Scrap Metal Business Relies On Atlas Material Handlers

Wed December 01, 2021
Linder Industrial Machinery

Founded in 1893, Charleston Steel & Metal Co. has a long history in the Charleston, S.C., area.

Horse-drawn wagons originally delivered scrap metal to founder Samuel Steinberg's backyard on King Street. The business has been passed down through four generations and continues to be family owned and operated.

Currently, Samuel's grandson Bernard Steinberg is the CEO of the scrap recycling facility in North Charleston, and Samuel's great-grandson Jonathan Steinberg is the president.

"Our facility takes in recyclable steel, copper and aluminum," said Operations Manager Michael Hardie. "We sort it, cut it, and then we send it back to the mills where they melt it down and start the recycling process over again. We have a streamlined process and run our operation to be as efficient as possible."

To sort material, Charleston Steel & Metal Co. utilizes two Atlas 300 MH material handlers and an Atlas 350 MH material handler. The Atlas 300 MH features a 47-ft.-2-in. reach, while the Atlas 350 MH provides a 59-ft.-9-in. reach. The extendable cab space on all three machines allows operators to safely move about the scrap yard and handle the diverse metals on-site.

"We added the Atlas 300 MH two years ago, and it's been dependable," said Hardie. "There's been minimal downtime with the machine. That enticed us to add the second 300 and a 350 machine.

"We use all three machines for various purposes," said Hardie. "Primarily they're used to load and unload any trucks that arrive on-site. We also use them to load scrap into shears that cut the steel down to smaller sizes, as well as general cleanup around the yard."

Local Service Important

When looking for a new material handler, finding a dealer with local service was important. Charleston Steel & Metal Co. chose to partner with Linder Industrial Machinery Company, which has an office in nearby Ladson, S.C., and Tim Hyland, a Linder and SMH Group sales representative.

"Having a local service provider instead of waiting on an out-of-state service has been very helpful for us," explained Hardie. "Linder has great liaisons that go between service and sales and go the extra mile to get us the parts we need. In an industry like this, if we're not producing steel to go to the scrap mill, we're losing money. Linder does a good job of servicing our machines to maximize uptime and keep us profitable."

(Reprinted with permission from CPI-Linder Link Magazine.)