Shredding terms, defined.

C

Certificate of destruction (COD)

A numbered document proving material was destroyed. The thing your clients file and ask for.

Example: COD-2026-00412

Chain of custody

The recorded trail from pickup to destruction, with a time and a person at each step.

Example: Picked up, received at plant, destroyed

Console

A locked cabinet with a slot, placed in an office for confidential paper.

Example: Executive console by the copier

Container

Any locked console or wheeled bin placed at a client's site, owned by you or the client.

Example: 2 consoles and a 64-gallon bin

Container type

A kind of container and its size.

Example: 32, 64 or 96-gallon bin

Contact

A person at a customer or site, such as the site contact, billing contact or certificate recipient.

Example: Office manager who receives certificates

Customer

A client account that gets billed. One customer can have many sites.

Example: A law firm with three offices

D

Depot or plant

Where trucks start and end the day, and where off-site material is shredded.

Example: Main plant

Destruction batch

One plant shredding run that destroys material from one or more off-site jobs.

Example: Plant run, Nov 11, 2:00 PM

F

Fuel surcharge

A percentage added to certain charges to cover fuel costs.

Example: 4% on route services

H

Helper

The second person on a truck, recorded on the service record.

Example: Helper: Sam

I

Invoice

A bill to a customer, either per job or rolled up for the month.

Example: November service invoice

J

Job

One planned visit to do work at a site. Also called a work order or ticket.

Example: Tuesday visit to a dental office

N

Not-serviced reason

Why work at a stop wasn't done. Protects you in “you missed my bin” disputes.

Example: Office closed, no access

O

Off-site shredding

Material is collected and shredded later at your plant.

Example: Bins hauled back to the plant

On-site shredding

Material is shredded in the truck at the client's location, often while they watch.

Example: Shred truck at the curb

P

Pickup receipt

Proof that off-site material was collected. It starts the chain of custody.

Example: Receipt emailed from the stop

Price rule

How a service is priced for your company, a customer or a single site.

Example: $18 per 64-gallon bin serviced

Purge

A one-time cleanout of stored records, priced per box, per pound or flat.

Example: 40 boxes of old files

R

Route

One truck's ordered list of stops for a day, with a driver and optional helper.

Example: Truck 2, Wednesday, 22 stops

S

Service plan

A recurring schedule for a site.

Example: Every other Tuesday, 3 containers

Service record

What actually happened at a stop: times, quantities, photos, signature and notes.

Example: 3 containers serviced, 9:42 to 9:51 AM

Service type

Something your company sells.

Example: Scheduled service, purge, hard drive destruction

Site

A physical service address belonging to a customer.

Example: Second floor, 100 Main St

Stop

A job's place on a route.

Example: Stop 7 of 22