Landfill and transfer station fees
Cost to dump a truck load: measure the bed, then read the schedule
Type the length, width and height of the pile and what it is, and pick the public dump nearest you. The weight comes from the conversion factors of the federal EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the fee from that site’s price list.
Independent site, not a waste hauler or a landfill operator.
A pickup bed measured, weighed and priced
Example: Salt Lake City, Utah. Pick your own dump.
Dump fee at Salt Lake Valley Landfill
$17
| Volume | 2.4 cubic yards (one cubic yard is a box 3 ft on each side) |
| Estimated weight | 662 lbs (federal EPA factor: 275 lbs a cubic yard) |
| Rule applied | Flat fee for this vehicle, whatever the weight |
Length × width × height ÷ 27 = cubic yards. Salt Lake County (public), price list current schedule, no effective date printed, checked on November 7, 2026.
The cost to dump a pickup truck load at a public landfill depends less on the size of the pile than on the rule the site uses. Some sites charge a flat fee per vehicle and never weigh a pickup: $17 at Salt Lake Valley Landfill, $15.70 at the Riverside County landfills and $75 at Miramar Landfill in San Diego, on schedules read on November 7, 2026. Others weigh every load and charge by the ton above a minimum. A few combine the two: Olinda Alpha and Prima Deshecha in Orange County charge $30 for a pickup under 880 lbs, then weigh anything heavier. Loose household trash weighs about 275 lbs a cubic yard on the EPA factors, so a typical bed holds a few hundred pounds, and on a weighed schedule that usually means the minimum charge.
Fee schedules read and sums checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the fees are read and priced
The same pickup at twelve public sites, cheapest first
Twelve of the 24 public sites we checked, chosen to show every way of pricing a pickup: flat fee, weight, or both. Two loads, priced at the resident rate: 662 lbs of mixed household trash, the bed in the calculator above, and 1,600 lbs, the same bed piled higher with heavier material. The last line of each site gives the rule for the 662 lb load.
| Site | Area | 662 lbs | 1,600 lbs | Rule for the 662 lb load |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27th Avenue and North Gateway transfer stations | Phoenix | $0 (free resident load) | $0 | Resident allowance: Phoenix residents who pay for full city trash service: one load up to a ton, once a month, free |
| Franklin County Sanitary Landfill | Columbus | $13.16 | $31.80 | 0.33 tons at $39.75 a ton |
| Badlands, Blythe, Lamb Canyon and El Sobrante landfills | Riverside–San Bernardino | $15.70 | $15.70 | Flat fee for this vehicle, whatever the weight |
| Salt Lake Valley Landfill | Salt Lake City | $17 | $17 | Flat fee for this vehicle, whatever the weight |
| Olinda Alpha and Prima Deshecha landfills | Orange County, south of LA | $30 | $74.16 | Flat fee for this vehicle under 880 lbs; heavier loads are weighed |
| Kiefer Landfill | Sacramento | $35 | $35 | Flat fee for this vehicle, whatever the weight |
| Larimer County Landfill | Fort Collins | $37 | $37 | Flat fee for this vehicle, whatever the weight |
| Seminole Road Landfill | Atlanta | $37.13 | $83.53 | Weight band up to 750 lbs |
| I-66 Transfer Station and I-95 Landfill Complex | Fairfax (DC area) | $49 | $78.40 | Minimum charge $49, the least any load pays |
| North and South transfer stations | Seattle | $57.59 | $139.20 | 0.33 tons at $174 a ton |
| Miramar Landfill | San Diego | $75 | $75 | Flat fee for this vehicle, whatever the weight |
| King County transfer stations | Seattle | $80.56 | $194.70 | 0.33 tons at $243.38 a ton |
The flat-rate sites charge the same for both loads. The weighed sites charge the minimum, or close to it, for the light one and two to three times more for the heavy one. Phoenix charges its residents nothing for one load a month up to a ton, provided they pay for city trash service.
Measuring the bed
Measure the floor of the bed between the wheel wells, or the floor of the trailer, and the average height of the pile, not its peak. A short bed on a full-size pickup is usually about five and a half feet long, a standard bed six and a half and a long bed eight, but check your own truck: the calculator multiplies whatever you type, divides by 27 to get cubic yards, and applies the EPA conversion factor for the material. Mixed construction debris is about 417 lbs a cubic yard, yard waste 250. Wet material is heavier than these factors.
What the flat rate covers
Flat rates have limits printed beside them. The Riverside County rate covers a pickup or a trailer with a bed up to eight feet; Salt Lake Valley Landfill weighs trailers towed by a one-ton truck or bigger; the Sacramento County stations weigh any vehicle with a trailer and any load with nine or more tires. Miramar puts a pickup towing a trailer in a second tier at $148. Read the line for your vehicle on the site’s page, linked in the table, before you go.
Mattresses, tires and refrigerators cost extra at most sites, sometimes a lot more than the load itself. The full calculator adds them line by line.