- Lane
- San Gabriel Valley and the 60
- Freeways
- ZIP codes
- 90031
- 90032
- County
- Los Angeles County
Empty cable reels picked up in Northeast Los Angeles
Yes: we pick up empty wooden reels in Lincoln Heights and El Sereno, the Northeast Los Angeles neighbourhoods between the Los Angeles River and the San Gabriel Valley. They are the first stops on the San Gabriel Valley run before it heads east on the 60.
What gets made in Northeast Los Angeles
Lincoln Heights is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Los Angeles, set on the east bank of the river where the 5 and the 110 meet near downtown. Its working side is along the river and the rail lines: auto and truck repair, small manufacturers, building suppliers, storage yards and the shops that serve them. El Sereno, to the east, is more residential, with California State University, Los Angeles on its southern edge and the end of the 710 at Valley Boulevard.
This is LADWP country, inside the City of Los Angeles, and the department's cable replacement work reaches these older streets as it does the rest of the city. Older neighbourhoods also mean service upgrades: panels, meters and feeders replaced house by house and shop by shop, each job leaving a short length of cable on a small reel.
Reels here rarely come in truckloads. A contractor based near North Main Street might have a dozen 24 to 36 inch reels by the fence; a building-supply yard near the river might have a few larger ones from a commercial job. That makes Northeast LA a ride-along area almost by definition: the San Gabriel Valley truck passes on its way out to the 10 and the 60, and adding six reels costs it a few minutes.
Where Northeast Los Angeles's empty reels come from
- Service upgrades and rewires
- Small electrical contractors working on homes and shops empty 24 to 30 inch one-way reels.
- LADWP cable replacement
- Underground cable work on the area's older circuits leaves larger reels at nearby staging lots.
- River-side industry
- Building suppliers and small plants along the river empty mixed nailed reels.
How the San Gabriel Valley and the 60 run reaches Northeast Los Angeles
The San Gabriel Valley run starts here, near the 5-10-710 interchanges, before heading east. Streets in Lincoln Heights and El Sereno are often narrow and hilly, so stage reels on a main street frontage such as North Broadway, Huntington Drive or Valley Boulevard, or inside a yard with room for a flatbed to pull in. Six reels or fewer go out as a ride-along.
Other stops on the San Gabriel Valley and the 60 lane: City of Industry, Pomona. Reels from Northeast Los Angeles can share a deck with any of them.
Getting Northeast Los Angeles's reels ready for the truck
Count by flange
Measure across the round end of each reel and group them: 24, 30, 36, 48 inch flanges are the sizes we see most from Northeast Los Angeles. A phone photo of the stack helps us size the run. The measuring guide shows where to put the tape.
Stage them where a flatbed fits
Put the reels where a 53 foot flatbed can pull alongside off Interstate 5, not down a lane it cannot turn in.
Give us a window
Tell us the hours your gate is open and staffed. Stops on the San Gabriel Valley and the 60 lane get a pickup window by email once the run is planned.
Say how they get lifted
A forklift on site loads anything up to 96 inches. Without one, reels up to about 42 inches can be tipped and rolled up a ramp; bigger ones need a lift.
Flag the stencilled ones
A reel painted with a cable maker's name may be returnable. Tell us and we will say whether it should go back to its owner before we take it.
After the run, sound reels from Northeast Los Angeles are sorted for resale to contractors, makers and growers who want wooden spools; split flanges, torn arbor holes and rotten staves go to wood recycling. See resale or recycling for how a reel is graded.
Reel sizes that usually come out of Northeast Los Angeles
| Flange | How it loads | Empties per 53 ft deck (est.) | Empty weight, lb |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 in | Flat, stacked 4 high | 416 | 23 to 24 |
| 30 in | Flat, stacked 3 high | 189 | 39 |
| 36 in | Flat, stacked 3 high | 102 | 64 to 77 |
| 48 in | On edge, two rows | 26 to 30 | 106 to 177 |
Estimates from published reel and loading charts; method on reels per load.
Nearest areas to Northeast Los Angeles on the grid
Straight-line miles between town centres, not road miles.
Other Los Angeles County areas, by grid square
- Vernon 90058D6
- Commerce 90040D6
- City of Industry 91744F6
- Santa Fe Springs 90670E7
- Long Beach 90802D8
- Carson 90745D7
- Rancho Dominguez 90220D7
- Compton 90220D7
- Wilmington 90744D8
- Torrance 90501C7
- El Segundo 90245C7
- Huntington Park 90255D6
- Sun Valley 91352C5
- Pacoima 91331C4
- Chatsworth 91311B4
- Canoga Park 91303B5
- Van Nuys 91401B5
- Santa Clarita 91350B3
- Palmdale 93550E2
- Lancaster 93534E1
- Pomona 91766G6
Northeast Los Angeles pickup questions
Do you pick up in Highland Park or Cypress Park?
Our page covers Lincoln Heights and El Sereno, but the truck passes close to both. Send the address and the counts, and we will tell you if it fits the run.
Are there size limits for hilly streets?
The flatbed needs somewhere level to stop. Large reels are best staged in a yard; small ones can be rolled to the kerb on a main street.
Who owns the cable work on these streets?
LADWP, since both neighbourhoods are inside the City of Los Angeles.