How a 1/16 Load Differs From a Full Truck

The first question on almost every cleanout call is what it will cost. The honest answer depends on how much there is to take, not on how long the crew works. JunkDoctors prices by the space your items fill on the truck, so it helps to know what the fractions on our price list actually mean before you ask for a number.

What a fraction of a truck means

Our trucks hold 25 cubic yards. A cubic yard is a cube three feet on each side, so a full truck is a very large box of stuff. A 1/16 load is a sixteenth of that space. A 1/2 load is half of it, from the floor of the truck to the top and from the front wall to the tailgate.

It helps to think about the truck rather than your room. Items are measured by how they stack once they are loaded, and that is different from how they look sitting in a house. A sofa is bulky in a living room and takes a real slice of the truck too. A stack of flattened cardboard boxes can look like a lot in a hallway and take up very little truck. Taking a few things apart, like bed frames and shelving, often changes how they stack.

The price list in plain numbers

These are the prices we publish for single items and for volume on a 25 cubic yard truck:

• Single item pickup, one or two items: $185 to $250
• 1/16 load: $350
• 1/8 load: $485
• 1/4 load: $685
• 1/2 load: $985
• 3/4 load: $1,685
• Full truck: $1,985

Every price includes the labor, the loading, the hauling, the disposal fees, and a sweep and clean-up of the area when we finish. There is no hourly rate, so a crew that takes a little longer on a tight staircase does not change your number.

Single item pickups have a few conditions. The range covers one or two items, and extra-heavy pieces (generally over 150 lb), oversized items or difficult access can raise the price. That is why we ask about stairs and doorways when you call.

Where the price steps are worth noticing

Look at the jump from a half load to three quarters: $985 to $1,685. Then look at the next step, from three quarters to a full truck: $1,685 to $1,985. That last step is only $300. If your pile looks like it could be three quarters of a truck, ask what a full truck would cost. The difference is small, and a full truck leaves room for the box of things you find at the back of the closet once the work starts.

At the small end, the 1/16 load at $350 sits just above the top of the single item range, which ends at $250. Once you have more than one or two items, the 1/16 load is the next step up on the list. It suits a small pile, such as what has collected in one corner of a garage.

How we estimate before we arrive

You do not need to measure anything. Send photos or a short video, or read us an item list over the phone, and we give you an estimate based on what we can see. The final price is confirmed on site, once the crew has looked at the real pile and the real path out of the house.

A few things make the estimate better. Take one wide photo of each space, then closer shots of anything heavy. Mention stairs, narrow doorways, and how far it is from the door to the driveway. Say so if one pile is hiding another. Those details are the difference between a rough guess and a number that holds up when the crew arrives.

If you are between two sizes, say so. "It might be a quarter or it might be a half" is a useful sentence, and we can look at your photos with both in mind. Saying what you are unsure about is better than guessing low and being surprised on site.

What happens on the day

The crew does all the lifting, loading and hauling, and sweeps up when the truck is full. You do not need to be home if access and the scope are confirmed. We donate and recycle whenever possible, so a load is not always a single trip to a single place. We do not rent dumpsters, which means nothing sits in your driveway waiting to be filled.

If you want a number, call 973-336-8083 or send photos of the space. We work seven days a week, and we can talk through which size is likely to fit before anyone drives out.