Every gate in the Austin metro checks your tarp. Here is what each one charges.
Seven facilities take dump-truck loads in the Austin metro, and every one with a published policy requires a covered load at the gate. What they charge when you show up uncovered ranges from a $25 flat fee to double your entire disposal ticket. We pulled each fact below from the operator's own published pages — nothing secondhand — and we say plainly where an operator publishes nothing.
All hours and fees below were read from each operator's own pages on 2026-07-28. Gate rates change and websites lag — for a special trip, call first. Everything here is closed Sunday.
- Statute
- Facility policies under 30 Tex. Admin. Code §330.145 / §330.235 (TCEQ)
- Penalty
- $25–$35 flat, up to double your disposal ticket — set per facility
- Last verified
- 2026-07-28
The directory
Landfills first, then transfer stations. "Uncovered load" is what the operator publishes about arriving without a tarp — exact wording is quoted further down where it matters.
| Facility | Where | Gate hours | Uncovered load |
|---|---|---|---|
| TDS Landfill (Texas Disposal Systems) | 3016 FM 1327, Creedmoor | Mon–Sat 7:00–5:45 or sunset (their rates page; their FAQ says 7:00–7:00 — call) | $35 each |
| Travis County Landfill (Waste Connections) | 9600 FM 812, Austin | Account: Mon–Fri 6:00–5:00, Sat 6:00–12:45 · Public: Mon–Fri 7:00–4:30, Sat 7:00–12:00 | Charged double, no exceptions |
| Austin Community Landfill (WM) | 9900 Giles Rd, Austin | Dump trucks Mon–Fri 5:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Sat 7:00–12:00 | Tarp required; no fee published |
| Williamson County Landfill (WM) | 600 Landfill Rd, Hutto | Mon–Fri 7:00–5:00, Sat 7:00–12:00 | $30 fee |
| 130 Environmental Park (Republic Services) | 5200 N Hwy 183, Lockhart | Not published — call | Nothing published |
| Williamson County Transfer Station (Waste Connections) | 3180 County Road 130, Hutto | Mon–Sat 8:00–3:00 | Charged double, no exceptions |
| TDS Georgetown Transfer Station | 250 W.L. Walden Rd, Georgetown | Mon–Fri 8:00–5:00, Sat 8:00–3:00 | $25 per vehicle |
One map note that trips people up: the City of Austin's old FM 812 landfill is permanently closed. The active gate on FM 812 today is Waste Connections' Travis County Landfill — the one that charges double. The city itself runs no public gate a dump truck can haul to.
The one that charges double
Most gates charge a flat fee. Waste Connections — at both its Travis County landfill and its Williamson County transfer station — publishes the harshest policy in the metro, in these words:
ALL loads must be covered/tarped and/or secured in such a manner that no waste or debris can fly out, fall out or become airborne… Uncovered/unsecured loads will be charged double, no exceptions.Read that against a flat fee. A $35 surcharge stings; doubling the entire disposal ticket on a loaded tandem is a different order of money — and it is the gate closest to a lot of Austin work.
Why every gate does this
None of this is a facility being difficult. TCEQ rules 30 TAC §330.145 (landfills) and §330.235 (transfer stations) obligate the operator to discourage uncovered loads, and the rules themselves name "adding surcharges" as an approved tool. The full explanation — including why the duty points at the facility and not at you — is on our gate-fees page.
WM's Austin Community page goes one step further and cites the Texas Transportation Code at you directly: the same tarp that gets you through the gate is the one the road law already requires.
Gate details worth knowing before you drive
The small print that turns into a wasted trip:
- ·Everything on this page is closed Sunday. Saturday closes early everywhere — noon at the WM landfills, 12:45 at Travis County for account holders, 3:00 at the transfer stations.
- ·TDS's landfill has a 2-ton minimum on MSW/C&D loads and lists special waste (asbestos, sludge, contaminated soil) as by-arrangement only.
- ·TDS's "free tarp" line on their rate sheet is for pickup trucks, not dump trucks. Nobody is handing your tandem a free tarp at the gate.
- ·Austin Community (WM) does not publish an uncovered-load dollar amount — the WM landfill in Hutto publishes $30, but that number is Hutto's, and we are not going to guess Austin's for them.
- ·130 Environmental Park publishes neither hours nor a tarp policy, and its own website has been unreliable. Call before making that drive.
What we could not verify
Most pages in this industry state everything with equal confidence, including the parts that are wrong. Here is what we checked and could not confirm — treat these as open questions, not facts.
TDS's exact gate hours.
TDS's own pages disagree with each other: the gate-rates page says Mon–Sat 7:00 a.m.–5:45 p.m. or sunset, their landfill FAQ says 7:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. or sunset. We printed the rates-page version because it is the newer capture, but call before an end-of-day run. Their site also blocks automated readers, so both readings come from early-2026 archived copies of TDS's own pages.
An uncovered-load fee amount at Austin Community Landfill and at 130 Environmental Park.
Austin Community (WM) publishes the tarp requirement but no dollar figure; 130EP publishes nothing on covering at all. "Not published" is not "free" — expect the requirement everywhere and treat the missing number as the gate attendant's call.
130 Environmental Park's gate hours.
Republic's page publishes no hours. Caldwell County's resource sheet (undated) lists Mon–Fri 7:00–4:30 with no Saturday; we left hours out of the table rather than print an undated number as current.
Primary sources
Every claim on this page links to the government's own text. Read it yourself — that is the point.
- Texas Disposal Systems — gate rates (fees, hours, minimums)
- Travis County Landfill (Waste Connections) — hours and the double-charge policy
- Austin Community Landfill (WM) — hours and tarp requirement
- Williamson County Landfill (WM) — hours and the $30 no-tarp fee
- Williamson County Transfer Station (Waste Connections) — hours and double-charge policy
- 130 Environmental Park (Republic Services)
- 30 Tex. Admin. Code §330.145 — the state rule behind the surcharges
Last verified: 2026-07-28
This is a plain-language summary written by a tarp shop, not legal advice. We cite the primary sources so you can check us. If you are fighting a ticket, talk to a lawyer.
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