Where are all the trailers?????

Hello everybody!
I've been six months at this business. I started by working for guy that scraps trailers and has a yard where he also buys scrap metal from people that brings it from the streets. He wanted me to locate more trailers and negociate for him to buy them very cheap so he can scrap them. After several months, I was able to locate some trailers in local trucking and rental companies.

However, now i find much harder to locate them. He says he used to find groups of trailers and buy about 50 at the time. I can't locate that many. Just 2 or 3 per week. He sent me to local factories where they produce metal scrap but they already have contracts with big companies like Metal Management, etc. He says I am not looking hard enough.

My questions are: Am I not looking hard or is it that there is not a lot of trailers anymore available for scrap? One guy told me that trucking is getting better so companies rather fix their old trailers instead of sell them as scrap. Is this true?
Am I looking in the wrong places for metal scrap? Where are all the group of trailers available for scrap? Is there now a new way to buy them like auctions in the internet?
The guy has been very pacient and good. He pays me about $700.00/week. But I am afraid that he will fire me if I don't bring enough business to him.
Any suggestions will be very appreciated.
Thank you all

I wouldn't say the business is getting better, trucking profits have never been tighter. It's about Return on Investment[ROI], would you rather buy a new trailer at say a hypothetical 10,000 dollars or pay a guy 15 dollars an hour to fix your trailer, at a cost of say 1500 bucks? You can fix that trailer 8 times over before having to spend 10k.

I bet if you found him other sources of scrap...... not just trailers, he would not fire you. Think about big farms, old farms, or just places out in the country in general. Also look in weekly auto/trucking publications, some of which you may have to purchase for around $1.50. You could also see if he would be interested in old modular trailers, campers, etc. As log as you are bringing him work/money, there's no way he'd fire you. Also, with the economy the way it is, everyone thinks what they have is worth a bajillion dollars. You do have take that into consideration and become as savvy as needed.

Not only am i a ptscrapper I am also a truckdriver so i can tell you first hand that its not you, the trucking industry is suffering right now and has been for the past few years. The guy you work for says he used to get 50 or so at a time huh? Well i wonder why he lets you do it now? You dont have to answer those questions I think we all know the answer.

Yeah, and I use to get 500 pounds of #1 copper every day, too. I still could, but I'm too busy sitting in my office.

How many of those 50 trailers at a time that he used to get represented excess capacity to the industry at that time? Could be that everybody that had trailers that were worthy of scrapping has already unloaded them.

Also, a lot of old trailers used to be used for storage purposes, but these days a guy is more likely to get an old sea container for that purpose. I'd bet that the trailers he was getting back then would've otherwise spent some years as storage trailers someplace, but they went to the scrapyard early because containers are filling the storage role now. Maybe that kind of created a bubble in the supply of scrap trailers, which has now deflated...

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Originally Posted by Hypoman

I bet if you found him other sources of scrap...... not just trailers, he would not fire you. Think about big farms, old farms, or just places out in the country in general. Also look in weekly auto/trucking publications, some of which you may have to purchase for around $1.50. You could also see if he would be interested in old modular trailers, campers, etc. As log as you are bringing him work/money, there's no way he'd fire you. Also, with the economy the way it is, everyone thinks what they have is worth a bajillion dollars. You do have take that into consideration and become as savvy as needed.

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I live in the Chicago area. I will look into the country around here and also make the suggestions that you mention. I will keep you informed of the results.

Thanks Ditchdigger. That takes away some of my frustration. Thank you all you guys for your suggestions.

Mick, will you pay me $700 per week to look for copper while you sit in your office ?? I'll start packing while I wait for an advance for the trip !!

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Originally Posted by Dumpster Dee

Mick, will you pay me $700 per week to look for copper while you sit in your office ?? I'll start packing while I wait for an advance for the trip !!

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Just don't hold your breath wait for that advance.

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Originally Posted by Joe&Felix

Hello everybody!
I've been six months at this business. I started by working for guy that scraps trailers and has a yard where he also buys scrap metal from people that brings it from the streets. He wanted me to locate more trailers and negociate for him to buy them very cheap so he can scrap them. After several months, I was able to locate some trailers in local trucking and rental companies.

However, now i find much harder to locate them. He says he used to find groups of trailers and buy about 50 at the time. I can't locate that many. Just 2 or 3 per week. He sent me to local factories where they produce metal scrap but they already have contracts with big companies like Metal Management, etc. He says I am not looking hard enough.

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Your boss sounds like a complete and total tool box. More so, I don't believe this post to be entirely true. You either own a new company or you hold part of one that is in the process of coming to fruition. I highly doubt your story. Quite honestly, if I found 2-3 trailers per week, I would gladly raise the capital to purchase them and scrap them. I mean if you're going to buy them for scrap then you plan on low balling the sellers and purchasing emaciated and decommissioned ones anyway. It's not hard to pull a couple grand from thin air to make that happen. So you're either incompetent, full of it, or you're being taken advantage of. My money is on 2 of the 3.

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My questions are: Am I not looking hard or is it that there is not a lot of trailers anymore available for scrap? One guy told me that trucking is getting better so companies rather fix their old trailers instead of sell them as scrap. Is this true?

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I think you're trying to put your foot in the door in a niche market and have no idea whatsoever how to do it. We're in the middle of a recession. Large companies aren't readily throwing away their near broken assets to purchase new ones. They're refurbishing, taking advantage of warranties, and making new departments that specialize in repair and maintenance. This creates jobs, long term contracts, and gives companies a greater return on their investments overall.

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Am I looking in the wrong places for metal scrap? Where are all the group of trailers available for scrap? Is there now a new way to buy them like auctions in the internet?

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There's a ton of liquidation and government surplus auctions. However, here is what I'm not understanding, this can't be entirely factual. Were you to work for a scrap yard, you would have had better luck advertising your need for more scrap product in exchange for cold hard cash. You've failed to disclose your place of business, state any fiscal statistics, and your questions are so broad that the fact that you have never done any of this before is transparent and obvious.

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The guy has been very pacient and good. He pays me about $700.00/week. But I am afraid that he will fire me if I don't bring enough business to him.
Any suggestions will be very appreciated.
Thank you all

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Okay, if this supposed company owner who shall remain nameless from this place of business which shall also remain nameless can't afford to pay you 700 bucks, then how can he afford to buy 50 trailers? Also, if you're making 700 bucks, I.E. approaching 40k a year, then you should already know how to adequately do your job to the point you shouldn't be on here asking for hook-ups and failing to network at the beginning of the work week. This doesn't add up for me. Not at all. There's something shady in all this. You're like that creepy guy who drives past playgrounds in his panel van and offers free candy to kids.

The other thought would be now that the US opened up their border to the mexican truckers, thousands of our old trucks and trailers went south of the border, cheap

Thank you TheFatMan. Your comments give me a better idea of he is thinking. Are'nt you him? Anyway I will put your suggestions to work. By the way, the company is in Chicago and yes i am new in this. Why does he pay me that salary? I have no idea but for now i am trying to to do my best while it lasts.. I got to go back to work now.

Again, thank you.