LA Wooden SpoolsReel pickup desk · 12 lanes
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Map of the Los Angeles basin with the twelve pickup lanes drawn over the freeways, from Santa Clarita and Lancaster to Victorville, Redlands, Temecula and the portsPacific OceanSan Pedro BaySanta Monica MountainsSan Gabriel MountainsSan Bernardino MountainsSanta Ana MountainsLos Angeles CountyOrange CountySan Bernardino CountySan Diego County, outside our areaAntelope ValleyVictor ValleyCajon PassLane 1: Ports and the 710Lane 2: Alameda Corridor and VernonLane 3: San Gabriel Valley and the 60Lane 4: San Fernando Valley, 5 and 118Lane 5: South Bay and the 405Lane 6: Orange County on the 5Lane 7: North Orange County, 91 and 57Lane 8: Inland Empire on the 10Lane 9: Riverside, the 215 and the 15 southLane 10: High desert over Cajon PassLane 11: Antelope Valley and the 14Lane 12: Santa Clarita on the 5VernonLong BeachTorranceSun ValleyChatsworthSanta ClaritaPalmdaleLancasterPomonaAnaheimIrvineHuntington BeachRiversideCoronaPerrisTemeculaOntarioSan BernardinoVictorvilleABCDEFGHJKLM12345678910Schematic. Grid squares about 9 by 10 miles; lanes drawn stop to stop.

Count your reels. We'll route the truck.

Empty wooden spools picked up across Los Angeles and Orange County

Mixed brands and part loads. Count your reels; we'll route the truck onto one of twelve freeway lanes across four counties.

Pickup requestBill of lading, short form
What do you need?
Buying spools? Ask for a price
  • Freeway
  • Pickup lane
  • Area we run to
  • Grid square, about 9 by 10 mi
  • Schematic: lanes drawn stop to stop
  • The twelve lanes

The lanes we run

Every pickup rides one of twelve freeway lanes. A small stack goes out with the run that is already passing it. These six carry most of the reels.

All twelve lanes, from Santa Clarita to Temecula

How many reels make a load

Floor space, not weight, fills a truck of empty reels. Reels up to 42 inches lie flat in stacks; from 48 inches they stand on edge in two staggered rows across a 102 inch deck, each one chocked under the flange.

FlangeEmpties per 53 ft deck (est.)A quarter deck
24 in416104
36 in10225
48 in26 to 306
72 in20 to 245
96 in16 to 184

Under a quarter of a deck rides along on a passing run. A quarter to most of a deck is a part load, a stop the run is planned around. A full deck is a run of its own.

The truckload maths   Try the load planner

Plan view of a 53 ft flatbed with thirty 36 inch reels stacked flat and twelve large reels on edge 53 ft deck (636 in) 102 in Flat reels: 36 in stacked 3 high. Plan view, not to exact scale.
Thirty 36s, eight 48s and four 72s: about 29% + 31% + 20%, so 80% of a deck. A part load. Estimate.

How a pickup works

  1. You count and photograph

    Measure across the round end of a reel, group the stack by that flange size and count each group. One photo of the stack, one of a flange face.

  2. We size the run and send a window

    Your counts become a share of a 53 foot deck and your ZIP a lane. You get a pickup window by email: a ride-along, a part load or a run of its own.

  3. Loaded and chocked

    Give us a dock window and a forklift; the driver brings the straps and the chocks. Small reels stack flat, big ones stand on edge.

  4. Resold or recycled

    Stencilled reels go back to their owners. Sound reels go to contractors, growers and makers. Split flanges and chewed arbor holes go to wood recycling.

Request a pickup   More on each stop

Reels we take and reels we sell

We take

Wooden reels from 24 to 96 inch flanges, any brand, any mix. Nailed and bolted reels load the same way; they just end up in different places afterwards.

We sell

The sound ones, to makers, growers, planners and the trade: one spool for a table, a matched set for a venue, or a trailer of empties.

Where LA's empty reels come from

LADWP replaced 61.5 miles of underground cable in fiscal 2025-26. Fibre, data centres and solar add more. All of it arrives on wooden reels.

Areas by grid square

The squares on the map above, as a map book index: county, then each area with its square. Each one opens its own page with the lane, ZIP codes and the reels its yards put out.

Los Angeles County

Orange County

Riverside County

San Bernardino County

Guides and straight answers

Reel sizes explained

Flange, drum, traverse and overall width. The flange decides the load; the rest decide reuse.

What makes a reel resellable

A split flange or a chewed arbor hole usually means recycling, not resale.

Take-back programs, and when to use them

Full truck of one brand, clean flanges? Try the maker's take-back first. Mixed stacks and part loads are what we're for.

Questions answered

Who buys empty reels, weights, green waste, and whether we reach San Diego. (We don't.)

All guides   About LA Wooden Spools

Request a pickup or a price

Selling, recycling or buying: tell us the count and the flange size; we will tell you if it fills a deck or rides along on the next run. Buying? Tell us the size and how many, and where they are going.

  • Mixed brands, nailed and bolted, part loads: all fine.
  • We answer by email with a pickup window or a price.
  • San Diego County is outside our area.
Pickup and buy requestBill of lading
What do you need? required

Pickup address

Shipper (your details)

An email address or a phone number, at least one.