Sorting your load before you get to the yard

I am gonna vent so I want to apologize ahead of time if this offends anyone.

I visit my local scrap yard at least 4 times a week and I always see the same problem. I half way blame the yard for allowing this but I also blame the tweaks as well.

What bugs me is when you get to the scrap yard and there is a line to get in and unload. I don't mind waiting for people to unload but when you do get in and see two or three people taking up spaces because they want to strip everything off of what they have collected, it really grinds my good nature. People need to prepare there loads before they get to the yard, it is not supposed to be an all day event to unload your vehicle, collect your money and leave. I have talked to the owner of my local yard about it but since he runs two locations, and the yard is staffed with Mexican employees, the problem does not seem to get any better. I will admit, sometimes I will take a min or two and cut the power cords off of appliances I am dropping off but that is not causing people to wait. What I am talking about is these people who bring piles of crap, sort through it, stand around and talk and then try to break everything down with the wrong tools just for a little piece of copper pipe or some additional wires.



My second issue is people who walk around and look in other peoples vehicles to see what they are bringing. I actually had a guy come ask me if I would give him some metal from my load. I looked at him like he was joking and said I will give you this washing machine for that big bucket full of copper pipe. He looked at me like I was crazy and walked away. I have a hard time respecting people when they come off so stupid like that. I don't mind helping people with loads but that only happens when I have no room in my truck. I get paid first before some one else takes my profit.

Time is $$$$$$$$.[/QUOTE]

You got that right. I am the same way. I get in, get paid and get out.. If I am not scraping, I am not making any money...

It's your yard who shouldn't be allowing it. I don't know how they'd deal with it, but have seen signs "no onsite sorting allowed", probably due to the practices you're referring to, and like has been mentioned, if your yard won't deal with it, maybe time to find another yard.

I've seen people do it to some minor extent while sitting in long lines waiting for the scale. Even once was out looking over my load while waiting, on a blistering summer day, and a guy waiting nearby came over and showed me a few things i could break down better

and the yard is staffed with Mexican employees,...what does race have to do with people not sorting their loads are the non sorters also mexican,or do you just have a problem with the yard being staffed by mexicans....andrew916 ................

If you try to do break down here you will be stopped and told sell as is or told to come back. I always bust the scale guy especially close to closing time.("hey Jim , guy outside breaking AC units" he always falls for it. I figure thats because he sees it all the time. They always move people in and out quickly. I am in a small city and most times no line.

As long as Starbucks has people lined up 20 minutes to fork over five bucks for flavored coffee...

In any business, when people are willing to wait in line, management is under no pressure to make any changes. When management sees a line, they perceive that business is hopping...especially if they see the same guy willingly join that line four times a week!

Agree with the replies above, find another yard. But it seems you are partial to this one for whatever reason...so after a month, you might send the owner a letter via US Mail explaining your departure, and attach photocopies of all your slips from his competitor. Explain that it is the business the competitor got while the wannabees were sorting screws in his yard.

Everything I get is sorted and broken down when i bring it home or a week later, Depending on how lazy i feel like being. I see guys braking things down at the yard when i get there and are still doing it when im leaving. The stupidest thing i saw was a guy smashing 2 large plastic spools of wire the size of 5 gallon buckets with a sledge, Why wouldn't he just unravel it? Or strip it for that matter?

Originally Posted by greytruck

The stupidest thing i saw was a guy smashing 2 large plastic spools of wire the size of 5 gallon buckets with a sledge, Why wouldn't he just unravel it? Or strip it for that matter?

Depending on how much wire there was, that could potentially be a faster method. It's the same idea behind not unraveling TV yokes. Just smash/separate. However, these clowns should be doing it on their own time, not holding up other people from getting in and out in a timely manner.

When my storage space was just the back of my truck, I spent minutes instead of seconds on unloading. Having a scrap space in my yard makes some difference. I expect big containers will make a bigger difference. Cheap and free containers can be found on craigslist, but they may be listed as trash, garbage, refuse, or storage bins, cans, boxes, barrels, or containers, in household, farm & garden, tools, or general, so searching all of those terms in all of those sections takes some time that I'd rather spend scrapping. If I search for barrel, I always get a few results of "wheel barrel."

I never sort at the yard. From time to time a bigger piece of alum may get thrown in the back of the truck on a shred run (thanks to my neighbors kid, who struggles to identify metals) and i'll throw it on the side to bring back home...but even if I pick up a truckload of stuff, and something that needs to be broken down winds up buried under shred, i'll unload the truck in my driveway to get the item out.

Originally Posted by andrew916

I am gonna vent so I want to apologize ahead of time if this offends anyone.

I visit my local scrap yard at least 4 times a week and I always see the same problem. I half way blame the yard for allowing this but I also blame the tweaks as well.

What bugs me is when you get to the scrap yard and there is a line to get in and unload. I don't mind waiting for people to unload but when you do get in and see two or three people taking up spaces because they want to strip everything off of what they have collected, it really grinds my good nature. People need to prepare there loads before they get to the yard, it is not supposed to be an all day event to unload your vehicle, collect your money and leave. I have talked to the owner of my local yard about it but since he runs two locations, and the yard is staffed with Mexican employees, the problem does not seem to get any better. I will admit, sometimes I will take a min or two and cut the power cords off of appliances I am dropping off but that is not causing people to wait. What I am talking about is these people who bring piles of crap, sort through it, stand around and talk and then try to break everything down with the wrong tools just for a little piece of copper pipe or some additional wires.

My second issue is people who walk around and look in other peoples vehicles to see what they are bringing. I actually had a guy come ask me if I would give him some metal from my load. I looked at him like he was joking and said I will give you this washing machine for that big bucket full of copper pipe. He looked at me like I was crazy and walked away. I have a hard time respecting people when they come off so stupid like that. I don't mind helping people with loads but that only happens when I have no room in my truck. I get paid first before some one else takes my profit.

When hauling non-ferrous I always have all of my buckets labeled, weighed and graded. When I load the trailer I group the various containers so it is easier to unload. If I am hauling 1500-2000# I can be on the scales, weighed and paid within @ 20-30 minutes. There always seems to be someone that wants to cut in line because they have a little bit and don't want to wait their turn. I've seen it in NC, Fla. and Tenn. I did haul an old boat trailer once that still had the rims and tires on. The guy told me I could pull out across the street in an empty lot and remove those and return. Otherwise I would have been docked for the rubber. I like to make it easy on me as well as the guys at the yard, and sometimes it pays off. I got a premium payout the other day above the normal price paid. I have gotten where I'm selling all my non-ferrous to one yard.

Scrappers first world problem

I got a better question since I was apparently on vacation when this thread was started with no internet or phone. Yeah it was great. WHY ARE THEY LETTING PEDDLERS BREAK DOWN MATERIAL AT THE YARD PERIOD. You should have that done at home or your place of business before you cross the scale and enter the unloading area. I would flip out if I saw a roll off or lugger truck waiting to unload because someone was snipping off wires or a copper pipe. Do it somewhere else. People also do this at the retail non ferrous area to. They constantly get yelled at because its taking up time should have been done already. Example pulling off a pipe or piece of metal off a ACR so they get a clean price and not dirty. That really irritates me.