Detritus/Resources/Front-load vs roll-off
Comparison
A front-load container stays and is emptied on a schedule. A roll-off is delivered and hauled away. A compactor is a third machine, not a size of either one. The bill follows the machine.
Last reviewed October 26, 2026.
Recurring collection is commercial waste collection. Project containers are dumpster rental. Published local rates, with the city and the year, are on commercial dumpster cost. This page does not add a rate those pages do not already cite.
| Question | Front-load | Roll-off | Compactor |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the truck does | Lifts the container from the front, empties it, and sets it back | Rolls the box off at delivery and hauls the box away | A ram packs the waste. The haul is a lift of that packed container, or a haul of a large compactor box |
| Where the container goes | It stays | It leaves when it is full or the rental ends | It stays. The waste leaves in fewer hauls |
| Sizes you can cite | Commonly 2 to 8 cubic yards. Republic publishes 2, 4, 6, and 8. Ann Arbor also lists 3 and 5. | Detritus lists 10 to 40 yards on the dumpster rental page. Highland Park prices 20, 30, and 40. | Ann Arbor lists vertical compactors of 2 to 8 yards, and 20-, 30-, 35-, and 40-yard compactors |
| How it is billed | Monthly, by size and lifts per week, on the city sheets cited below | Per haul, plus a weight rule | Ann Arbor bills the small vertical units on a weekly lift schedule and the large boxes per lift |
| Who it fits | A building that produces waste every week and has room for the front-load truck | A project, a cleanout, a roof, or a demolition, sized by weight | The same ongoing waste when the volume would otherwise take too many hauls |
Size and billing claims are sourced in the sections below. A cell that names a city is that city’s published sheet, not a national spec.
A front-load truck lifts the container from the front, empties it, and sets it back. Commercial front-load containers commonly run from 2 to 8 cubic yards. Two public schedules publish dimensions for those sizes, and they do not match. A “6 yard” on one route is not the box on the next. The quote has to name the container the local hauler will actually place. The same chart is on commercial waste collection.
| Cubic yards | Republic Services | City of Ann Arbor |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 6 ft L × 3 ft 1 in W × 3 ft 3 in H. 12 bags of 32 gallons. | 6 ft L × 3 ft W × 3 ft H. |
| 3 | Not on the published 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-yard chart. | On the rate schedule. Dimensions are not in the published size note. |
| 4 | 6 ft L × 4 ft 2 in W × 4 ft 2 in H. 24 bags of 32 gallons. | 6 ft L × 4 ft 2 in W × 5 ft H. |
| 5 | Not on the published 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-yard chart. | On the rate schedule. Dimensions are not in the published size note. |
| 6 | 6 ft L × 5 ft 7 in W × 5 ft 8 in H. 36 bags of 32 gallons. | 6 ft 6 in L × 5 ft W × 6 ft H. |
| 8 | 6 ft L × 6 ft 8 in W × 6 ft 2 in H. 48 bags of 32 gallons. | 6 ft L × 5 ft 6 in W × 6 ft 8 in H. |
Republic Services, Commercial Waste & Recycling Dumpsters, checked October 26, 2026 for the collection page and carried forward here on October 26, 2026. The page states that exact dimensions, products, capacities, weight, and availability vary by location. Bag counts use Republic’s 32-gallon bag. City of Ann Arbor, Commercial Trash Services, rates valid through June 30, 2027. Neither set is a Detritus specification.
Headcount is a weak way to pick a size. A restaurant and an office with the same number of people do not fill a container at the same rate. Size from how full the container is on pickup day, and from whether the enclosure can take the next size up. Republic publishes employee-count guidance with its chart. This page does not repeat it.
