ResourcesGlossary
Valet trash, defined
Plain-English definitions for the terms operators, property managers, and porters actually use.
- Valet trash
- Nightly doorstep trash collection offered as an apartment amenity. Residents place bagged trash in a container at their door during a set window; porters collect it and carry it to the property’s compactor or dumpsters. Also called doorstep trash service, doorstep collection, or trash valet.
- Porter
- The person who performs nightly collection — walking the route, collecting from each doorstep, photographing service, and flagging violations. Some national providers brand porters as “service valets” or “butlers.”
- Doorstep collection
- The core valet trash service: collection from each unit’s door rather than from a central location. Distinct from curb-to-bin service, where carts are moved between curb and collection point at single-family homes.
- Set-out window
- The time range (commonly 6–8 PM) when residents must place their trash container at the doorstep for collection. Trash set out after the window is a common violation type.
- Route
- The ordered set of units and service points a porter services in one shift at a property. Routes have schedules (typically five nights a week), start windows, and completion rules.
- Route-night
- One porter servicing one route on one night — the industry’s natural unit of labor. Operators price porter pay and measure workload in route-nights.
- Service day
- The calendar date a route is scheduled to, in the property’s local time. All of a night’s activity belongs to its service day even when work runs past midnight.
- Proof of service
- Evidence that collection actually happened: timestamped photos at the doorstep, GPS/geofence verification, and service records — typically delivered to the property manager in a morning report. The capability property managers now expect from any provider.
- Geofence verification
- Confirming a porter was physically on-site by checking the device’s GPS position against a virtual boundary around the property when service is logged.
- Missed pickup
- A doorstep that should have been serviced but wasn’t — the most common complaint against valet trash providers and the fastest way to lose a contract. Detection (not just denial) is the operator’s job.
- Violation
- A resident breach of the property’s trash rules: loose or unbagged trash, bags outside the container, overweight bags, hazardous waste, oversized items, late set-out, and similar. Professional operators document violations with required photos and report them to management.
- Lease addendum
- The rental agreement attachment that makes valet trash rules (and usually the amenity fee) enforceable — set-out windows, container rules, prohibited items, and violation consequences.
- Morning report
- The daily service report a property manager receives after each service night: completion data, photo evidence, violations, and exceptions. The single most important retention artifact in the business.
- Service point
- A non-unit stop on a route: compactor, dumpster, trash chute, recycling area, pool, or amenity area that porters service or photograph.
- Pre/post checks
- Photos of the compactor or dumpster area taken before and after a route — proof the property was left clean and a defense against “the porters made the mess” disputes.
- Go-back (comeback)
- A return trip to service a doorstep that was missed or set out late — terminology popularized by national providers’ resident apps.
- Ancillary income (NOI)
- Property revenue beyond rent. Valet trash is a classic ancillary amenity: residents commonly pay $25–$35/month while the property pays the operator roughly $8–$15 per door, with the spread contributing to net operating income.
- Per-door pricing
- The standard operator billing model: a monthly rate per unit under service, typically with occupancy adjustments, rather than a flat property fee.
- Curb-to-bin
- Adjacent service model for single-family and build-to-rent communities: moving residents’ carts between the curb and the home on collection days.
- Trash-out
- Clearing all trash and belongings from a vacated unit — a common add-on service operators sell alongside nightly collection, along with bulk hauling and pressure washing.
Now see it all in one product
Proof of service, violations, morning reports, and the porter app — on a live tour.