Georgia cable reels near the Carrollton wire plants

Carrollton and the west Georgia wire cluster

Southwire is headquartered in Carrollton, and its locations page lists a building wire plant, a copper rod plant, an MC cable plant and a utility products plant there, along with its 12 for Life operation. Cerrowire lists a Georgia plant in Carrollton too. A short way north on I-20 is Southwire's Villa Rica plant, with energy and retail distribution centers in the same town. Southwire's Douglas plant sits in south Georgia.

Few places in the US put out as many full reels in so small an area. Most of that cable leaves the state, but plenty goes to Georgia contractors, distributors and utilities, and the reels come back empty to yards across the Atlanta area.

Southwire's own reel route, and what falls outside it

Southwire lists a Reel Repair and Recycling facility in Carrollton. That is a maker looking after its own reels, which makes sense for a company that ships so many. Return programs like this, and like Sonoco's EcoReel truckload pickup, are a good outlet for reels that qualify.

Many reels don't. A Georgia yard typically holds reels from several makers, in sizes from small building wire spools up to 84 inch utility reels, in mixed condition, and often not in full truckload quantities of one maker's reels. Service Wire's return program, for comparison, accepts only its own nailed reels with 30 to 72 inch flanges, an undamaged arbor and at least 75% of the staves intact. Everything outside rules like those is what we buy.

Georgia Power and the membership corporations

EIA's 2024 top five retailers in Georgia are Georgia Power, the investor-owned utility, followed by four electric membership corporations: Jackson EMC, Cobb EMC, Walton EMC and Sawnee EMC. That's a striking list. The co-ops serving the fast-growing suburbs north and east of Atlanta sell as much power as many states' main utilities.

Suburban growth is reel-heavy work. New subdivisions get underground distribution, and each phase of a development leaves a stack of empty reels at the co-op's yard or the contractor's. Georgia Power's transmission and distribution work across the rest of the state adds the larger reels.

Moving reels around Georgia

Atlanta is the hub. I-75, I-85 and I-20 cross downtown, and I-285 rings the city, so a trailer can reach most of north Georgia in a couple of hours. Carrollton and Villa Rica sit just off I-20 west toward Alabama, which puts them close to Southwire's and Cerrowire's plants over the line in Heflin and north Alabama.

South of Macon, the state opens up. I-16 runs to Savannah, I-75 continues to Valdosta and Florida, and I-95 follows the coast. Lots in south Georgia often combine with reels heading to or from north Florida. Savannah's port brings industrial building and warehouse construction, and with it more building wire and power cable reels.

• Atlanta metro and the northern suburbs: dense, with many small and mid-size lots.
• West Georgia: close to the plants, with a lot of reel traffic.
• Middle Georgia and Macon: a crossroads on I-75 and I-16.
• Coastal Georgia and Savannah: port-driven industrial building.
• South Georgia: farm country, longer hauls, co-op line work.

Fiber and BEAD in Georgia

Georgia received $1,307,214,371.30 in NTIA's June 2023 BEAD allocation. A lot of the state outside the Atlanta region is rural, and many of the EMCs have gone into fiber themselves or partnered with providers to do so. Fiber construction on co-op poles means reels in co-op yards, and once the cable is placed, the empties are theirs.

Fiber reels are generally lighter than power reels, but a crew re-spooling cable still needs a drum of the right diameter. If you are building fiber and need empties, give us the cable diameter and the footage you're handling, and we'll match a size.

Buying reels in Georgia: closer is cheaper

Because so much cable is wound in west Georgia, the state is a good place to look for empties, and buyers here have an advantage: the reel they want is likely sitting within a day's drive. A contractor in Augusta or Columbus who needs 40 reels for moving cable between jobs can usually be served from a Georgia or Alabama yard rather than from the other side of the country.

Tell us what the reels will carry, not just the size you think you need. Building wire, MC cable, URD and fiber each want different drum diameters and different load ratings, and a reel that suits one job can be wrong for another. Our size chart and capacity calculator help you check before you buy.

Storing empties through a Georgia summer

Heat, humidity and afternoon thunderstorms are hard on wood that sits on bare ground. Red clay holds water after a downpour, and a reel lying on its rim in it will start to soften along the flange edge. Standing reels on their flanges on gravel or timbers, with room for air between rows, keeps them sound until they're sold. Keep the stencils facing out so the sizes can be read without moving anything; it saves time on loading day too.

Selling a Georgia lot

1. 01

   Group and count

   Stand the reels on their flanges and put each size together. Count each group.

2. 02

   Read the stencils

   Most reels have the size painted or burned on the flange. Photograph one per size.

3. 03

   Check the arbor holes

   A worn arbor hole is fine. A split one makes the reel scrap, so set those aside.

4. 04

   Send it in

   Use the sell form with the city, counts, photos and loading equipment. We come back with a price on the lot and the trucking.