Roll-off containers on the dumpster rental page run from 10 to 40 yards, plus lowboy and dump trailer configurations. The dumpster size guide sizes them by material weight: dense loads such as concrete, dirt, and shingles in a 10 or 20, lighter construction debris in a 30 or 40. Highland Park, Illinois, effective April 1, 2026, prices 20-, 30-, and 40-yard roll-offs. This page does not publish length, width, and height for a roll-off. The public front-load charts above are the ones that print dimensions. A roll-off “20 yard” is a capacity, and the weight limit is what the quote has to state.
The monthly rates are recurring container service. A front-load truck lifts the container, empties it, and sets it back on a schedule. A roll-off is delivered for a project or a cleanout and charged when it is hauled. The figures below are copied from the city sheets already cited on the cost guide. They show the billing difference. They do not say what a given site will pay.
| Service | Published example | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 2-yard container, once a week | $59.00 a month | Highland Park, Illinois, effective April 1, 2026 |
| 2-yard container, once a week | $263.57 a month | Vancouver, Washington, 2026 rates |
| 2-yard container, once a week | $519.01 a month | Oakland, California, July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 |
| 8-yard container, once a week | $170.30 a month | Highland Park, Illinois, effective April 1, 2026 |
| 8-yard container, once a week | $790.70 a month | Vancouver, Washington, 2026 rates |
| 20-yard roll-off | $482.00 per haul, 5-ton limit, then $54.89 per ton | Highland Park, Illinois, effective April 1, 2026 |
| Roll-off disposal, added to the pull | $52.72 per ton on the actual weight | Oakland, California, July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 |
Highland Park, Illinois, 2026. Vancouver, Washington, 2026. Oakland, California, 2026–27. Oakland’s commercial sheet lists bins through 7 yards, not an 8-yard loose bin, which is why that cell is not in this table. Full sheets, fee lines, and links are on commercial dumpster cost. These figures are examples from the public sources listed, as of the date shown. They are not a Detritus quote, offer, or price guarantee; only a written Detritus quote is binding.
A monthly front-load rate and a per-haul roll-off rate are not comparable until you write down the service. Frequency is its own price. On the cost guide, Vancouver’s 2026 table steps a 2-yard container in even multiples as the weekly count rises, and Highland Park’s April 1, 2026 sheet does not. Match the weekly count before you match the dollar.
Disposal sits under both bills. How a tip fee becomes an included-ton allowance, a per-ton add-on, or a rate the city says already includes disposal is on landfill tipping fees. National generation figures are on waste and recycling statistics. Neither page is a quote.
Use a front-load, or a rear-load where the forks cannot reach, when the building produces waste on a repeating schedule. Stores, restaurants, offices, and property portfolios are the usual case. The container stays in the enclosure. The invoice is monthly. Commercial waste collection is that service, including carts when the site does not fill two yards. Ann Arbor’s published business carts are 96 gallons.
Use a roll-off when the waste is a project. Construction, demolition, a roof, a cleanout, a remodel that ends. The box arrives, the weight limit is the constraint, and the charge is the haul. Dumpster rental is that service. A single container in one city is often a shorter path through a local hauler or through Dumpster Rental Dogs. A program across sites is the Detritus agreement.
One site can need both. Weekly trash at the occupied building, and a roll-off for the remodel at the same address, are different containers on purpose. Putting the remodel in the front-load is how an enclosure overflows. Putting the weekly trash in a roll-off is how you pay a haul for a route.
A front-load truck has to square up to the container and insert the forks. An alley, a tight enclosure, or a dock the truck cannot face is a rear-load problem. Rear-load is still recurring collection. The container stays, and the truck loads it from the back. It is not a roll-off.
A roll-off needs a straight approach so the truck can roll the box off, and room overhead for that motion. This page does not state a national clearance in feet. The truck is the local hauler’s truck, and the quote has to use that truck. Enclosure and distance show up as fee lines on the city sheets. The cost guide cites Vancouver’s rollout charges and Oakland’s bin-push charges, each with the city and the year.
