The place [just off the blue route, near Plymouth Meeting] was industrial. 's Toyota pickup looked like a toy compared to the dualie F150s driven by contractors and the out-and-out trucks owned by demolition companies. The yard took our business but our $40 of scrap might have been more trouble than it was worth when you consider some of the other patrons were hauling $10k of steel.
The place was all business so I didn't get a chance to talk to the operators. Civilians are allowed but the setup isn't friendly to small timers like us. The first step (after you ask a forklift guy what the first step is) is to get in line behind the other trucks to go on the scale. The scale is an industrial number buried into the ground like you would see at highway tractor trailer weigh stations. Then you dump the scrap and then you get in line to get weighed again. The price for "light iron" (mixed consumer scrap) is about $0.10 a pound. You pay them $10/ea for fridges but you get back some money for the poundage.
Even if you don't have scrap it is worth visiting a scrap yard just to see the machines and people in action. The workhorse is a crane with a big magnet on it. The one I saw was untethered - all the electricity was generated by the diesel engine on its back. The crane pulls scrap from a pile and drops it onto a ramp behind a tractor trailer. A little bobcat pushes the scrap in. Rinse and repeat.
From a dollar opportunity cost standpoint it would have been cheaper for us to call 1-800-GOT-JUNK and pay them to clean out the garage. But loading up the truck and going to a scrapyard was good father/son fun and an education by itself.