Charlotte is a banking city, and banking is paper with rules attached. Truist, Bank of America and Wells Fargo all run large operations here, and the credit unions, mortgage processors and wealth managers around Uptown and South End file loan packets, account forms and compliance records that eventually have to be destroyed. Atrium Health and Novant Health keep patient charts across dozens of clinics. Duke Energy and the insurers fill out the rest of the towers.
The metro spreads in every direction, and the service pattern changes with the ZIP code. Uptown, South End and SouthPark run on scheduled consoles, one per floor, collected weekly. Past the I-485 loop, in Union, Cabarrus, Iredell and York counties, it is mostly one-time truck visits for dental practices, church offices, builders and households. Pricing comes down to a per-box rate for a purge, a per-bin rate for a route, a visit charge and a minimum. On-site shredding costs more than a plant and is worth it for medical and legal files. Get a certificate of destruction every time, and pull hard drives out so they can be destroyed and logged by serial number.
Accountants and preparers fill their calendars early, so book in January. Remnants of hurricanes can flood basements and storage units in late summer and fall, and wet paper still has to be shredded once it dries or gets bagged. Spring brings office moves and estate cleanouts. In the form, give the town, the number of boxes or bins, the kind of records, and whether you want one visit or something regular.
