Wooden spools in Northeast Philadelphia

The city's industrial northeast

Northeast Philadelphia stretches from the Frankford area to the Bucks County line, and its eastern half, between I-95 and the river and along the rail lines, is the city's largest band of industrial and distribution land. The Philadelphia Inquirer described the Philadelphia Industrial Park there as a 650-acre site, and the Red Lion Road industrial district in ZIP 19115 holds the former Budd Company site at 1 Red Lion Road. Plants, warehouses, distribution centres, contractors' yards and wholesale businesses line Red Lion Road, Woodhaven Road, State Road and the streets off Roosevelt Boulevard. It is a part of the city where empty reels collect in fenced yards rather than basements.

Where reels come from here

• Warehouse and plant upgrades. Older industrial buildings in the Northeast get new electrical services, lighting and equipment power as tenants change. Those jobs leave 30- to 60-inch nailed reels.
• New distribution buildings. Infill construction on vacant industrial parcels uses large feeder and medium-voltage cable.
• Contractors' and distributors' yards. Electrical and utility contractors based in the Northeast bring empties back from jobs across the city and Lower Bucks County and store them until the yard is full.
• Homes. The residential neighbourhoods west of the industrial belt, from Mayfair and Holmesburg to Somerton and Fox Chase, produce the small-spool side: rewires, basement renovations, new circuits for heat pumps and electric car chargers.

Getting a truck in

The Northeast is well served for trucks. I-95 runs along its eastern edge, with exits at Cottman Avenue and Woodhaven Road among others. Roosevelt Boulevard (US 1) runs through its centre. Woodhaven Road connects I-95 to the Boulevard and on toward Bucks County. Red Lion Road crosses the industrial district. The Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, at the southern edge of the area, links directly to Palmyra and Route 73 in Burlington County, which makes the Northeast a natural place to combine pickups on both sides of the river.

Yards and docks

Most Northeast pickups are from places with loading docks, forklifts and fenced yards. Those are the quickest loads to plan. In a request, give the dock hours, whether a forklift and driver can be lent, the gate arrangement, and a count by size. If the yard holds returnable reels, say so, and they will be set aside and listed.

Across eight ZIP codes

The ZIP codes above cover the main parts of the Northeast where reels collect, from 19111 around Fox Chase and Burholme to 19154 in the far northeast near the county line. Red Lion Road's industrial district is in 19115; homes and businesses are spread across all of them. A request with a ZIP code is enough to group it with other work in the area.

Recurring pickups for Northeast businesses

Businesses that receive cable regularly, such as manufacturers, panel shops and distributors, are good candidates for a recurring pickup. A monthly visit to a dock in 19154 or 19115 can be combined with other regular stops along I-95 in the Northeast and Lower Bucks County.

A typical Northeast list

"Industrial building off Red Lion Road, 19115. Tenant moving out, yard to be cleared by month end. About forty nailed reels, 36 to 60 inch, most sound, six broken. Four steel reels with numbers. Dock and forklift weekdays." That is a straightforward large load: the steel reels are listed for their makers, the sound nailed reels are collected and the broken ones recycled, all in one visit if the truck has room or two if not.

Keeping a yard collectable

Northeast yards are often big, open and exposed, and reels stored there for a long time suffer. Keep them on gravel or concrete, standing on their rims in rows by size, away from where trucks turn. A yard kept that way stays worth collecting; a yard where reels have been pushed into a heap by a loader becomes a recycling job.

Roosevelt Boulevard's shopping strips

Twelve lanes wide in places, Roosevelt Boulevard carries shopping centres, car dealerships, medical offices and restaurants. Tenant changes along it generate spools and mid-size drums weekly.

Industrial parks by the airport

Northeast Philadelphia Airport, a general-aviation field off Grant Avenue, is surrounded by business parks with manufacturers, distributors and food plants. Their maintenance teams and contractors are good candidates for scheduled collections.

Rhawnhurst, Mayfair and Holmesburg homes

The rowhomes and twins of Mayfair, Holmesburg, Rhawnhurst, Fox Chase and Somerton date mostly from the 1920s through the 1960s. Upgrading their panels for air conditioning, heat pumps and car chargers is steady electricians' work, leaving spools in basements and garages. Pennypack Park's long wooded valley cuts through the area, and homes backing onto it often have deep yards where an old drum has served as a picnic table for years.

Questions

Do you go into the residential streets as well as the industrial parks?

Yes. Residential pickups are grouped by neighbourhood and collected when a truck is working nearby.

Can a load from the Northeast be combined with one in New Jersey?

Often, using the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge to Burlington County. Mention it if you have reels on both sides.