From Old Records to Love Letters, All Are Grist for Mobile Shredders

BOSTON —  Thousands of credit cards, mismanufactured sneakers and an armful of love letters have been safely destroyed by giant shredders on wheels that are making a fair amount of money for a New England company.

Data Destruction Services Inc. grew on the premise that a mobile shredder would allow clients to have their secrets destroyed on a massive scale while maintaining control and privacy.

Since the first trucks, known as Data-Graters, took to the streets in 1982, the company has shredded the papers of more than 2,000 clients, says Richard Hannon, company founder and president. Customers include 400 banks, a New York City publisher and sneaker manufacturer Reebok International Ltd.

“We used them to shred designs and outdated research that was still confidential,” said Kate Burnham, a spokeswoman for Reebok. “The industry we’re in is very competitive, and when people get hold of a design there’s a lot of counterfeit product.”

Hannon said the trucks ordinarily mince paper and can process more than two tons an hour. But it’s not always paper.

Banks use the shredders to destroy unused and discarded credit cards. A company that made cameras was discontinuing a product line and hired Data Destruction to chop the remainders rather than let them get into the marketplace.

Another sneaker company didn’t want sneakers with mismanufactured soles to go into a landfill intact because people would take them out.

Hannon said calls sometimes come from individuals, although a house call with a Data-Grater can be a lot more expensive than other forms of disposal. The most curious assignment came from a Boston resident, he said.

“We did love letters for a prominent person on Newbury Street,” recalled Hannon, who would not disclose the client’s name. “They just stood there and watched. It was about an armful.”

The company has five vehicles, each about the size of a municipal garbage truck, that both shred and haul away the resulting refuse to a landfill.

The company charges 16 cents a pound for shredding at its headquarters, with a $50 minimum. When the truck makes a house call so a client can oversee the operation, it costs 20 cents a pound, with a $100 minimum.

Hannon said projected revenues for this year will top $1 million, with profits probably around 30%. He said the firm made $820,000 and had profits of just under 30% last year.

So far, the number of customers is doubling each year, Hannon says.

The firm’s biggest single customer is the state of Massachusetts. At least nine of the state’s departments use the shredders to destroy winning lottery tickets, old food stamps and confidential records.

This year Data Destruction was chosen by the Small Business Assn. of New England to receive the New Englander award, in honor of industry excellence and innovation as well as sales performance and growth.

To get there, Hannon and his partner, Albert Tenney, did not shy away from taking advantage of images they thought could propel shredding into high vogue.

Hannon said customers started noting that an administrator at Data Destruction bears a strong resemblance to Fawn Hall, the secretary who helped Lt. Col. Oliver North shred documents during the Iran-Contra scandal.

“We would get accused of having Fawn Hall at all our trade shows,” he said.