Hi guys, it's been a while...I took a load of scrap to the yard last Saturday and noticed something very perculiar. I put some cast aluminum on the scale and watched to see what it read. It read 20 lbs and then went immediately to 18 pounds (minus 10 percent). Then I put some #3 copper on the scale and it read 32 lbs and immediately went to 29 lbs (minus 10 percent again).
So, at this point I'm understanding how the scale works. Everytime something is weighed, it automatically deducts 10 percent of the weight. Is this because they are protecting themselves from dirty metals or waste? Is this just merely a mechanism to cheat scrappers? Is this one scale just consistently, accurately, and continually defected?
After weigh the second load (copper) he noticed I had issues with the scale and asked me to step outside the shed. Well, too late, I already saw it. Has anyone else had this experience or is this just at this particular scrapyard? At the other scrapyard I frequent, they won't even let you see the scale reading, they physically make you walk inside a room behind the scale and look at the guy weighing the stuff through a window as the other guy records what he says for your payout ticket.
This work is kind of labor intensive and being cheated is what should happen. I do this part time, but there are people who scrap to feed their families. If the have a 2,000 lb iron load and the rate if $200.00 per ton and the scale cheats them by 10%, then that payout just went from $200.00 to $180.00 and that can make the difference between paying a mortgage or not paying one.
Sorry for the long message, please advise?
TrailerScrap
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