Preparing your truck load to go to the scrap yard!

I am new to the scrapping environment and this forum is the best thing to make you better at scrapping.

My goal it to get the most money out of a prepared load, after I make the drop.
I had a load of all heavy iron. All heavy wall steel, no sheet metal at all. I called the yard and they quoted me approximately $250. per ton for a prepared load. Prepared Load ????? Nothing over 5 or 6 feet long. No rubber or plastic attached to the material, I need to somehow figure out Presley what they mean by a prepared load ?????

Upon exiting they paid me 235.00 I asked what did you pay me for ? The guy said I paid you for cast iron. too late to argue but once again I felt like a new bride ! WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO TO GET THE 250. PER TON PRICE??

I brought a ton of prepared cast iron. Four or five engine blocks, no steel bolts in them, several cylinder head, I remove all the valve springs and valves. A clean load of cast iron.
The guy barely came out of the scale house to look at it. Point to a section in the yard and says just toss it over there.
It was a mixed pile of steel cast iron ect.
Here is the big question AM I WASTING MY TIME PREPARING THE LOAD???????
I see guys picking up scrap, then they drive directly to the yard and dump the load unprepared, is that the way to go????

You may be wasting your time going to that yard. With the concern you have on your loads, and I certainly don't blame you for that, you need to ask them BEFORE you drop the load, what they're classing it as and what's the price

When you first called did you tell them engine blocks, heads etc? If you said heavy iron they might have not known you had engines. Half the battle may be speaking the same language

Bear is correct on telling them BEFORE unload. When I go into the yards, I TELL THEM what I have.. So If I am at one yard I'll say "#2 Insulated" or "Sheet Aluminum" when putting it on the scale. You did A LOT of work to get those engine blocks clean. If you are kind in your phrasing and wording it will work a lot better. On this particular run I would have said something to the effect of "Do I have to unload my clean engine blocks in a different place than my sheet steel?" It puts them on notice that you know what you have without sounding rude!

Call before you load.

that how we roll lol

Seems to me that you did alot of work trying to make an extra 15.00. My .02

Sometimes the unprepared price is very close to prepared pricing. Where I take mine is $5 difference. Not worth the time. These guys are right though, make sure you let them know what you have on your load before you get there that way they know what to pay you. If they jip you on price and you know its good and clean I would find a different yard to go to.

I have several yards that i go to. Some are close to my work sites some pay cash some pay better some let me bring in loads that i really dont want to have to prep and still pay good. As a rule of thumb though its best to make sure you know what you have before you take it in and when you call up to get a quote on price always get the name of the person. I had one car that i brought in and was quoted 330 for it (pick and pull junkyard) i forgot to get the guys name and when i got there they said 250 i spent 20 minutes trying to figure out who it was and when i did they guy had already left but they did go up to 280 for me so was not a total loss and still better then anyone else. But i also had one time where i called ahead gave a good description of what i had and they quoted me 20 a ton above what they were paying everyone else. When they came to check my load i told them i had already talked to **** and she quoted me *** per ton for this and she knows about everything in the load (probably the fastest i was ever in and out of a yard and no hassle or haggle. So always get the name of the person you get the quote from. It makes it harder for them to back out of it and a lot of the time they will appreciate that that you took the time before hand to save them time (remember time is money in any business)
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Cant agree more. Call ahead. Describe what you got, and ask them how they prefer it prepped, and how its classed. ASK! EVERY YARD IS DIFFERENT. Call around look for best price / load. Sometimes it pays to prep other times its a waste.

If you consistently bring in bigger loads to them or are a regular, you can even ask for a price jump from the manager or owner. It helps to be friendly, and show them you are bringing in decent loads with very little fluff or junk in them (part of the reason for lower prices for non prep loads). When they get tot know you, they take better care of you as a general rule. Also in general as noted above know what you got, who you talked to.

I have taken to making a point of having the owner / manager look over a load and give me a price / weight before running the scale. Knowing what you got, and knowing what class it is can bring you extra bargaining power. Especially if there are other yards close and you can quote same or better prices. If you plan to do this schedule it with the yard. It may piss them off if they are busy and you hold up the line while they look for a big-wig to make a decision. Needless to say pissing off the yard workers and owners results in very poor prices and invites to do business elsewhere.

I have had it work for me with non ferrous metals. I have gotten an increase of up to $0.20 / lb pretty regularly as long as I bring in a minimum amount. My regular non ferrous metal yard I use in general considers 100 lbs to be a minimum to qualify for the price jump. Keep in mind if costs them a lot more to have you bring in and have to process 20 small loads vs you bringing in 5 big loads. That is a huge difference in man hours and processing time. They will pass that on to you if you know to ask or get friendly with the powers that be in the yard.

Keep in mind it also took me almost 2 years of dealing with them regularly to get this increase. It is not normally advertised or given your first time or two through a yard. Right or wrong, it is something you know to ask for, or you do not get. Rarely they will offer it after a period of time like they did for me. I had asked several times for it, but was denied until I brought in several loads that qualified and I could show a certain level of volume being moved. I do not get my increase unless I meet these standards of load size AND CALL ahead and talk to the owner. When I get to the yard, I make sure they know I spoke to the owner and he is there.