Large loads: hundreds of reels
A yard or job site with hundreds of empty reels: how a load is sorted into sellable and recycle-only reels, counted by type and picked up in trailer loads.
When a load counts as large
A large load is anything that fills most of a truck: dozens of mid-size reels, a few hundred small spools, or a smaller number of big reels from 60 inches up. Sonoco's EcoReel programme publishes how many reels fit in one of its trucks, and those numbers are a good yardstick. About 200 reels of 36 x 24 x 17 make a load. So do 100 reels of 48 x 28 x 24, or 22 reels of 72 x 36 x 36, or eight reels of 96 x 60 x 42. A mixed yard is usually somewhere between, and the count by size in your request lets us plan the truck and the loading order.
| Size class | Reel listed | Reels per truck |
|---|---|---|
| 36-inch | 36 x 24 x 17 | 200 |
| 42-inch | 42 x 26 x 18 | 120 |
| 48-inch | 48 x 28 x 24 | 100 |
| 54-inch | 54 x 32 x 36 | 60 |
| 60-inch | 60 x 28 x 28 | 39 |
| 66-inch | 66 x 36 x 36 | 24 |
| 72-inch | 72 x 36 x 36 | 22 |
| 84-inch | 84 x 46 x 42 | 9 |
| 96-inch | 96 x 60 x 42 | 8 |
What large-load sites look like
The sites that produce truckloads of empties in this market are distributor yards, utility contractors' laydown areas, and the big construction projects where cable is pulled for months. A wire and cable distributor in Montgomery County may hold returned reels from many customers. A contractor replacing underground cable for PECO may finish a phase with stacks of large one-way reels. A logistics or data-centre build in Bucks County or South Philadelphia may have empties from several electrical subcontractors piled in one corner of the site. Each of those is a large-load pickup.
How we handle a big yard
- Survey from your list and photos. Most yards can be planned without a visit. A site walk is worth it when there are several hundred reels of mixed types, or when returnables and one-way reels are stacked together.
- Sort before loading. Returnable reels are set aside first, so they are never loaded by mistake. Damaged reels form their own group for recycling.
- Load by size. Matching sizes go on together so they ride flange to flange without shifting. Big reels go on first and nearest the cab.
- Repeat if needed. Very large yards take more than one truck, or one truck on more than one day.
Equipment on site
A forklift with forks long enough to reach under the drum is the usual tool for reels from 48 inches up. Reels over 84 inches can weigh more than 800 pounds empty, according to cable makers' published tables (Okonite lists 639 pounds for an 84 x 54 x 48 wood reel and Prysmian 830 pounds for an 85-inch wood reel), so the forklift has to be rated for that load at the reel's centre of gravity. If there is no forklift, say so; a truck with its own handling gear can be sent instead, which changes the day and the arrangement.
Returnables in a large load
Big yards are where returnable reels hide. Steel reels are obvious. Wooden reels are not: some cable makers stencil their name or a reel number on wooden reels they want back, and a deposit tag can be a small metal plate or a paper label near the arbor hole. We sort those out and tell you which maker each belongs to. For the maker's own rules, see manufacturer reel return programs. Service Wire, for example, takes back only its own-label nailed wood reels from 30 to 72 inches, in full truckloads, with at least three quarters of the staves still on.
Why a mixed load still works
Manufacturer programmes want one brand and a full truck. A distributor yard rarely has that. It has reels from several mills, of several sizes, in several conditions. We take the mix: the sound one-way reels are bought or collected, the broken ones recycled, and the returnables listed for you to send back. One pickup clears the yard instead of three phone calls to three programmes that each take a third of it.
Timing a big clear-out
Large loads go best when they are planned around something: the end of a project phase, a yard reorganisation, a lease ending, or the week before a distributor's stocktake. Give us a window rather than a single day if you can. A wider window lets the truck route through other pickups nearby and makes a good outcome for the load more likely. If the deadline is fixed, for example because a landlord wants the lot empty by a certain date, put the date in the request and we say plainly whether it can be met.
Safety on the yard
Stacked reels can roll. Big reels standing on their flange edge should be chocked, and nobody should stand on the downhill side of a reel while another is being moved next to it. Reels stacked flat (lying on one flange) are stable but need a forklift to lift from underneath, and the lower reels in a flat stack often carry crushed flanges. Our drivers work to the site's own rules, wear the protective gear the site asks for and will not climb on stacks.
Questions
Do you need every reel counted exactly?
No. Counts to the nearest five or ten by size are fine for planning. The driver records the actual count when loading, and that count is what the paperwork shows.
Can you take the lagging and pallets too?
Lagging boards from the reels, yes, if they are stacked. Pallets and other packaging are a separate question; mention them in the request.
What about reels with cable left on them?
List them separately. Full or part-full reels are not empties and are usually handled by the cable owner.
Last reviewed 2026-11-09.