Transfer trailers typically hold about 100 cubic yards and thus can accomodate three to five packer loads or many pickup loads. Although some transfer stations of this type are not enclosed in a building, the winds in Nebraska make an enclosure desirable. A tipping floor dumping transfer station is similar to a direct dumping station except it has additional space for trucks to discharge their waste on a concrete tipping floor for inspection and emergency storage. A front loader with a bucket is required to push the waste from the floor into the transfer trailer. A pit-dumping station has a large pit into which several trucks can unload simultaneously.
Some stations have tractors in the pit to push the waste into transfer trailers.
Others like Lincoln, NE, have a pit with a walking floor in the bottom of the pit. They normally have a net-type cover which prevents debris from being blown out of the trailer during travel. They also have a walking floor or a push blade to unload the waste. A clamshell or backhoe is desirable, but not mandatory, to attain maximum payload, level the load, and extract undesirable material. Using the compactor station, the waste is unloaded or pushed into the hopper of a stationary compactor and then into a completely enclosed transfer trailer or roll-off container.