Inventory & Containers · updated 2026-10-05

How to charge a different price by material and limit heavy materials to certain sizes

Many haulers price the same dumpster differently depending on what goes in it: a 10 Yard of household junk at the normal price, the same 10 Yard of clean concrete cheaper because the recycler takes it, and concrete never in a 30 Yard because the truck cannot lift it. The "Materials" screen in Inventory does exactly that for your online booking. It is off by default, so nothing changes until you turn it on.

Before you start

At least one active dumpster size on the "Registered Inventory" page.
You are an office member (owner, admin or office) of the company.

## Open the Materials screen
On the "Registered Inventory" page (sidebar: "Inventory"), click the "Materials" button next to "Add Dumpster". A panel opens titled "Materials". The first block explains what the screen is: step 5 of your online booking page, "Type of Debris", with a drawing of the buttons your customer sees today. Each active material in the list is one of those buttons.
## Read the three things this screen does
Under the drawing you find three uses. First, choose what customers can pick: deactivate a material you do not accept and its button disappears from booking. Second, charge a different price for some materials, for example $249 for Clean Concrete in a 10 Yard while household junk stays at $399. Third, say how many tons are included for that material and what an extra ton costs, and write what counts as that material so the customer confirms it before paying. The note "Advanced settings" reminds you that all of this affects only online booking: your booking page, the widget and the Booking API. Phone orders are not affected and the office keeps setting the price.
## Follow "Your path"
The box titled "Your path" lists three steps and turns green as you complete them: 1. Review your materials, 2. Adjust prices or sizes (optional), 3. Turn on pricing by material. If you have never done this before, click "Add the Clean Concrete example". It creates a material called Clean Concrete with a ready explanation, offered only in your two smallest sizes, with 2 tons included and $75 per extra ton, and no price of its own. Adjust the numbers to your reality and click "Save".
## Open a material and answer one question
Click a material name to expand it. The only question is "Which sizes can customers book for [material], and at what price?". Every active size appears as a card with a checkbox that starts checked. Uncheck a size and that size is no longer offered for this material; the card reads "Not offered for [material]". The material marked "Default" (usually Mixed) is your fallback: its sizes are always offered and the checkboxes are locked, but you can still give it a different price per size.
## Set the price per size, or leave it empty
Each size card has a "Price" field in US format ($1,249.00). Leave it empty to charge the size price; type a value to replace the 7-day price of that size for this material. Extra days, fees and tax stay the same. Under the price, "Includes [tons] tons" sets the weight included for this material in this size, and "Extra tons" picks what happens above it: "Same as size" (the size's own overage rate), "No extra charge", or "Charge per ton" with a rate you type. The gray line under the card is exactly what the customer will read, for example "10 Yard: $249.00 · up to 2 tons included · $75.00 per extra ton", and it updates as you type.
## Write what counts as this material
The block "What counts as this material (the customer reads this)" is where you set the terms, for example "Concrete only. No dirt, wood, trash or rebar bundles. Mixed loads are re-priced at the general rate." Turn on "Customer must confirm before booking" to make the customer tick that text before the card step. This text shows under the buttons on your booking page as soon as the material is active, even before pricing is turned on.
## Save, then turn on "Pricing by material"
Click "Save" on the material. Repeat for other materials if you want; materials you do not touch keep the size price in every size. Then use the switch "Pricing by material" at the top of the panel. It is "Off (default). Nothing changes for your customers." until you turn it on. Confirm the dialog and the banner reads "On. Orders that name a material follow the rules below." Turn it off at any time: nothing you configured is lost, every material simply costs the size price again.
## Check where the rules apply today
Which materials appear, and the text about each one, already show on your booking page and widget. Different prices and size limits apply to orders that name a material through the Booking API (your own website screens built by a developer): GET /materials lists your rules, and the server prices POST /quote and POST /intents by them, refuses a size the material does not allow, and freezes the material with the payment. On the hosted booking page and the widget the price is still the size price for now. If the banner says Dumpster Controls has not released the feature for your account yet, your configuration is saved and applies when it is released.

What happens next

An online order that named a material shows it on the order and in Order History; the invoice line reads size and material, for example "10 Yard, Clean Concrete", with the included weight of that rule, and the order keeps a snapshot of the rule the customer accepted and when they confirmed it.
A size that is the only one accepting some material cannot be deleted from Registered Inventory until you change those materials; the page tells you which ones.
The Booking API has no endpoint to create or edit materials: everything is configured here and the API reads it.

Troubleshooting

I turned on "Pricing by material" and my booking page still shows the same prices.

Expected for now: on the hosted booking page and the widget the price is the size price; prices by material and size limits apply to orders through the Booking API. The buttons, the explanation and the customer confirmation already follow this screen on every channel.

The "Save" button is disabled.

Every material needs at least one size offered. Check at least one box, or reactivate the size on the Registered Inventory page. The red line under the sizes says what is missing.

Where is the "Heavy material" toggle?

There is none. Whether a material is heavy is deduced from its name when you create it (concrete, dirt, soil, brick, asphalt and similar) and only turns on the weight warning for the customer. Prices, sizes and tons are set per size on the cards.

Can I ask the material before the size on my own website?

Yes. Once pricing by material is on, GET /materials returns required: true and your developer can show the materials first and then only the sizes that material allows, at the material price. The course lesson "Materials: the price depends on what goes in" explains it.

Does this change phone orders or the price my office types?

No. The office still picks the material on a new order for the record, and types the price. Only online orders that name a material are priced by these rules.

Related guides

Frequently asked questions

Is Dumpster Controls really free?

Yes. The software is free: dispatch, online booking, the driver app, invoicing, the Tresha AI assistant and every other feature, with no monthly fee, no trial period and no credit card to sign up. The only cost on the free plan is optional card processing when a customer pays by card through the platform: 2.99% plus $3.99 per transaction on the free plan. An optional Unlimited plan at $169 per month lowers that to 2.99% plus $0.30. Prices as published on dumpstercontrols.io/pricing on 2026-09-23.

Do you charge per driver, per truck or per order?

No. There is no per-driver, per-truck, per-user or per-order fee, and no order limit. A company with one truck and a company with twenty pay the same for the software: nothing.

Is there a contract?

No. There is no contract, no minimum term and no setup fee. You create the account yourself, and on the free plan there is nothing to cancel because nothing is billed. The optional Unlimited plan is billed month to month.

Which countries and languages are supported?

Dumpster Controls serves hauling companies in the United States and Canada. The app interface and the Tresha AI assistant are available in English, Spanish and Portuguese. The public pages, such as the blog, the help center and the landfill finder, are in English.

How do I switch from another dumpster software?

Create a free account at dumpstercontrols.io/login, with no sales call and no credit card. Then import your customers from a CSV file using the template provided in the app; past orders can also be imported from a CSV. Container sizes and pricing are set up in Settings. The landfill database, with 1,750 active US and Canadian landfills as counted on 2026-10-01, is already loaded, so disposal sites do not need to be typed in. Step-by-step guides are at dumpstercontrols.io/help.