The Purge Job

While the ultimate goal of most shredding companies is to land recurring business in the form of route customers that have signed service contracts, purge jobs can also be a lucrative source of income.

For fledgling document destruction companies, the revenue from purge jobs can account for nearly 50 percent of their total revenue. For more established businesses, purge jobs can account for 20 percent to 30 percent of the businesses’ total revenue.

While purge jobs can represent opportunities for document destruction companies, they can also bring challenges related to scheduling.

ON THE SCHEDULE. Tiffany Johnson, director of operations and business development for Cocoa, Fla.-based Progressive Document Destruction, says the company works with its clients to determine a service date and time that works best for them. "We are fortunate to have multiple on-site trucks and several options to transport material for off-site service, so we have never had to disrupt our regularly scheduled clients to accommodate a purge." She adds, "We manage our regular routes to accommodate smaller purges (less than 5,000 pounds) within service business days and larger purges within a week or two."

Progressive Document Destruction, which offers on-site and off-site services, was established in the late 1990s and performs between 25 and 60 purges in any given month. "I’m sure like most shredding companies we see an even larger number of purges between January and May as clients inventory and destroy their material that has reached the end of its retention period," Johnson says.

Titan Mobile Shredding, Doylestown, Pa., is relatively new to the shredding business. The on-site destruction company typically does 20 purge jobs per month, with a current income mix of approximately 45 percent route customers and 55 percent purges, according to Bob Leventhal, a co-owner of the firm.

"Smaller purge jobs (30 boxes or fewer) we can work into our regular route schedules," Leventhal says. "For larger jobs, we try to keep certain days (mostly Fridays and some Mondays) available for one of our trucks during the course of the month."

Thomas Caso of Shred-it’s San Diego, Calif., location, says the company, which shreds only on-site, tries to schedule most of its purge work on Fridays, because it runs fewer routes then. The company’s fleet of 19 shred trucks also affords it some flexibility in regard to scheduling. "As we have grown our fleet, we are able to spot purges in our routes during the week, also. It makes it easier for us to schedule purges."

However, Caso adds that in light of the seasonality typically associated with purge jobs, they can be difficult to schedule. "Purge business comes and goes. It’s strong in the beginning of the year, because of tax time, and at the end of the year."

Route customers make up 80 percent of Shred-it San Diego’s customers, while purge jobs represent 15 to 20 percent of the company’s business. What’s more, 96 percent of the company’s route customers are on customer service agreements.

The number of trucks or staff required for an on-site purge job can vary based on the size and scope of the job.

"I typically run one-man trucks," Caso says. However, for a larger purge job, Caso says he may send out a second person to stage material.

Shred-it San Diego has done purge jobs that required all 19 of the company’s trucks. In that case, forklift drivers were needed to bring pallets of the material out to the trucks for staging.

Titan typically uses two staffers for a purge job, Leventhal says, adding, "Each job has unique characteristics. We try to get into a rhythm, with each person doing certain things to keep the job moving as quickly as possible."

Progressive Document Destruction will typically use from one to three employees at an on-site shred, Johnson says. "The number will depend on the logistics, but most purges can be handled by one shred technician."

Determining the amount of time it will take to perform a purge is also a factor a company must consider when scheduling these jobs.

TIME OUT. "Typically, we estimate purge jobs based on box count," Caso says.

The box count also helps the company arrive at an appropriate price for the job, he says, adding that Shred-it may offer discounts to customers based on the volume of the job and the efficiencies Shred-it can realize. "It can get pretty competitive on larger volume jobs and if there is bidding on it," he adds.

One thing that is generally true with purge jobs, according to Caso, is that customers often underestimate the number of boxes they have to purge. "Typically, if a customer tells me there are more than 100 boxes, a sales man will go out to the site and do a box count. All of the boxes get a green sticker, which indicates that they are to be purged."

Leventhal can also estimate the time a job will take based on the number of boxes. "We know how many boxes, depending on the size, we can do in an hour," he says. "Once we determine how many boxes there are, we can usually formulate a fairly close estimate on the time it will take to do that particular job."

Formulas are helpful, but they aren’t always effective on their own in terms of estimating the time required for a purge. "In a perfect world, one would simply divide the total estimated weight by your machine’s throughput, add in drive time, and there’s your answer," Johnson says. "But, we don’t work in a perfect world, so we make every effort to meet with the client and evaluate the material to be shredded before scheduling. This enables us to visually inspect the material to be shredding (knowing that different types of paper shred at different rates on different machines), evaluate parking (a single-space loading dock with high traffic could require a truck being moved multiple times in the course of a purge), view logistics at the location (Is material accessible at ground floor? Do you need to remove material from binders?) and create an estimate of the actual weight for the job," she says. "These factors are key in scheduling an on-site purge and play an important role in scheduling off-site purges."

Progressive Document Destruction sees a 50/50 split between on-site and off-site purge jobs, Johnson says.

By visually inspecting the material to be shredded, Progressive Document Destruction is also able to screen for potential contaminants.

KEEPING IT CLEAN. "Contaminants and un-shreddable material are always something to watch for," Johnson says. "In our pre-shred evaluation, we discuss and view the contents of the material with the clients to detect potential contaminants. Based on our evaluation, we will send the best equipment for the type of job we are performing," she says. "The safety of our employees and our equipment is paramount, and our shred technicians are trained to detect un-shreddable material and remove it before it enters the shred system," Johnson adds.

Progressive Document Destruction does not sort for grade or purity of material being shipped to the mill during the actual shredding process, she adds.

Leventhal says Titan rarely encounters problems with un-shreddables. "We typically go over with the customer before hand what we can and cannot shred so they can get the un-shreddable items out ahead of time."

When it comes to purging items other than documents, Shred-it will typically make such customers its first stop of the day. The driver will run the media—CDs or X-rays, for example—through the shredder and then carefully clean all of the material out of the truck and bag it to prevent it from contaminating the documents the company will shred at its next stop.

Jamming of the shredder is also a potential problem that could arise during an on-site purge job; however, it is something that trained, vigilant operators can avoid.

A MEASURED APPROACH. "By evaluating the material and sending the best equipment for the job, we are able to avoid most major jamming issues," Johnson says. For instance, some of the company’s equipment does a better job processing format printed material, X-ray jackets and other non-paper items.

"Competent, trained shred technicians are important, as they can control tip amounts and shredding system functions based on the material in the bins," Johnson adds.

Jamming is rarely a problem for Titan Mobile Shredding. "Once in a great while we have a jam that the driver needs to go up into the truck to fix," Leventhal says. "We are very careful when putting the material into our bins before it goes into the shredder. We empty the contents of every box and open every plastic bag to visually inspect for items that can harm the shredder."

When done right, purge jobs offer document destruction firms the opportunity to turn a one-time customer into a regularly scheduled client. "Most of our purge jobs will lead to repeat purges with a company," Leventhal says. "We see several that lead to container placement with scheduled stops."

By keeping in contact with their purge customers, document destruction firms can facilitate the transition to regularly scheduled service. Shred-it San Diego keeps a database of its purge customers and contacts them regularly. While it seems like common sense, Caso says, it’s something a lot of document destruction companies don’t do.

"Our goal is always to convert a purge customer to an automatic customer," Caso adds.