Dump It Yourself vs. Rent a Dumpster: North Texas Landfill Fees, Hours & Load Limits
If you're searching for dump hours or landfill fees in Paris, Sherman, Bonham, Denison or Greenville, you're really asking one question: is it cheaper to make the trips myself or put a bin in the driveway? Below are the actual per-yard and per-ton rules at each local facility — sourced and linked — next to our flat $375 three-day 16-yard rate with 2 tons of disposal included, plus the load count where the math flips.
The short answer
1-3 pickup loads of accepted material: self-haul is cheaper
4-5 loads: roughly a wash once you count fuel and time
6+ loads, shingles, or any remodel debris: the roll-off wins
A 16-yard bin holds about 16 cu yd — 5 to 8 pickup loads
Self-haul costs below are the range of published gate fees across these cities plus the trips involved; they don't count your fuel or your Saturday. Dumpster prices are our flat rates — delivery, pickup and 2 tons of disposal included.
How much debris
Volume
Haul it yourself
16-yard roll-off
Better call
1 pickup load
~2 cu yd
Free to ~$30 in gate fees + 1 round trip
$300 (1-day) — overkill
Self-haul
2-3 pickup loads
~4-6 cu yd
~$0-$80 + 2-3 round trips
$300-$375
Self-haul
4-5 pickup loads
~8-10 cu yd
~$50-$160 + 4-5 round trips, half a weekend
$375 (3 days)
Toss-up
6-8 pickup loads
~12-16 cu yd
~$100-$250+ in fees, a full weekend, trailer wear
$375 flat, 2 tons included
Rent the bin
Roof tear-off (8-12 cu yd shingles)
~2-3 tons
$128-$192 shingle fees in Paris + overloaded truck risk
Local dump and transfer-station fees, city by city
Gate rates and hours change and several facilities publish nothing online, so each entry links its source. Call the facility the day before you load a trailer.
Paris, TX — dump fees and self-haul options
Sanitation Solutions Dump Station · 1802 S. Church St., Paris, TX
Open to City of Paris residents with a current city water bill and photo ID. Non-residents pay a higher per-yard rate.
Fees
City residents: first 4 cubic yards free, then $6.30 per cubic yard
Non-residents: $13.50 per cubic yard
Roofing shingles: $16 per cubic yard
Hours: Posted station hours vary — call the station or the City of Paris before you load.
A standard 6-foot pickup bed holds roughly 2 cubic yards heaped, so a resident's free allowance is about two truckloads. A single-layer roof tear-off on a small house is 8-12 cubic yards of shingles, which at $16 per yard runs $128-$192 in gate fees alone, before fuel and four to six round trips.
Type I municipal landfill that accepts self-haul at the gate. Loads are weighed and charged at the facility's commercial rates, and loads must be tarped.
Fees
Charged by weight at the posted gate rate — call WM for the current per-ton price
Minimum-load charges typically apply even to a light pickup load
Hours: Weekday scale hours with limited Saturday service — confirm with the facility the day before.
Sherman's monthly curbside program covers 5 cubic yards of bulk plus 2 of brush and excludes shingles, concrete, dirt and rubble, so heavy or construction material is exactly what ends up at the scale house.
City collection station, 903 E. Sam Rayburn Dr. · 903 E. Sam Rayburn Dr., Bonham, TX
Routine poly-cart service does not include bulk pickup. The city periodically runs Free Dump Days at the collection station; outside those windows, self-haul access and fees are set by Public Works.
Fees
Free Dump Days: no gate charge for qualifying residential loads during the announced window
Outside those windows: call Public Works for current access and rates
Hours: Free Dump Days are announced by the city; regular station hours change — call first.
Because Bonham has no routine bulk pickup, a cleanout or remodel here means either waiting for a dump day or making repeated trailer trips. This is the market where a driveway roll-off saves the most time.
City of Denison scheduled bulk pickup (paid per yard) · Curbside, City of Denison
Denison collects curbside bulk six times a year. Pickups outside that schedule are billed per cubic yard, which makes them the practical stand-in for a dump run.
