Manufacturer reel return programs

What return programs are

Wire, cable and duct makers buy wooden reels in huge numbers. Okonite alone bought more than 100,000 in 2015 to supply its customers. A reel can make several trips if it comes back in good shape, so some makers run return programs: they send a truck, collect their own empties, and reuse them.

Service Wire's program is a good example of how they work. It picks up only Service Wire reels, only by the full truckload, and only nailed wood reels with a 30 to 72 inch flange, sound wood and undamaged arbor and drive holes. Dura-Line, a duct maker, publishes a chart showing customers how to load its empty reels on a 102 inch wide truck so a pickup carries as many as possible, because its freight rate assumes a full truck.

Programs differ, and some distributors run deposit schemes for their own reels. The common thread is that they serve the maker's reels, in the maker's quantities.

When a program is the right answer

• You have a full truckload, or close to it, of one maker's reels.
• They are in the sizes the program takes.
• The wood is sound and the arbor holes are undamaged.

If all three hold, call the maker. The reel goes back into service, and you pay nothing.

When it isn't

Most yards do not look like that. They hold six brands, three sizes and a few broken reels. A program will take some of them, eventually, if you sort them and wait until you have a truckload of each. The rest stay. That leftover is what LA Wooden Spools is for: mixed brands, part loads and reels in any condition, collected on a run that is passing anyway.

We also do the checking for you. When we see a stencilled reel in your photos, we tell you who owns it and whether there is a program. Reels that should go home are set aside; we do not resell someone else's reel.

Plastic duct reels, steel drums and other owners

Fibre and duct contractors see a lot of reels from duct makers, some wooden and some plastic. Utility crews handle reels owned by cable plants, with metal tags riveted to the flange. Wire rope arrives on heavy reels that belong to the rope supplier. In every case the same question comes first: who owns it? Answer that and the right route usually follows. When nobody claims a reel, it is one-way, and it is yours to sell, give away or recycle.

Deposits and distributors

Some distributors charge a deposit on reels and refund it when the reel comes back. If you paid one, return the reel there; it is worth more to you than anything we could offer. If you do not know whether a deposit applies, the invoice for the cable usually says.

Getting reels ready for a maker's truck

If you do go the program route, the maker will usually ask for the same things we do, only more strictly. Count the reels by size, check every one for split flanges and torn arbor or drive holes, and set aside anything that fails. Stand them on edge in rows so they can be loaded two abreast, flanges staggered. Dura-Line's own guide explains that loading empties this way fits far more on a truck than loading them like full reels, which keeps the freight cost per reel down. Have a forklift ready, because a program truck will not wait while reels are rolled by hand.

Then keep the paperwork. Programs and deposit schemes often credit you only when the reels arrive and pass inspection at the plant. A photo of the loaded truck and a count on the bill of lading settle most disputes.

What usually gets left behind

Once the maker's truck has gone, a typical yard still has the reels it would not take: the odd brands that never made a truckload, the 24 inch spools below the program's minimum, the 84 and 96 inch reels above it, the ones with a cracked flange, and anything that sat outside too long. That leftover pile is exactly the mix our runs are built for. Send us the count, and it rides along with the next truck on your lane, returnables already gone.