Scrap Metal · updated 2026-09-21

How scrap metal orders work in Dumpster Controls

A scrap metal order is a job where the customer pays nothing and your company is paid by the metal at the recycling center. Dumpster Controls treats it as its own business line, in Beta, with its own order type, card and badge.

## Know what a business line is
Dumpster Controls has three business lines: "Dumpster Rental", "Junk Removal" and "Scrap Metal". Each one turns its own screens on or off for your company. The first two are on by default; Scrap Metal is off by default and shows a "Beta" pill next to its name in Settings, in the welcome dialog, on the KPI card and on the order type card.
## Pick one of two job modes
On the "Create New Order" page a scrap order asks "How does this job work?" and offers two answers. "Pickup only": "One visit. We pick up the scrap, no container stays on site." "Drop off": "A container stays on site until it is full." Pickup only needs a customer, a "Pickup Date" and a "Pickup Address"; drop off works like a regular dumpster order, with a "Size", a "Delivery Date" and a "Pickup Date" you may leave empty.
## Expect no charge by default
The box "No charge for this order" starts checked, with the hint "Scrap jobs usually are not billed. Uncheck to invoice the customer." A no-charge order has a $0 price, creates no invoice, sends nothing to the customer and never shows as unpaid. Uncheck the box and the order is invoiced like any other.
## Find it on its own card
With the line on, the Dashboard and the Operations page show a "Scrap Metal" card next to the "Dumpster Rental" group and the "Junk Removal" card, with its own counts (today, late, tomorrow, pickup only, en route, stored). Clicking it opens the Scrap Metal tab of Operations. Order History gets a "Scrap Metal" filter card, and each scrap row shows a teal "Scrap metal" chip where the dumpster size would be.
## Recognize it everywhere else
Dispatch task cards, the driver app task sheet, the company board and the truck tablet all show a "Scrap metal" badge on scrap orders; the driver task sheet adds "Pickup only" when that applies. The stop at the recycling center is labeled "Scrap yard" instead of "Landfill", and on the dispatch and dashboard maps scrap stops use a diamond pin instead of a circle.
## Follow the money from the scrap yard
At the recycling stop the driver fills in the "Scrap yard ticket" (buyer, ticket number, one line per material with the weight in pounds and the amount received, optional photo). In Order History the order shows a "Scrap Sale" card with the ticket and a "Load result" card with what the load paid your company; the office can add or fix the ticket there too. Finances and the Dashboard show the money in their own "Scrap sales" block, apart from customer revenue. If you return part of the sale to the customer, the "Rebate to customer" section under the Scrap Sale card issues a receipt and books the rebate as an expense of the order.

What happens next

Scrap Metal is in Beta. Not in the app yet: tonnage reports, public online booking for scrap orders, and QuickBooks export of the scrap sale itself.
The scrap yard 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.
Scrap orders cannot be listed on the Dumpster Hub. The "Swap" button on the Pickups tab works on them once the Scrap Metal line is on: see the article on swapping a scrap container.

Troubleshooting

I do not see "Scrap Metal" anywhere in the app.

The line is off for your company. A company admin turns it on in Settings, Company, "Business lines". See the article on turning Scrap Metal on or off.

Do I pay anything to use it?

No. Dumpster Controls is free, and a scrap order with no charge moves no money at all: there is no invoice, no card fee and no payout. Only orders you choose to charge go through the normal invoice and card flow.

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.