How reel pickup works

The six steps at a glance

1. 01

   1. You describe the lot

   Sizes as flange x traverse x drum, a count per size, photos of the pile and of one stencil per size, your ZIP and your loading access, sent on the request form on this page.

2. 02

   2. We send a written offer

   A price for each size group, any reels we would leave out and why, the trailer type, who loads, and the payment terms.

3. 03

   3. We agree a window

   Once you accept, we book a carrier and agree a pickup window with you, around your gate hours and site rules.

4. 04

   4. You stage the reels

   Reels grouped by size near the loading spot, stood on flanges, rejects set apart, a clear lane for the truck.

5. 05

   5. Load and count

   The trailer is loaded group by group and counted against the offer. Both sides sign the bill of lading with the loaded count.

6. 06

   6. Payment

   You are paid as set out in the offer, for the count on the bill of lading.

Step 1 in detail: what makes an offer quick

An offer is only as firm as the description behind it. Sizes read from stencils, counts per size and a note on condition let us price with confidence. A single wide photo with a guess of how many reels it holds gets you a range, not a number, and a range means questions.

Photos do most of the work. One wide shot of the pile tells us how the reels are stored. One straight stencil per size settles the size. One shot of the loading area tells us what truck will fit. If the stencils are faded, a tape measure across the flange, between the flanges and across the drum is just as good.

Step 2 in detail: reading the offer

The written offer is the document everything else follows. It lists each size group with its count and its condition note, and a price per reel for that group. Reels we would not buy are listed too, with the reason, so there is no doubt on the day about what is staying.

It also says what kind of trailer is coming, who is expected to load it, and how and when you are paid. If any of that doesn't work for you, say so before accepting. Changing a plan on paper costs nothing; changing it with a truck in the yard costs everybody.

Step 3 in detail: booking the truck

We arrange the carrier. The trailer type follows the reels: flatbeds and step-decks for big reels loaded from the side by forklift or crane, dry vans for smaller reels loaded from a dock. The size of the lot and the distance to the buyer decide whether your reels get a trailer of their own or share one with a nearby lot.

The pickup window is agreed with you, not imposed. Give us your gate hours, any days the yard is closed, and site rules for drivers such as sign-in, safety vests, hard hats or escorts. If the yard is on a working site with traffic, name a contact the driver can reach from the gate, and we put it in the booking.

Step 4 in detail: staging

• Group reels by size close to where the trailer will park, stood on their flanges.
• Keep a lane wide enough for a 53 foot trailer to pull in, park on firm ground and pull out.
• Move the reels we left out of the offer to a separate spot so they are not loaded by mistake.
• Chock any reel that has to stand on its rim.
• Clear tails, loose lagging and staples you can easily remove; leftover cable can snag forks and straps.
• Keep the offer and your count to hand for loading.

Step 5 in detail: loading and counting

Who loads is set in the offer. Usually it is the seller's forklift and operator, because sellers with piles of reels nearly always have one. Where there is no forklift, the offer will say how the reels get on: a liftgate for small reels, hired equipment or a truck with its own loader for bigger ones.

Reels go on by group, and each group is counted as it loads. The driver secures them: big reels stood on a rim in a row, chocked and strapped; small reels stood on their flanges and stacked, or laid with flanges overlapping to use the trailer's volume. Sonoco's figures show how much the pattern matters, from about 8 reels of 96x60x42 to about 200 reels of 36x24x17 on one trailer.

When the last group is on, the driver and your person sign the bill of lading with the loaded count by size. Take a photo of the loaded trailer and of the signed bill. If a group came up short or a reel was rejected at loading, it is written there.

Step 6 in detail: getting paid

Payment follows the terms in the written offer, which you saw and agreed to before the truck was booked. The amount follows the signed loaded count, at the prices per size group in the offer. If the count on the bill of lading differs from the offer, the paperwork shows why, and the payment follows the paper.

Keep your copy of the signed bill, your loading photos and the offer in one place. Those three documents answer any question about what left your yard, when, and for how much, and they are what your bookkeeper or the person who signs off the sale will ask to see.

What can hold a pickup up

Most delays come from the same few things: a gate locked when the truck arrives, ground too soft to park a loaded trailer on after heavy rain, a forklift that turns out to be booked for something else, or reels buried behind other stock. Each one is easy to plan around and expensive to discover on the day. A quick check of the yard the day before saves a wasted trip, and a wasted trip is a cost someone has to carry.

Season and region play a part too. Northern states post spring weight limits on some rural roads while the frost comes out of the ground, which can keep a heavy truck off a back-country yard for weeks. Along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, hurricane season can close sites and pull carriers onto storm work. Holiday weeks thin out the trucks available everywhere. None of that is unusual; it just means the window in the offer is a window, and a flexible seller gets picked up sooner.

• Gate locked or no one to open it
• Ground too soft for a loaded trailer
• Forklift booked for other work
• Reels buried behind live stock
• Seasonal road weight limits or storm closures