When you rent a roll off dumpster, it is delivered empty for your use. Once you start filling your container, anything that goes inside has the potential to have “bleed” (not a technical term, just my word for it). “Bleed” is the runoff water usually produced by rain that will percolate through your debris and begin collecting in the lowest point of your container (usually the front of the container).
Houses are typically graded with the property sloping away from the house so driveways are typically sloped toward the street. The slope may be so slight you may not even notice, but water does. It will drain down through your debris picking up all kinds of “stuff” off your debris.
Normally, a roll off container isn’t on a site for an extremely long time, but in some cases the rentals can be lengthy. During longer rentals, quite a bit of water can build up in the containers if there is enough rain. Now without getting descriptive, let’s just say that “water” can become quite “fragrant” after sitting in trash stagnating.
Folks, I have been a garbage man for 20 years and the only smell I can’t stomach is the smell of that water. It comes out a deep dark black color and does leave a trail in the driveway. We always tell our customers to hose the driveway down after this happens because the smell will remain until the next good rain storm. When homeowners aren’t home and a working hose is available, I have been known to just hose it down for them. Now this “bleed” shouldn’t stain your driveway unless you put something you weren’t supposed to inside the container (like paint).
So, the water is harmless (unless you are a nose), but the contents of the container can be another story. Many customers have tried to pull a “fast one” over by putting paint cans in the middle of the roll off dumpster. Well, when the dumpster gets picked up all the debris slides and shifts back toward the door. I can’t tell you how many times the weight of the debris crushes paint cans and then the paint spills out the back of the container. Now, these poor people come home to find paint in their driveway and a bill to have the container power washed. We can’t deliver a container with a floor covered in wet paint.
The next customer would probably not appreciate your living room’s hunter red paint being tracked across his or her driveway after they stepped in wet paint! Now here is the WORST part about paint or unauthorized substances leaking out of a container; the truck will remain in your driveway with the roll off dumpster in the air while it all drains out! Yep, it will be emptied right where it was picked up from.
Some might say, “that’s just mean” or “if they let it spill, they are responsible”, but that just isn’t the reality. How would you like to be travelling down the highway in your brand new car/truck and have wet paint fly off the truck in front of you and ruin your car? I bet you wouldn’t be very happy even if it isn’t a brand new vehicle! As professional drivers, we are responsible for our loads and preventing those loads from becoming a road hazard to other motorists. The only thing we can do is completely drain the substance where it started and then proceed to the dump facility. We have no other choice.
So, the basic answer is that the natural stuff won’t damage your driveway, but if you put something in the container that shouldn’t that could spill out on pickup and stain your driveway. Pretty simple stuff. If you ever have a question about proper disposal of liquids, talk to your hauler and tell them what you have. Ask them how they suggest loading these substances to avoid problems during the removal process. I hope this answers your question about spillage.
Be safe, be well and most of all BE HAPPY!
Dale Olander
President
D&D Disposal
(732) 341-6900