Need tips, and advice on trailer scrapping

Hello everyone, i am new to this forum, and scrapping as a whole. I went to college and received a BA in business. I currently work as a records management specialist, traveling all over the country 45 weeks a year. During my travels, and even locally in new england, i often see run down, old, or non-used 53' foot big rig trailers. I have always wondered if it would be worth the time and effort to try and get a small scrapping business going.

I'm open to any advice and suggestions anyone may have, especially pertaining to whether such a venture is even worth it. By the looks of some trailers that seem to not have moved in years, i would asume an arrangment or purchase of such trailers could be relatively easy. But after said purchase, the logistics are what have me wondering if it would be worth it. Some may need minor tire work to be road worthy to get them to a scrap yard. Some may have more scrap value then others. Costs may grow rapidly with all logistics involved such as paying a trucker, or renting a truck to move the trailer.

I'de be looking to try and do it with as little man hours of labor as possible. Are there scrap yards that accept full trailers (not broken down at all)? Would it only be worth it if the trailer was broken down prior to being taken to a scrap yard? Do costs and scrap values fluctuate to the point that it may not be worth it?

These are the general questions i have, and was hoping people in this forum could help me with and offer any other advice or suggestions they may have.

I thank you all for your time, and any tips you may have.

-nhquinn

Lot's of money to be made in your situation. I'd first recommend that you post an introduction. After that read, read, read, read, and then read old posts/threads. Lot's of great info on here.

I can't help ya much either, and I don't even see any "similar threads" related, but I'm sure there have been some, pertaining to this. Someone will be along who knows something about it, sooner or later, so don't lose hope in getting the information you need. In the meantime about all I can say is use the search box up there and sort through what threads you can find.

Well I can chime in on this considering I have broke down plenty of trailers over my lifetime. The problem is they are either dry van or reefer trailers. Dry van are typically wood flooring with aluminum walls and ceilings. Older dry van trailers have aluminum flooring in them that they yard will buy as extruded al. Good luck on finding them they are rare to find today but if you have someone with a large amount of storage trailers on there property that have been sitting there for years they might have a few of them. A typical dry van trailer is around 11,000 lbs some are more. The walls and ceilings are typically i think around 1700 lbs of aluminum the balance is wood and steel. I am thinking about 6,000 - 7,000 lbs of steel and the rest is trash (wood and tires). The problem with the aluminum is sometimes the sidewalls have steel screws going from the studs that hold up the walls into the walls of the trailer. You would get a breakage price for that and not aluminum sheet. The price difference could be 40 to 50 cents less then aluminum sheet. Always use a magnet when checking the walls out. The second set of problems you are going to run into is you are always competing against the local shredder they can pay 15 cents or more a lb for the trailer whole as is and shear it up in a matter or minutes and separate the frame from the undercarriage and wheels in a matter of seconds. They just take off 100 lbs for each tire on the trailer. You can roll with a trailer to yard as long as it has two good tires on it. I have done it and seen it done before. Good luck I hope this works for you. Its honestly more of a pain then its worth but if you can broker them to a yard and make a few hundred off making some phone calls and arranging trucking then do it. If not then stay away from it. Think about are you gonna transport a bobcat oxy/pro torches and a few trailer loads of material to and from a jobsite for one trailer or two. It doesn't make economical sense unless you are right around the corner from the scrap yard or your house.