Module guide

Scrap Metal

Run scrap metal pickups next to your dumpster work: a business line you switch on once, orders with no charge to the customer, their own card in operations, dispatch and the driver app, the scrap yard ticket and what the load paid on the order, and a rebate receipt for the customer. Currently in Beta.

Scrap Metal is one of the three business lines in Dumpster Controls, next to "Dumpster Rental" and "Junk Removal". Each line turns its own screens on or off for your company. Scrap Metal is off by default and carries a "Beta" pill wherever its name appears. New companies pick it in the welcome dialog ("What do you do today?"); existing companies switch it on in Settings, Company, "Business lines". Turning a line off only hides screens: nothing is deleted.

A scrap metal order is created from the "Create New Order" page with the "Scrap Metal" type. It asks "How does this job work?": "Pickup only" (one visit, the truck loads the scrap and no container stays on site) or "Drop off" (a container stays on site until it is full, with a size and dates like a regular dumpster order). The box "No charge for this order" starts checked, because a scrap job is usually paid by the metal at the recycling center, not by the customer. A no-charge order creates no invoice, sends nothing to the customer, is never unpaid or late on payment and never enters your payout. You can uncheck the box to invoice the customer.

Once the line is on, scrap orders get their own "Scrap Metal" card on the Dashboard and on the Operations page, a "Scrap Metal" filter card in Order History, a teal "Scrap metal" badge on dispatch cards, in the driver app and on the truck tablet, and a diamond pin on the dispatch map. The recycling center stop is labeled "Scrap yard" instead of "Landfill", and the "Landfill Information" card is not shown on scrap orders.

Beta covers the whole cycle today: create the job, dispatch it, complete it, record the scrap yard ticket at the recycling stop (in the driver app, on the truck tablet or later in Order History), read what the load paid on the order's "Scrap Sale" card and "Load result", find that money in its own "Scrap sales" block in Finances and on the Dashboard, swap a full container for an empty one from the Pickups tab, and issue a rebate receipt when you return part of the sale to the customer. The ticket stays inside your company: it is never attached to an invoice and only reaches the customer if you include it on a rebate receipt. Not in the app yet: tonnage reports, public online booking for scrap orders, and QuickBooks export of the scrap sale itself (a rebate does export, as a Purchase).

Step-by-step guides

Frequently asked questions

Does Scrap Metal cost anything?

No. Dumpster Controls is free to use, and a scrap order with "No charge" moves no money at all: no invoice, no card fee, no payout. A scrap company can run its whole operation in the app at $0. Only orders you choose to charge go through the regular invoice and card flow, where the usual card processing fee applies.

What does the "Beta" pill mean?

The flow is complete and the screens may still change: create the order, dispatch it, complete it, record the scrap yard ticket, see the sale on the order and in Finances, swap the container when it is full, and issue a rebate receipt to the customer. What is not there yet: tonnage reports, public online booking for scrap orders, and exporting the scrap sale itself to QuickBooks. Beta also means the app installed from the App Store or Google Play does not show the scrap badge or the ticket form: those are in the web driver app and on the truck tablet.

Does the customer ever see the scrap yard ticket?

Not by default. The ticket is your company's record of what the recycling center paid, so it is never attached to an invoice and never sent on its own. It only reaches the customer if you tick "Include the scrap yard ticket photo on the receipt" when you issue a rebate receipt, and the app warns you what the customer will see before you do.

Can I give the customer part of what the scrap yard paid?

Yes. Open the order in Order History and, under "Rebate to customer", enter a fixed amount or a percent of the sale. The app issues a numbered rebate receipt with a link you can copy, download or send by email and SMS, and records the rebate as an expense of the order, so the order's profit and your Finances show it. See the article on rebating a scrap customer.

Can I still charge the customer for a scrap job?

Yes. Uncheck "No charge for this order" on the Create New Order page. The price fields, the "Due Date" and the payment method come back and the order follows the normal invoice flow. The amount must be above zero.

Where do scrap orders show up?

On the "Scrap Metal" card of the Dashboard and the Operations page (with counts for today, late, tomorrow, pickup only, en route and stored), on the Scrap Metal tab of Operations, in Dispatch with a "Scrap metal" badge, in the driver app and on the truck tablet with the same badge, on the maps as a diamond pin, and in Order History behind the "Scrap Metal" filter card.

Does turning Scrap Metal off delete my scrap orders?

No. The confirmation dialog says it in full: what goes away is the Scrap Metal card and the option to create a new scrap order; existing orders, Order History, Finances, dispatch tasks and the driver app are untouched. If scrap orders are still open, the card even stays on screen until they are finished.

I turned Scrap Metal off. Why is there still a Scrap metal block in Finances?

With the line off, Finances only keeps the "Scrap metal" block when your company has scrap sales on record, so money already booked never disappears by itself. A company with the line off and no scrap sales does not see the block at all. If you would rather not see it, a company admin can click "Hide" on the block. Turning Scrap Metal back on in Settings, Company, Business lines brings it back.

Will drivers see the scrap badge in the app from the App Store or Google Play?

The web driver app and the truck tablet show it today. The app installed from the stores is a fixed build and does not show the badge. Those drivers see the task with its usual type label and the instructions you wrote.