Empty cable reels picked up in Hesperia

What gets made in Hesperia

Hesperia is the first city the 15 reaches after climbing Cajon Pass, a fast-growing desert city of neighbourhoods spread across the high plain. Its business and industrial land follows the 15 and Main Street, with building suppliers, contractors' yards, truck services and smaller manufacturers.

Construction is the main industry. New housing, schools and commercial buildings across the city keep electrical contractors busy, and their yards hold reels of building wire and feeder between jobs.

Southern California Edison serves Hesperia, and the utility work that brings power to new tracts out on the desert adds larger reels.

The California Aqueduct crosses the south of the city, and Hesperia Lake Park and Silverwood Lake, just over the hills, are the water most people here know. Reels left outside through a summer here dry fast; stack them in shade or under a tarp, flanges upright, and they keep their resale value much longer than ones baked on bare ground.

Hesperia reels are mostly construction reels: 36 to 48 inch nailed reels from contractors and building suppliers, with some utility reels of 60 inches from new subdivisions. They are often weathered; desert sun dries wood quickly and splits flanges that have been outside for a long time. We grade them at the yard and recycle what will not resell.

Where Hesperia's empty reels come from

Residential and commercial construction

Building wire and feeder on 36 to 48 inch nailed reels.

Utility service to new tracts

SCE work leaves 48 to 60 inch reels.

Building suppliers

Cut-to-length sales leave empties of all sizes.

How the High desert over Cajon Pass run reaches Hesperia

The High Desert run comes over Cajon Pass on the 15 and stops in Hesperia first, off Main Street or Joshua Street, before going on to Victorville. Desert yards are often dirt; tell us if the ground is soft or sandy where the reels are.

Other stops on the High desert over Cajon Pass lane: Victorville, Adelanto, Oro Grande, Apple Valley. Reels from Hesperia can share a deck with any of them.