10/06/2026
I had somebody tell me today:
“It must be nice to make $375 just driving around in your truck dropping off a dumpster.”
😂 I wish that’s how it worked.
So let’s break down a real $375 rental.
This particular customer is about 35 miles away — roughly 50 minutes each way.
Between dropping the dumpster off and going back to pick it up, that’s around 140 miles and over 3 hours of driving.
My diesel truck gets about 12.5 MPG.
Then let’s say the customer uses the full 2-ton allowance.
$375 rental
➖ ~$74 diesel
➖ ~$100 landfill fee
➖ ~$42 estimated truck/trailer wear & maintenance
= $159 left
And I still haven’t paid myself for my time.
Figure roughly 4 hours total between delivery, pickup, dumping, paperwork, etc. At even $35/hour, that’s another $140.
That leaves about $19 before insurance, advertising, registration, equipment payments, repairs, business overhead and taxes.
So no… I didn’t “make $375 driving around in my truck.”
I collected $375 to provide a service.
There’s a pretty big difference.
I’m not complaining — I chose this business and I enjoy what I do. But sometimes it’s interesting to show what actually happens to that money after the invoice gets paid.
Small business math hits a little different when you actually see the numbers. 😂
