The short answer
Include a set number of days in the price, charge a clear price for each day after that, and write it in the rental agreement. Count the days the same way on every job, call the customer when the included days are nearly up, and let them choose: a pickup, a swap or more days.
By American Dumpster Software, the software built by American Roll-Offs, a roll-off company in Jacksonville, Florida. Updated .
Why extra days matter
A can sitting at a job site after the work is done earns nothing and can't go out to the next customer. Extra-day charges aren't about squeezing customers: they pay for a can you can't rent to anyone else, and they nudge people to call for the pickup.
Set the rule and say it up front
Decide how many days the base price includes for each size, and the price for each day over. Write it on the quote and in the rental agreement, in one plain sentence. Tell the customer on the phone too.
Decide how you count days: does the drop-off day count, does the pickup day count, do Sundays and holidays count? Any rule is fine. Using the same rule on every bill is what keeps the arguments away.
Call before you bill
Keep a list of cans that are close to, or past, their included days, and call those customers. Often they're glad of the reminder: they forgot to call for the pickup, or they want a swap. A call before the bill feels like service; a surprise on the invoice feels like a trap.
Write down each call and the answer, with a day to call again, so the next person in the office knows where it stands.
Let customers keep it longer, on purpose
Some customers need more days and are happy to pay for them. Make it easy: let them ask for more days, show them the price, and bill those days right away, so they aren't billed a second time at pickup.
Bill the days at the end
When the can comes home, the bill counts the days it was out, takes off the included days and any days already paid for, and charges the rest at the day price. Bill it right away, while the job is fresh.
How the software does it
In American Dumpster Software, every rental knows its included days and extra-day price. The Dumpsters call list shows cans past their days, with a Log a call button and a date to call again. When you switch it on, customers can keep a can longer from the customer portal: they see the price first, the days are billed on their own invoice, and the pickup's bill doesn't charge them again. The bill for the rest drafts itself when the driver finishes. Try it in the live demo, or see Pricing.