Starting and Growing a Dumpster Rental Business in 2025: Host Josh Roman from American AF Dumpsters

Matt: What’s up, guys? In this episode of Rolloff Rundowns, we have a very special guest, Mr. Josh Roman from American AF Dumpsters. He’s here to share his wealth of knowledge about starting and growing a dumpster business. Make sure you stick around to the end because Josh will share what he thinks are the biggest threats and opportunities for the industry. Let’s jump in.

Alright, Josh, for those of you that don’t know you, which would be strange because you’re all over the internet and you have a great social media presence, but I think that not a lot of people know your story, could you tell us how you got into the dumpster rental industry?

Josh Roman: Yeah, it’s actually a long, boring story, but it was just by need really at the end of the day. I’ve always owned a business since I was 18 years old. I started my first security business when I was 18. My last business before the dumpster rental industry was a limousine company, right? We were doing really well, every year was just tracking up. When I sold the company, we had been in business for 16 years, but COVID hit us hard, just like every other business out there. COVID really hit us hard. We had 24 limos at the time, and every single one of them was parked for months at the shop.

I felt like I had all my eggs in one basket. Everything was just that company, solely that company. We went to zero revenue, and actually negative because we had to refund a lot of people money. I started looking for a business that regardless of what would go on in the economy, hopefully recession-resistant. I could take what I’ve learned and apply it to that business. I just landed on trash somehow. I had an old pickup truck, an F350, and I bought a $4,000 cargo trailer. I just wanted to do something. I didn’t know if it was going to be a business or a side hustle, but I wanted to do something because I could not just sit for days on end.

Matt: So, was it with one dumpster? That’s all you had?

Josh Roman: It wasn’t even a dumpster. It was a cargo trailer that I had to manually unload by hand, which was a nightmare. I bought the thing brand new, $4,000 at a trailer dealer. On the way home, I posted it on Craigslist just that I wanted to rent it out. Within the first two hours, I got a response to my Craigslist ad. I delivered my first cargo trailer. Little did I know that they didn’t bag one thing. It was a mobile home cleanout, not one bag. It was 15 yards full of papers, books, kitchen stuff just tossed in there. It was literally me and my dad, and we didn’t know where to go. I had never been to a landfill before. We went to a convenience center and we unloaded by hand. It was hot, and I was just questioning life at that moment. But that was the start. That’s what started everything.

Matt: As you started to grow, what were some of the challenges you faced in the beginning?

Josh Roman: 100% was just what I didn’t know. I didn’t know what I didn’t know at all. I had never been to a landfill before I owned this business. I didn’t know what a rolloff trailer was. My ignorance at the end of the day, right? One of the main reasons I started the channel is because I wanted to document my journey. My son at the time challenged me. He said, “You need to start a YouTube channel.” That’s kind of why I did it. I thought it’d be cool to document my journey and show other people since there was really nobody else doing it. I didn’t know what a standard rail was. I didn’t know what a hook lift was. I went from a cargo trailer to a dump trailer to a rolloff trailer to a rolloff hook truck, bigger truck. I tripped a lot and I fell on my face plenty of times, but I didn’t miss a step in the process.

Matt: If you don’t follow Josh on socials, the channel that he has really does help and give knowledge. Thank you for doing this for the industry because you’re helping others not make some of the mistakes upfront. We’ll drop a link to that in the description. If there’s one thing you could go back and change, what would that be?

Josh Roman: It’s easy to say, hard to do, but don’t be cheap when you’re buying equipment. I struggled way more than I should have buying a cookie-cutter rolloff trailer instead of a commercial-grade rolloff trailer. If you’re going the trailer route, if you really want to make this a business, the business comes with contractors and commercial jobs. A lightweight trailer is not going to do you any good. I’ve reinvented my company two different times in the five years I’ve been in business. I bought the cheap package deal, and within days I had the trailers snapping in half at a job site. It broke so many times. It just did not handle the work. That was one of my biggest mistakes. I lost like two months of revenue, two months of work doing that.

Matt: As you started growing, what was a decision that helped you scale your business?

Josh Roman: Having the right equipment is the key to scaling. Again, there are guys that have 500 cans with trailers, and that’s awesome. I reinvented myself several times throughout the business. If you go back to all my old videos, you’re going to see that I said I didn’t want to go CDL. I didn’t want to get a DOT. I had a DOT in my limo company, and I got audited two different times. That was a process I didn’t want to go through again. Now I know a little bit more, so I should be able to be okay. I wanted a business where it was just me, no employees, and here I am growing more and more.

It’s about your customers’ needs and your community’s needs that supersede your own vision sometimes and really lead you towards where you should be offering your services. There’s guys that I know that have started in the dumpster business and have gone different ways based on their customers’ needs. It’s about listening to your customers’ needs and always trying to meet that need. Usually, the money will come.

