Riding the high mountain passes between Steamboat Springs and Farmington, N.M., is Scott Fasken, owner of Colorado Document Security, in one of his two paper-shredding trucks.
Fasken, 56, got the idea for his business on TV: “I was watching the news, and one of these shredding trucks pulled up to Enron, and I said, ‘What is that?”‘
So Fasken and his wife, Jill, started a mom-and-pop shredding operation in Palisade, near Grand Junction.
For the past three years, business has been booming. On a good day, their company might shred 20,000 pounds of paper.
From Dumpster-diving methamphetamine freaks to international identity- theft rings, the world has become a dangerous place for office refuse. Fasken’s company shreds papers on site so his clients can watch them be destroyed.
“People are nervous about this stuff,” Fasken said. “Companies that have data breaches usually fire the people who were in charge. … So if there’s a data breach, people want that ability to say, ‘No, no, no. It didn’t come from me.”‘
Fasken stops at banks, law firms, medical offices, ski resorts, liquor stores, lube shops, bowling alleys – anywhere credit-card numbers might be used.
Much of this business came to a grinding halt Feb. 1 when a shredding gear failed in Fasken’s other $200,000 truck. The gear is 12 inches in diameter and weighs 120 pounds. Without it, the shredder – a marvel of mechanics, hydraulics and computers – is useless. And half of Fasken’s business is down.
Fasken said his mechanic found the $3,000 part in Alberta, Canada. The manufacturer shipped it via UPS. But the order got snagged at U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Ohio.
Fasken said Customs would not release the shipment until he produced a valid tax ID number from his business. Fasken thought the number he had provided was valid. In fact, he had recently used it on a shredding job he did for the IRS.
Days passed as Fasken and his wife dealt with bureaucracies. Losing money by the hour, Fasken called U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo. Salazar’s staffers worked on the problem for nearly a week. On Tuesday, Salazar sent a letter to an assistant Customs commissioner: “Please advise on how my constituent can avoid this kind of costly delay.”
On Wednesday, Fasken called me: “My truck can’t generate revenue. … How can they expect to tax me when I can’t earn?”
I contacted William Anthony, a spokesman for Customs in Washington.
“We look into things like this all the time,” he said. “We want everyone to know that our priority mission is not only to keep terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country but also to facilitate the flow of legitimate trade.”
To fix a glitch like this in a timely manner, it’s good to know a guy named Joe in Miami. In my case, that would be Joe Charlton. Joe is an import-export specialist who works for a German-owned company called Dachser Transport of America Inc. I told Joe about Fasken’s problem at 5 p.m. Miami time Wednesday.
“I can fix this today,” Joe said.
Knowing what Fasken, Salazar and UPS had been through, I was skeptical. Joe and I were college drinking buddies, and I have suffered many of his boasts.
“I know all about plant-shutdown situations,” Joe said. “You don’t want stuff held up for stupid reasons. The economy is depending on it. … Just tell the guy to call me. … Two old college buddies will save the world.”
I told Fasken that Joe had offered to fix his problem for free. A little later, I received an e-mail from Fasken. “Joe Rules!” it said. “In under 30 minutes the world has changed. He is faster and more powerful than a congressman’s staff!”
I called Joe. He laughed: “There’s more than one way to skin a cat, my friend.”
Joe had asked Fasken to certify himself as the importer of record, instead of his business. This allowed Fasken to use his Social Security number instead of his problematic business ID number.
The problem with the business ID number may take weeks more to resolve. But Fasken now expects to have his shredding truck back on the road by Monday.
The cogs of business will keep turning, and Colorado will be a more secure place for documents – thanks to Joe in Miami.
Al Lewis’ column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Respond to him at denverpostbloghouse.com/lewis, 303-954-1967 or alewis@denverpost.com.
