Wooden spools in Logan Township

Farmland turned industrial park

Logan Township, in the western corner of Gloucester County on the Delaware River, was mostly farmland until the second half of the twentieth century. Today a large part of it is the Pureland Industrial Complex, which WHYY describes as about 3,000 acres of former farmland, reached by the Commodore Barry Bridge, I-295 and the New Jersey Turnpike. Pureland holds warehouses, distribution centres, manufacturing plants, chemical and materials businesses and contractors, with more buildings going up as land is developed. The township's villages, Bridgeport and Repaupo among them, and its housing developments sit around the edges of the industrial land.

A steady supply of reels

Big distribution and industrial buildings are reel factories in reverse. Every new building needs miles of cable; every tenant change brings new lighting, power, docks and data; and every manufacturing line needs maintenance. In Pureland that means:

The Commodore Barry Bridge

The Commodore Barry Bridge lands in Bridgeport, in Logan Township, and connects to Chester, Pennsylvania. That makes Logan the hinge between South Jersey and Delaware County for us. A truck can collect at Pureland in the morning and cross to Chester, Eddystone or Essington in the afternoon, or the other way round. Pickups on both sides of the river are often combined.

Other roads

I-295 runs through the township with exits serving Pureland, and the NJ Turnpike runs a little to the east with its own interchange nearby. US 322 runs from the bridge east toward Swedesboro and Mullica Hill. US 130 runs north toward Paulsboro and West Deptford. Those roads make Logan reachable from anywhere in South Jersey, Philadelphia or Delaware County.

Planning a Pureland pickup

Pureland buildings are large, busy and run to schedules. Tell us:

1. the building, the dock and the hours;
2. the number and sizes of reels, or a photo;
3. which reels, if any, are returnable or stencilled;
4. who can release them;
5. any safety requirements on site.

Large reels need a forklift with long forks or a spindle. Most Pureland buildings have both.

Old farms and new houses

Away from the industrial land, Logan's farms and housing produce small reels and spools from rewires, solar and new construction. Farms sometimes have old reels used for hose or fencing wire. They are collected alongside the industrial pickups.

A recurring collection

Warehouses and plants in Pureland that receive cable regularly can set up a recurring pickup. We fit Logan into routes through Gloucester County and across the bridge.

Logistics on a grand scale

Pureland's buildings range from older, modest warehouses to very large modern cross-dock centres with hundreds of dock doors. Tenants include retailers' regional distribution centres, third-party logistics firms, food and beverage companies, packaging makers and chemical distributors. Several warehouses run around the clock, and their maintenance teams constantly replace lighting, battery chargers, dock equipment and conveyor drives. The result is a reliable trickle of reels between big construction projects.

Roadside farm stands and orchards

South of the industrial land, Logan Township and neighbouring Woolwich and Harrison townships still grow fruit, vegetables and nursery stock. Farmers use reels for drip irrigation tubing, polywire fencing and hose, and many like to pick up a few extra spools in spring before planting. If you farm nearby and want reels, tell us the size and quantity.

The Bridgeport waterfront

Bridgeport, the old village by the Commodore Barry Bridge landing, has a small residential core and riverside industrial land. Utility and bridge maintenance crews occasionally leave large reels in laydown areas there. Those are often stencilled returnables; others are one-way timber drums that crews are happy to see go.

Measuring large reels

Big drums from warehouses and utility work are hard to judge by eye. Measure flange diameter edge to edge, drum diameter, traverse between the inside faces, and the arbor hole. Write the numbers on the flange in chalk, then send a photo.

Night shifts and yard jockeys

Cross-dock yards stay busy late. Yard jockeys shuttle trailers between doors, and an unexpected truck parked beside the fence can disrupt them. Agree a parking spot with the shift supervisor beforehand.

Wood pallets versus reels

Pureland warehouses generate mountains of pallets too. We do not collect pallets, which have their own recyclers; we focus on cable drums, spools and lagging boards. Keep the two piles apart so nothing gets mixed up, mislabelled or hauled away by the wrong collector.

Questions

Do you cover Swedesboro and Woolwich?

Yes, along with Bridgeport, Repaupo, Greenwich Township and the rest of western Gloucester County.

Do you collect at night from a 24-hour warehouse?

Sometimes. Daytime is easier, but tell us what suits the building.