01
It goes into a locked container
We supply the consoles and bins at no charge. Once your paper is inside, nobody opens them but us.
Home/How it works
Chain of custody
Four steps, and you can watch all four.
The whole argument for on-site paper shredding is that there is no gap in the story — no leg of the journey where your documents are somewhere you cannot see them.
Chain of custody
02
The lift empties it into the truck
Our driver wheels the container out and the lift tips it straight into the hopper. Nobody handles the contents.
03
It is destroyed in your lot
The blades run while the truck is parked at your building. You are welcome to stand there and watch the whole thing.
04
All that is left is confetti
Chip-cut into particles and baled for recycling. There is nothing left in there to put back together.
The difference
Off-site shredding has a gap in the middle.
A plant-based shredder takes your files away in a truck, holds them at a facility, and destroys them at some point after that. Every one of those steps is a point where you are taking somebody's word for it.
- Where it happens
- In your parking lot, at your address, with the truck's engine running.
- When it happens
- While you are standing there, not later that week at a facility.
- Who handles it
- Nobody. The lift tips the locked container straight into the hopper.
- What comes out
- Chip-cut particles, baled for recycling. Nothing legible.
Common questions
What people ask before the first visit.
Do we have to remove staples, paper clips and binder clips?
No. Leave everything in. Our shredders take paper clips, staples, binder clips, rubber bands and hanging folders without complaint. Pulling fasteners out of files is the biggest single waste of staff time in this industry and it buys you nothing.
Can we watch?
Yes, and we would rather you did. That is the point of the service. Stand by the truck for as long as you like — some clients send someone out for every visit, some come out once at the start of the relationship and never again.
What kind of containers do you provide?
Locking consoles that sit in an office like a filing cabinet, and larger locking bins for higher-volume areas and storage rooms. They come at no charge as part of a scheduled service. Once your paper is inside, nobody opens them but us.
How much does it cost?
One thing has a set price: dropping boxes off at our facility is $10 a box. Everything else is priced per job on volume and location, because most of what a visit costs is the driving and that is not the same for a customer on an established route as it is for one we come out to alone. Send the form or call and we will give you a firm number rather than a range.
Can we just bring it to you instead?
Yes — $10 a box, no account and no contract. It is the right answer when you have a few boxes and no reason to book a truck. Call (405) 601-3421 before you set off: we are a working yard rather than a shop counter, so a quick call means somebody is there to meet you. More on drop-off.
Will the price go up once we have signed?
Not by itself. There is no automatic annual increase written into our agreements, and no fuel surcharge, environmental fee or minimum-weight adjustment turning up on a later invoice. A low headline rate that fills out afterwards is a cheap way to win a contract and a fast way to lose a customer. If something genuinely has to change, you hear it from Pat, with a reason, before it happens.
Do you actually do the work, or do you subcontract it?
We do it. Shred-Away owns the trucks and employs the people driving them, so the truck that pulls up is ours and the price you agreed is the price we are working for. Some national and international companies sell the contract and then find a local operator to carry it out — which is fine until something goes wrong and nobody is quite sure whose customer you are.
How often should we be serviced?
Whatever keeps the containers from overflowing. Our accounts run from daily to monthly. If you are not sure, start monthly — it is easy to move up, and the volume tells you within a couple of visits.
What happens to the shredded paper?
It is chip-cut into particles and baled for recycling. There is nothing left in a bale to reconstruct.
Do you shred hard drives too?
Yes, and we do it on the truck rather than collecting them and taking them away. Drive destruction can run on the same visit as your paper, so it is one appointment instead of two. More on that here.
Is this suitable for medical, legal and financial records?
Yes. On-site destruction is the simplest answer to a records-retention or HIPAA question, because there is no interval where the documents are out of your sight to account for.
Still have a question? Ask a person.
Get a quote
Tell us what you’ve got.
Send the form and we’ll come back with a firm price — the number we quote is the number you pay.