While it's nice to go to the local yard close by, they don't pay well. 5 cents a pound for shred, 10 cent a pound for alum breakage, etc... The local yard is 11 miles from me, but parents live only 3 miles from the local yard and I need to go there about once a week. So, it's only an extra 6 miles or maybe a half gallon of gas extra, call it $2.00 to run to the local yard.

The next closest yards are all in the 20-22 miles from home range, call it 42 miles round trip, or about 3 gallons of gas, $11.00 abouts. They pay 8 cents a pound for shred, and better on everything else and take more stuff, but the 8 cents a pound for shred is the important number for my trips.

Usually I have been hauling in about 500 pounds of shred a week. The extra 3 cents a pound gets me an extra 15 dollars. That is more than the $9.00 extra that it cost me to get to the new yard, so it equals $6 more profit, but at the cost of an extra 36 miles wear and tear on the truck, and an extra hour of my time. I'm not liking those numbers.

If I bring in a ton, 2000 pounds, a big load for my Ranger and trailer, at 3 cents more a pound, equals an extra $60, minus expenses, works out to be $51 more than going to the local yard. Extra worries doing it this way include towing the trailer, and having to pile up a ton of shred in the driveway for a month that the neighbors might not appreciate. Plus the little old Ranger's tranny doesn't like hauling a ton.

For the extra $51 a month, I'm thinking it isn't worth it. The extra hassles from the extra trip, and the sight of a big pile of shred in my driveway, just isn't that appeasing to me.


Is my math correct? Would you do the same?