Matt: A scary thing for some haulers is knowing when to buy and invest in new dumpsters, equipment, trucks, or hire new employees. What helps you make the decision that you can do this and feel confident about it?

Josh Roman: I partner with a lot of good people that offer the same type of service that I do. What I do is I start farming out jobs to other local guys. Once I start seeing that I’m farming out a lot of jobs and if I had my own cans, I could have made more money, then it’s time. It’s not a specific number; I look back at the data and see if I’ve farmed out a significant number of jobs.

Regarding employees, I only have one driver. I added a second, but he didn’t work out. The way I look at hiring employees is, am I full-time in the truck? Can I afford to guarantee my employee a minimum of 40 hours a week? I want to hire someone whose main bread and butter is this company so that they’re vested in it as well. If I’m running consistently 40, 50, 60 hours a week, it’s time for me to hire an employee. I will always be that backup driver until I’m no longer a backup.

Matt: What’s one investment you made in your business that paid the biggest dividends?

Josh Roman: Myself. Education into myself is the most important way to grow your business. I’m not really big into online gurus like Alex Hormozi, but I just want to be a resource for people to grow their business. When I say invest in yourself, attend shows, network, create your own networking events in your area. I’ve been a big proponent of creating your networking events. We have a group of guys that are constantly communicating. Go to local chamber meetings, BNIs, and grow your company because you’re your best salesperson.

Matt: What’s an obstacle that you see other haulers facing when they’re trying to grow?

Josh Roman: Internally, it’s definitely fear—the fear of failure. Thank God I don’t have that. I just go head first into anything that I do. A lot of people are afraid to start something and go outside the box. Externally, we could talk about franchise cities and agreements that pose obstacles for us. Franchise agreements are exclusive mutual agreements between a city and one specific dumpster company. We cannot just let them continue to get away with it.

Matt: We just released the Dumpster Industry Benchmark Report. Only 5% of the industry is getting rentals from their website. You have an awesome website. What role does your website play in your business?

Josh Roman: It’s your digital business card. It represents you. We’re redoing our website again because I’m never completely happy with it. While I’m on social media, I’m not social, so if I can avoid a phone call, I will book stuff online. For me, it’s more convenient to have online booking. It saves us time and it’s so much nicer to be able to get a booking while you sleep. The website is a huge deal, and with AI technology, I think the future holds even more possibilities for online business.

Matt: What do you see as the biggest opportunities for haulers as we prepare to go into 2026?

Josh Roman: Everybody always says the market is flooded or tapped out. I don’t see that. I see plenty of opportunity for us small guys to compete. I don’t see myself competing against local guys. I’m competing against CWD, Waste Management, Republic. I want their business. I’m not competing against the small guys that just started. I don’t worry about them. You need to focus more on yourself and your business. Get out there, market yourself, use social media. Free marketing and free advertising are out there. You have to put yourself out there and use all available resources.

Matt: Do you see the big companies as the biggest threat to the industry, or is there something bigger?

Josh Roman: The monopoly agreements between cities and companies are the biggest threat in our industry. Cities that make us sign agreements to give them a percentage of our business hold us back. That’s the biggest threat, not the competition from other small haulers.

Matt: If you were to leave our audience with one piece of advice you wish someone told you when starting out, what would it be?

Josh Roman: There’s so much out there now that there wasn’t five years ago. I’m not just talking about my 600 videos; I’m talking about other content creators. There’s a lot of free advice. Before you pay for anything, consume everything in the industry. When I go into a new business, I consume myself in it. There’s so much free information out there. Be smart about it, consume yourself with the free content that’s available. Network, meet people, go work for a company for a little bit if you have to. There’s no excuse not to educate yourself. Go watch some videos and come out to the Dumpster Expo.

Matt: Well said. Go watch Josh’s videos. His are excellent. Please subscribe to his channel and come to the Dumpster Expo in November. Thank you, Josh, for doing this, and we’ll see you in the next one.

FAQ

How did Josh Roman start his dumpster rental business?

Josh Roman started his dumpster rental business after selling his limousine company, which was hit hard by COVID-19. He initially used a $4,000 cargo trailer and an old pickup truck to start renting dumpsters.

What challenges did Josh face when starting his dumpster business?

Josh faced significant challenges due to his lack of industry knowledge, including not knowing what a rolloff trailer or a hook lift was. He learned through trial and error, documenting his journey on a YouTube channel.

What does Josh consider the biggest threat to the dumpster industry?

Josh sees monopoly agreements between cities and large companies as the biggest threat to the dumpster industry, as these agreements can restrict the operations of smaller haulers.

What advice does Josh have for new dumpster business owners?

Josh advises new business owners to invest in quality equipment, educate themselves through free resources, and network extensively to grow their business effectively.