Total Shred
PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY...one SHRED at a time

Frequently Asked Questions

The types of files, information and other data that TSS recommends a company should destroy are as follows:
Anything you want kept private. Classified Documents, Contracts, Competitive Intelligence, Product Proposals, Bids & Quotations, Medical Records, Payroll Records, Legal Documents, Maps & Blueprints, Inventory, Outdated Business Records, Misprints, New Product Proposals, Invoices, Account Records/Ledgers, Financial Records, Personnel Records, Meeting Minutes, Marketing Development, Customer Lists, Bank Statements, Estimates, Tax Records, Confidential Memos, R &D Reports, Price Lists, Advertising, Development, Computer Print Outs, Advertising, Cancelled & Blank Checks, Confidential Correspondence, Patent Application Materials.

Q: Why shred?
A: For the same reason you lock your car doors, use passwords, and PIN's, and secure your home.

Q: We use an office shredder, why change?
A: A 4-drawer file holds about 300 lbs. of documents. A substantial office shredder strip-cuts 20 lbs/hour. At that rate it would take an employee 12-15 hours to do what we do in 3 minutes!

Q: How do I know everything has been destroyed?
A: Clients are encouraged to view the shredding process thru our exclusive "witness window". The need for verification and regulation compliance has never been greater and in this business seeing the process completed is added security!

Q: Do your employees ever see our documents?
A: Unlike hand-fed shredding, your documents are never seen or touched by anyone at Total Shred. Locked containers are wheeled to our mobile unit, raised hydraulically, and automatically fed into the shredding system.

Q: What happens to the material once it leaves our facility?
A: All of the shredded paper is taken to a paper mill where it is recycled.

Q: How quickly can you respond to our request for shredding, and how much can you shred in an hour?
A: Typically we respond within 48 hours. Please call for special evening or weekend needs. Our Mobile On-site unit is capable of shredding 5,000 pounds per hour.

Q: Do you offer off-site services?
A: Yes we do. But we highly recommend that we destroy at your site to ensure the best possible security and eliminate liability issues.

Q: Can you destroy other types of material besides paper?
A: Yes, included among the other media that can be destroyed are diskettes, VHS and 8mm tape, microfilm, microfiche, CDs, credit cards and ID cards.

Q: Should we remove the paperclips, staples and fasteners from documents and files?
A: Not necessary, our industrial strength shredder can destroy these types of material.

Q: Those bankers boxes are expensive, may we keep them?
A: Yes, simply empty the contents into a secure storage bin.

Q: What is the cost of the key-locked security bins?
A: As a part of our system, they are free.

Q: Do you require a contract?
A: No we do not for purge or clean out service, but we do recommend a service agreement for our monthly scheduled clients for their own compliance documentation program.

Q: Do you provide a Certificate of Destruction (COD), and does it eliminate our legal responsibility and liability?
A: Yes, we provide a COD immediately following the completion of the requested shredding. However, the COD is merely to support documentation for your Records Manager and retention program and demonstrates you adhered to the government requirements.