What “valet trash” actually covers
Scheduled valet trash is doorstep pickup on a predictable cadence: residents set the bin outside, we collect from a single drop point before sunrise. The cadence is tuned to your dumpster capacity, not the other way around. The service fits apartment communities, condos, student housing, senior living, and townhomes — the property types where a set-it-out-and-go morning is part of the resident experience.
What drives valet-trash pricing
Two numbers sit behind almost every valet-trash proposal:
- Unit count. Drives route density — fewer routes, fewer trucks, less labor per pull.
- Frequency. Cadence varies from 2× to 6× weekly; the mismatch between your cadence and your dumpster capacity is usually where vendors over-charge or under-serve.
A well-designed proposal matches the cadence to the dumpster size, then names that match on the page. Vendors who quote the cadence as “as needed” are rolling the same mismatch into your invoice every month.
What the tier line covers
At Korvion, the valet-trash line moves with the unit-count tier your property already runs on. Here’s what each tier includes — no add-ons required:
- Essential (under 100 units). Scheduled trash and recycling on a 2×–5× weekly cadence, single-stream recycling paired with every route, bulk and move-out pickup dispatched on request.
- Standard (100–250 units). Scheduled trash and recycling on a 2×–6× weekly cadence, single-stream recycling paired with every route, same-day bulk and move-out dispatch on the invoice.
- Premium (250+ units). Fully tuned cadence, your existing on-site recycling stream adopted as-is (aluminum cans collected separately where sites opt in), same-day bulk dispatch with donation routing and twice-yearly dumpster audits so the cadence stays the right one.
What should already be in the valet-trash line
Items we include on every Korvion proposal — and the items we expect any credible competitor to name by default:
- Single-stream recycling paired with every route, not priced as an upgrade.
- Same-day bulk dispatch — the missed-pickup coverage that logs arrival and departure at every stop, flags inside 15 minutes, dispatches an alternate truck the same day, and credits a confirmed miss on the next invoice.
- A dedicated Korvion inbox — replies within one business day, NDA on request.
Five questions to ask before you sign
Valet-trash vendors earn their margin on the line items they don’t name. Ask these in writing before the contract is signed:
- How do you log arrival and departure at the drop point — and what system reads those logs?
- What’s the policy on a missed pickup — the 15-minute flag, the same-day alternate truck, and the credit on the next invoice?
- Is the recycling stream paired with every route, or do you charge per recycling pull?
- How is the cadence set — by the dumpster capacity you have today, or by a flat schedule that ignores it?
- Will you ship a line-item breakdown — pulls, recycling stream, bulk dispatch — before any contract is signed?
A vendor who balks at any of those is the vendor who won’t defend the invoice at renewal.
The shortest version
Valet-trash pricing for apartments is unit count times cadence, plus the recycling stream priced inside the same line. If your current proposal doesn’t show both, it’s almost certainly hiding a third number somewhere on the back page.
Want ours on the record? Send the address, unit count, and current pain points to sales@korvionservices.com — we’ll reply with a tier-matched cadence and a line-item quote within a couple of business days.