A compactor uses a ram so the same waste takes fewer hauls. It is not a larger front-load, and it is not a roll-off that happens to be heavy. The City of Ann Arbor publishes vertical compactors from 2 to 8 cubic yards on a weekly lift schedule, and 20-, 30-, 35-, and 40-yard compactors billed per lift. That is a third billing pattern: a scheduled lift for the small vertical units, and a charge per lift for the large boxes. A roll-off that is hauled on a repeating schedule, rather than removed at the end of a project, sits closer to this pattern than to a project rental.
This page does not print a compactor dollar rate. Ann Arbor’s size note, as cited on the collection page, states the sizes and the billing basis. It does not give a national compactor price, and this page will not invent one. Stationary and self-contained compactors, and cardboard balers, are on compactors and balers.
City of Ann Arbor commercial trash services, rates valid through June 30, 2027. Checked October 26, 2026 for the collection page. Example from the City of Ann Arbor's published schedule, valid through June 30, 2027. It is not a Detritus quote, offer, or price guarantee. Pricing depends on location, container size, service frequency and local disposal costs; only a written Detritus quote is binding.
Match the container to the waste stream, then to the truck that can reach it. Trash on a weekly route. A separate container for cardboard or recycling, because a recycling container full of trash is no longer recycling. A compactor where the weekly volume justifies the ram. A roll-off for the project that is not the weekly route. On more than one address, each site is quoted on its own, under one agreement. Who is on that agreement, and who you call when a pickup is missed, is waste broker vs hauler. Questions to ask before you award the work are on how to evaluate a partner.
The address, whether the container stays or leaves, the size, and how often it has to be collected. Pricing is quoted for that location. The city rates on this page are dated public examples. They are not what a given site will pay. These figures are examples from the public sources listed, as of the date shown. They are not a Detritus quote, offer, or price guarantee; only a written Detritus quote is binding.
A front-load dumpster stays on site. The truck lifts it from the front, empties it, and sets it back on a schedule. A roll-off is delivered for a project or a cleanout and hauled away when it is full or the rental ends. Front-load service on the city sheets cited here is billed monthly. A roll-off is billed per haul. The commercial waste collection page is the recurring service. The dumpster rental page is the roll-off service.
Commercial front-load containers commonly run from 2 to 8 cubic yards. Republic Services publishes dimensions for 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-yard containers. The City of Ann Arbor also lists 3- and 5-yard containers, and its dimensions for the shared sizes do not match Republic's. Republic says exact dimensions vary by location. The quote has to name the container the local hauler will place.
Front-load and other recurring container service on the published city sheets is a monthly charge set by size and how many times a week it is emptied. A roll-off is priced per haul, and the weight rule is separate. Highland Park, Illinois, effective April 1, 2026, lists a 2-yard container once a week at $59.00 a month and a 20-yard roll-off at $482.00 per haul with a 5-ton limit, then $54.89 per ton. Those are one city's published rates. They are not a Detritus quote, offer, or price guarantee; only a written Detritus quote is binding.
When the same waste would otherwise take too many hauls. A compactor uses a ram. The City of Ann Arbor publishes vertical compactors from 2 to 8 cubic yards on a weekly lift schedule, and 20-, 30-, 35-, and 40-yard compactors billed per lift. That is a third billing pattern: a scheduled lift, or a charge per lift, not a project rental. Compactors and balers the network places are on the compactors and balers page.
Yes. Weekly trash at an occupied building and a remodel, roof, or cleanout are different jobs. The container that stays is recurring collection. The container that leaves is a roll-off. A compactor can sit beside either one when the volume justifies it. Detritus can put both on one agreement. The price is still quoted for the address.
Actual pricing depends on location, hauler, container or unit type, service frequency, weight, fees, and timing. Only a written Detritus quote is binding. Prices in the public sources on this page may have changed since they were published. See the terms of use. This page does not use Detritus quote or invoice data.
These figures are examples from the public sources listed, as of the date shown. They are not a Detritus quote, offer, or price guarantee; only a written Detritus quote is binding.