SCRAP RECYCLING
AN ESSENTIAL UPGRADE HITCHCOCK SCRAP YARD IN ILLINOIS IS USING THE NEWLY INTRODUCED CATERPILLAR MATERIAL HANDLER TO TAKE THEIR OPERATION TO THE NEXT LEVEL BY RICK ZETTLER
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f you asked Michael Hitchcock, owner of Hitchcock Scrap Yard Inc., where his company would be roughly 40 years after investing in it, chances are he would have said he had no idea. “I was just finishing up my service in the Vietnam War, and I knew nothing about the scrap business before I got into it with my grandfather,” he says. In 1974, he purchased his grandfather’s business as a three-man operation. Today, it is now an essential business that employs approximately 50 people and ships up to 9,070 tonnes (10,000 tons) of scrap steel per month. As a rural, mid-size scrap business located in Canton, Illinois – population less than 15,000 – they have maintained consistent growth, despite weathering some harsh economic conditions. The secret to the company’s success, according to Hitchcock, is honesty. “Your word and reputation are everything,” he says. “We buy quality and treat our customers fairly.” Fuelling the company’s early growth was demolition work, which took workers across the U.S. Hitchcock crew members and equipment travelled as far as to Texas, Chicago and Pennsylvania for major demolition projects. During this time, the company developed a relationship with Caterpillar, buying from and selling scrap to the manufacturer’s foundries. It also purchased Cat 245 and 350 series excavators for demo work and Cat 730 haul trucks. “When Caterpillar came out with their semis, I immediately purchased 11 of them for my business,” recalls Hitchcock.
22 Recycling Product News July/August 2020
BUSINESS EVOLUTION
Over the years, Hitchcock’s focus has shifted from roaming the country for demolition projects to staying closer the heartland and concentrating on its industrial customers. “We still do demolition work, but we stay more local, travelling only as far as Peoria, Illinois, for projects,” he says. Instead of hauling equipment around the country, their Cat semi trucks are pulling trailers and roll-off boxes to service hundreds of industrial accounts. The company has amassed 150 trailers and 300 roll-off boxes for its industrial customers. “We serve a market area ranging from Chicago to St. Louis to the Quad Cities,” explains Hitchcock. The company’s primary product intake is industrial ferrous scrap, along with new plate and structural steel. In 2018, they added a nonferrous warehouse that includes a new in-floor conveyor for feeding a new nonferrous baler.
According to Hitchcock, a reputation for honesty, superior service and delivering a quality recycled product to its customers continues to fuel the company’s growth. “We use hand-held analyzers to check the grade of steel, so our customers who want low-magnesium steel are sure to get it.” He says much of the yard is also paved to be more welcoming to local customers, without the fear of damaging tires. The pavement also makes it easier for the company’s wheeled material handlers to navigate the yard while managing their scrap material. Early on, the operation used modified 245 and 350 excavators with tracked undercarriages to process material. In the late 1990s their business changed to Cat M325 MH Series machines, specifically designed to increase operational efficiency in scrap applications. “We fell in love with the M325 material handler,” says Hitchcock, “and we didn’t think there would be any-