Fees
Scheduled out-of-cycle pickup: $17.25 per cubic yard
Forced/unscheduled pickup: $34.50 per cubic yard
Construction debris not accepted at any price
Hours: Requested through the city during business hours.
At $17.25 per yard, roughly 22 cubic yards of accepted material costs about the same as our flat $375 three-day 16-yard rental — and construction debris is refused outright, so a remodel has to leave in a roll-off regardless.
Curbside cap + Hunt County HHW Center · Greenville, TX (Hunt County)
Curbside brush and bulky waste is capped at 2 cubic yards with no single item over 50 pounds. Household hazardous waste goes to the Hunt County HHW Center, never to a landfill or a dumpster.
Fees
Curbside within the cap: included in city service
Over the cap: no self-haul allowance published — arrange a roll-off or private hauler
Household hazardous waste: accepted at the county HHW center
Hours: HHW center operates on posted county collection hours.
The 2-cubic-yard weekly cap and 50-pound item limit are the tightest of the five cities. One bathroom tear-out already exceeds a week's allowance.
Trips, not loads. Every pickup load is a round trip. Six loads out to a scale house in Sherman or a dump station in Paris is most of a weekend, and gate hours rarely run late or all day Saturday.
Minimum charges and tarps. Weighed landfills apply a minimum-load charge even to a half-full bed, and untarped loads get turned away.
Refused material. Construction debris is excluded from Denison's program, needs separate commercial service in Sherman, and must move through an authorized roll-off provider in Paris. See what the city won't take before you load.
Weight, not volume, breaks trucks. Shingles, concrete, brick and dirt overload a half-ton long before the bed looks full. We plan tonnage with you instead — see roofing and demolition loads.
Repeat jobs. Contractors, landlords and property managers skip the dump entirely with scheduled swap-outs through the Priority Club or a partner account.
Is it cheaper to haul debris to the dump myself or rent a dumpster?
For one small pickup load, self-haul wins — a Paris resident's first 4 cubic yards at the Sanitation Solutions Dump Station are free. Past two or three loads the math flips. A 16-yard roll-off holds about 16 cubic yards, roughly five to eight pickup loads, for a flat $375 over 3 days with delivery, pickup and 2 tons of disposal included. Self-hauling the same volume means five to eight round trips plus per-yard or per-ton gate fees, fuel, and your own loading and unloading time.
How much does it cost to dump a truckload of trash in North Texas?
It depends on the facility. City of Paris residents pay nothing for the first 4 cubic yards at the dump station, then $6.30 per cubic yard ($13.50 for non-residents, $16 per yard for shingles). WM Hillside Landfill in Sherman weighs the load and charges its posted commercial per-ton rate with a minimum-load charge. Denison bills out-of-cycle curbside bulk at $17.25 per cubic yard. Call the facility for current rates before you load — gate prices change.
How many pickup truck loads fit in a 16-yard dumpster?
About five to eight, depending on how heaped your loads are. A standard 6-foot pickup bed holds roughly 2 cubic yards heaped; a 16-yard roll-off holds about 16 cubic yards and is low-walled so you can walk debris in without a ladder.
Can I take shingles, concrete or dirt to the dump myself?
Usually yes, but at a premium and by the ton. Paris charges $16 per cubic yard for shingles at the dump station, and weighed landfills like WM Hillside price heavy loads by weight. Concrete, dirt and brick also overload most half-ton and three-quarter-ton trucks long before the bed is full, which is why we set a fill line on the bin and price heavy loads individually — call 903-449-2818 first.
What are the hidden costs of doing it yourself?
Fuel and round-trip time, gate or minimum-load charges on every trip, tarp requirements, trailer wear, weekend hours that don't match your schedule, and the risk of arriving with a load the facility won't accept. A roll-off in the driveway also lets you load over several days instead of racing the scale house.
When does renting a dumpster clearly make more sense?
Roof tear-offs, whole-room or whole-house remodels, estate cleanouts, tenant move-outs, and any job that produces more than your city's curbside cap. Construction debris is refused by Denison, requires separate commercial service in Sherman, and must go through an authorized roll-off provider in Paris — so on those jobs a dumpster is not just cheaper, it is the only compliant option.