The saw work gets bid carefully and the haul-off gets guessed. Round the chip volume up to whole truckloads first — the dump charges by the trip, not by the yard.
42 cubic yards of chips into a 15-yard chip truck is 2.8 loads — which means three trips and three dump fees.
The example
Three jobs, all hauled with the same truck and the same $65 dump fee.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Job | Debris (cy) | Truck (cy) | Loads | Dump fee | Haul cost |
| 2 | Oak removal | 42 | 15 | 65 | 3 | $195.00 |
| 3 | Hedge trim | 11 | 15 | 65 | 1 | $65.00 |
| 4 | Storm cleanup | 76 | 15 | 65 | 6 | $390.00 |
The formula
ROUNDUP does the work, because a partial load still costs a full trip:
How it works
Three columns, one decision:
B2/C2gives the exact number of loads — 42 over 15 is 2.8.ROUNDUP(...,0)makes that 3, because you cannot leave 0.8 of a load in the yard.=E2*D2multiplies the trips by the dump fee to get the disposal cost you bid.
Chips fluff up. A tree that measures 15 yards standing can fill 20 yards of truck once it is through the chipper, so estimate the chipped volume, not the log volume.
Try it: interactive demo
Enter the debris volume, truck capacity, and dump fee.
Variations
Charge by the ton instead
Some transfer stations weigh you in. Swap yards for tons and capacity for payload.
Add drive time per trip
Each round trip costs labor as well as tipping.
Pitfalls & errors
Log rounds do not chip. Price them separately by weight — a single trunk section can outweigh a full box of chips.
Rounding to the nearest load hides a whole trip on jobs that land just past a boundary. Always round up.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
How many cubic yards is a standard chip truck?
Can I avoid the dump fee entirely?
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