Getting what you deserve at scrap yard (keep them honest)

Ronald Reagan is known for the term "Trust but verify" when dealing with the Soviet Union in reducing nuclear weapons. If its good enough for Ronnie its good enough for me. Mike

if you have a large truck you can go to a weigh station to check your weight.....not to sure if you can drive anything else on there.

Originally Posted by DAVECCT

if you have a large truck you can go to a weigh station to check your weight.....not to sure if you can drive anything else on there.

As a retired driver, stay away from the state run weigh stations or you will have trouble you really don't want. They can legally pull a state inspection on any "truck" especially if they have some sort of load on.
I have seen fines for $100. per clearance light out, and bad steer tires are usually good for $500. fine, etc.
I once seen a rv hauler (delivery driver) rack up over $5000. in fines for pulling onto a scale he shouldn't have. In Ind. our trucks were considered under size but we had to have our dot # and state stickers in view as we went past.

For weights I would suggest go to a farm grain elevator, like a county co-op, those are state or county certified.
We used to drive our racecar down to the local co-op to see how much we had lightened it.

I used to go to the sole ownership yard that 'everyone goes too'. Its the biggest and you know how sometimes you just use the same place that everyone else uses...
Like, some businesses, as soon as you start talking about the subject, if its tyres, car parts, electtical goods etc etc, as soon as its mentioned there's someone who says "I go to xxxxx's, use them"
Well, I always did, even thought it was the furthurest away place out of 3, just a habit I guess.

When I get there, there's a rush and like three workers are standing there resdy to help me unload, put stuff on scales, remove stuff from scales etc, and one to do the total and write it down.
Well, its nice to help me, but after having to correct them when the metals went on in the wrong order etc, ie, 2 sacks Ali then 1 brass and there's a third sack of Ali that should have gone on with the first two..."oh, its OK, we will add it to the first two......"

Well, in NZ we use metric, 1Kg's. I take it for granted that with every 'scale up' I loose 0.6Kg..... By seperating the ' scale ups' they gain the 0.6Kg per 'scale up'.
Three scale ups = 1.8Kg, or 4lbs for you imperialists. Do that with brass or copper and I'm loosing $$.

But, after thinking about this I relise some of the workers who come to help, are just standing around.
Then once, its raining, so I scoot into the shed beside the scales, they tell me to "go because no one else is allowed in the shed."
OK, safety laws and stuff.....

Then, because I'm broke I start weighing my metal before I go in. That's when I relise my bags are now 3Kgs less than what I weigh them at...
And there's a guy at the shed door doing some hand signals ......

Then, last time I went, there's 3 guys, one is in the shed somewhere, one in the doorway, one helping me...
I'm looking at the scales... and they read 12kg, the guys hand moves, scales 11, then scales 10, guys hand moves again, scales 11, hand moves, scales 10, then 9kg......

Now, I weighed it at home @12Kg. It got 9kg at the scrapdealers..... that's a big difference. 3kg =6lbs.....= NZ$20....

So, I don't go there now. This was 3 yrs ago... I told a few people who asked why. At the time I figured they had a electromagnet under the scales, under the concrete, the guy in the doorway directing the guy inside.

Then yesterday I was telling someone and relised it was not that tricky...

The guy inside has a lever stuck thru the shed wall and is lifting the scale platform...... That's why the guys hand was moving so much, same with the scales. Up too 12, down, then up , the down again. They mucked up the 'up/down' movements!!!!

So, I now go to the big brandname scrapmetal dealers.. The one we all know, NZ, Oz, USA, same brand.

They cannot afford to be seen as dishonest. They are constantly onguard against theft, inside and outside their company.
Their numbers have to match from the scales to unloading the barge at the end user.

Every single time I go there, my weights match exactly. Every time 100%.

Certified public scales (the one's that don't give fines or tickets) are located at a lot of truck stops near interstate highways. As Mechanic said a lot of agricultural operations (almost any grain processing plants), also logging and sawmills yards. The best way to find one, Penske the truck renting company. They have a on-line locator site and here's their link ( Certified Public Scale Locator). Just enter your zip code and hit the enter key (that's how I do it). I would if a phone number is provided call ahead, inquire about best time to use the scale, scale access and if there is a charge (usually there is). Some of the commercial scales have a peak busy time and they will not want to be troubled if you interrupt their own operation. Most important thing to remember, drive on/off scale slowly and don't move onto scale until any other vehicle has cleared the scale (unless you like pissing people off). Some scales utilize a green/red light system that regulate movement onto scale. Make sure you get a green before coming onto scale (remember the pissing thing? ). Internet = easy or wasting gas/diesel = $$$

Originally Posted by harsas

I have been using the same yard for 20 plus years. It was originally a locally owned yard but sometime back it was snapped up by a large corporation. For a long time I had to watch them very closely. They would cut my weight and improperly categorize my metal. Their favorite was to call aluminum (that I had personally cleaned) irony. Anyway, it was always stressful. Suddenly, about two years ago, things started to change. Maybe new management but now the scales are all computerized so there is no messing with the weight and instead of trying to cheat me on my metal they actually go through it with me, explaining how I can better separate it to make more money. It is like a whole new place. Lots of help and friendly people instead of grumps. It has become a pleasure working with them now.

I wonder if it has to do with the coming of competitors that were not there before...

That's how my yard is. They actually help me sort and re-sort if I screwed something up and will tell me. It seems like a win-win. The better I sort, the more money I get and less time they have to take to sort it themselves. It's a big company with lots of cameras and higher-ups around most of the time so there's not much room to try and screw people over. I also feel like if you're willing to ask questions and learn, they're more apt to work with you than against you.

Yelp and other sites give ratings for any business (including yards). Most scrappers work hard for what they turn in and expect to be paid accordingly. If a yard were to treat me poorly I would be the first one on rating sites and social media to give an honest assesment of their ethics, enough bad publicity may convince them to change their methods and treat people right, or at least warn the next guy.. JM $.02.

Originally Posted by Ironhunter

Yelp and other sites give ratings for any business (including yards). Most scrappers work hard for what they turn in and expect to be paid accordingly. If a yard were to treat me poorly I would be the first one on rating sites and social media to give an honest assesment of their ethics, enough bad publicity may convince them to change their methods and treat people right, or at least warn the next guy.. JM $.02.

You just gave me an idea...