you don't want leaking. Once you're finished, close the door and make sure that the latch is properly fastened so it doesn't open by accident. As a preventive measure, double-check this latch when you rent a dumpster to see if it's working properly. See more rules and regulations here.

#9. Watch Out For Overloading:

Only rent a dumpster that is set to a specific weight limit and size for your needs. If you have material that you can make a ‘guestimate’ for the total weight amount you want to throw out, make a short list of the items you intend to dump and how much they weigh at a maximum estimate. In the end, you can order a dumpster that is rated for that amount so you never go over your weight limit. Here's more information on various cost based on the size of the dumpster you select.

A Story about John; Don't Be Like John

John  decided he needed to rent a dumpster to clean out lots of junk around his house. He was a bit of a know-it-all and thought he knew the best way to pack his dumpster like a pro, but it turns out he was about to find out how wrong he was. Once the dumpster arrived, he had some friends bring out some big furniture that he wanted to go in first.

His friends all said he should take these pieces apart because they took up so much room, but John knew better. He said, “I know what I doing, I see this stuff on Storage Wars all the time!” He stacked heavy stuff along the edges of the bin that stuck out like a sore thumb and to make matters worse, he started to lean items against each other just to make them fit. His next move was even worse since he started tossing stuff into the bin without keeping it organized.

This seemed to work at first but started to fill up faster than he expected. So he got up on top and shook the big items to make all the smaller things settle. This did the trick alright after making a lot of racket with the neighbors coming out to see what was going on. "Mind your own business" John belted as his next-door neighbor shook her head. By the end of the day John was finished packing everything he could into that container, it was just in time for the pickup.

The dumpster loader driver looked at the mountain of stuff and immediately had concerns. "I can't drive down the street with that stuff, it'll slide right off" John was angered and insisted he pull a tarp over it. So the driver did just that and proceeded to load the dumpster onto his truck. After connecting the container to the sled to pull it up, they all heard a large cracking sound. All the stuff inside the bin shifted and spilled out from the top of the tarp and onto the ground.

Not only that the winch that pulls up the dumpster- couldn’t pull the container halfway onto the flatbed. It was simply too heavy to load correctly. The driver then told John that he would need to reschedule, it was just too much weight for the winch to handle. John insisted and slipped the guy $20 extra bucks winking at his buddies who helped him all day. “That’s how you get things done boys” and went back to tossing in more stuff that had fallen out.

The driver took the money and shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to pull the container up bit by bit. John's friends could see the winch was giving off smoke as it overheated but finally, it got loaded. As the driver pulled away, the container wobbled from side to side and more noise came from within causing more neighbors to look outside at what the noise was. When the truck drove away, John triumphantly gave a loud laugh that everyone heard.

“Ha!- I told you guys I knew what I was doing” and invited his buddies for a cold beer for their help. An hour later at the bar with John and his friends, John got a phone call from the dumpster company. They told him that the container was double the allowed limit and the winch was no longer working. He then got an invoice sent to him on his phone that included the extra charges for the weight and a replacement winch.

In the end, John had to pay 5 times more than the original dumpster rental and John suddenly choked on his beer when he say how much he had to pay. But there is a moral to this story.

Always be sure to load a dumpster correctly and not just because you saw it on TV. And because John didn’t estimate how much stuff he was throwing out, he ordered the wrong size container. Ultimately, he had to pay the price, so don’t ever end up like John and save yourself the trouble.

In Conclusion

If you follow these tips and use some practical thinking, you can easily load a dumpster to your advantage. This will make any kind of cleanup project run smoother and with less worry about what is going into your container. You will also save time and money by estimating a total weight beforehand so you aren’t punished later with added fees. And if you’re very careful about packing everything correctly, these contents will get to their destination safe and sound.

Are you looking for a reliable dumpster bin rental company?

No matter which city you live in, AZ Junk Removal is a lot closer than you think for drop-off dumpster service. We're a great choice for quality, clean dumpster bins that get dropped off quickly. Not only that, we're easier to deal with than cooperate ran dumpster rental companies like WM who can't offer the flexibility that we can. You can also rely on the AZ Junk staff to help you with tough questions that you're unsure about, including weight estimating and what can or can't go into a dumpster.