Ports and the 710: the reel pickup lane

The ports lane is the run that starts at the harbour in Wilmington and Long Beach and works north up the Long Beach Freeway (the 710), with the Harbor Freeway (the 110) on its west side and the 405 across the middle. It collects empty reels from terminal contractors, warehouses, refinery-area yards and utility staging lots between the water and the 91.

Where the Ports and the 710 run goes

Two of the busiest container ports in the country sit at the bottom of this lane. The Port of Los Angeles handled 10.2 million TEUs in 2025 and the Port of Long Beach a record of about 9.9 million. Around the terminals is a belt of chassis yards, transload warehouses, marine electricians and fuel and refinery contractors, and every one of them uses cable that arrives on a wooden reel and leaves an empty one behind.

The run usually begins in Wilmington, beside the Port of Los Angeles, crosses to West Long Beach on Anaheim Street or the 710, and then works north: Carson between the 110 and the 405, Rancho Dominguez off Alameda Street and Del Amo, and up to the 91. On days when the deck still has room, the driver continues north into Compton and onto the Alameda Corridor lane, or west along the 405 toward Torrance.

The run sheet, stop by stop

Stop	Area	Grid	ZIP codes	Freeways	Usual flanges
1	Wilmington	D8	90744	I-110, I-710, I-405	48, 72, 84, 96 in
2	Long Beach	D8	90802, 90805, 90806, 90810, 90813, 90815	I-710, I-405, CA-91	42, 48, 72, 96 in
3	Carson	D7	90745, 90746, 90810	I-405, I-110, CA-91	36, 48, 60, 72 in
4	Rancho Dominguez	D7	90220, 90221	I-710, CA-91, I-405	42, 48, 72 in

When the deck still has room, the run also takes stops in Compton (Alameda Corridor and Vernon lane), Torrance (South Bay and the 405 lane).

Where the reels on this lane come from

Terminal electrification: Shore power, crane power and yard lighting run on medium-voltage cable delivered on 72 to 96 inch bolted reels. Many are stencilled as returnable to the maker.
Refinery and fuel contractors: Instrument and power cable for turnarounds and maintenance, usually on 36 to 60 inch reels.
Warehouse fit-outs: New tenants in the transload buildings wire racking, chargers and lights: 30 to 48 inch nailed reels.
Utility cable replacement: LADWP replaces underground cable inside the City of Los Angeles, including the harbour; its program replaced 61.5 miles of underground cable in fiscal 2025-26.

What the stops on this lane put out

Reel sizes along the Ports and the 710 lane

Flange	Seen at	Empties per 53 ft deck (est.)	Empty weight, lb
36 in	Carson	102	64 to 77
42 in	Long Beach, Rancho Dominguez	60	90 to 100
48 in	Wilmington, Long Beach, Carson, Rancho Dominguez	26 to 30	106 to 177
60 in	Carson	24 to 28	187 to 347
72 in	Wilmington, Long Beach, Carson, Rancho Dominguez	20 to 24	204 to 592
84 in	Wilmington	18 to 22	223 to 920
96 in	Wilmington, Long Beach	16 to 18	250 to 1,199

Estimates from published reel and loading charts; method on reels per load.

What the driver needs to know on this lane

Terminal Island sits between the two ports and is reached over the Vincent Thomas Bridge or the newer Long Beach International Gateway bridge, both tall, both busy with container drays. A flatbed carrying empties is light, so the bridges are no trouble, but a stop on the island costs time in queues at the terminal gates. Where we can, we collect from the contractor's yard on the mainland side instead, and we ask whether the reels are inside a secured area before we book a window.

Small stacks ride along

Because the lane is short and dense, a stack of six or eight reels in Carson or Long Beach rides along easily: the truck passes within a mile most days it runs. Large reels are the opposite case. Sixteen to eighteen empty 96 inch reels fill a 53-foot deck on their own, so a terminal contractor with that many has a full run, and smaller stops wait for the next one.

How ride-along pickups work · Will my stack fill a deck?

Windows and timing on this lane

Harbour traffic sets the clock. Surface streets near the terminals fill with container drays from early morning, so we try to load port-side stops first and leave the 405 corridor for later in the day. Tell us your gate hours and whether the driver needs a credential or a site orientation; a reel staged outside a controlled area loads much faster.

Request a pickup on this lane

The other lanes

Questions about the Ports and the 710 lane

Do you go inside the port terminals?

Only where the terminal operator allows a flatbed in. Most reels on this lane are collected from contractors' yards and warehouses outside the gates.

Is Torrance on the ports lane?

Torrance is usually on the South Bay lane along the 405, but stops on its east side near the 110 can ride on the ports run when that is quicker.

Can returnable reels go back to the cable maker?

Yes, if the reel is stencilled and the maker runs a return program. We will tell you before we load it. Mixed and part loads are what we take.