Crating and export crates in Cleveland

Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga

Cleveland's port sits where the Cuyahoga River meets Lake Erie, and the Port of Cleveland handles bulk, breakbulk and general cargo, much of it moving through the Seaway in the shipping season. Cleveland Hopkins International is the air cargo gateway. I-90 runs along the lakefront, I-71 goes southwest to Columbus and Cincinnati, I-77 south to Akron and Canton, and I-480 and I-490 form the cross-town links. CSX and Norfolk Southern both serve the region.

The winter closing of the Seaway moves lake cargo to other modes for part of the year, and shippers should plan around it.

A steel and fluid-power metro

Cleveland is known for steel and metals, fluid-power and motion-control components, welding equipment, bearings and gears, polymers and a deep base of machine shops. Aerospace research and component work is also part of the picture, with a federal research centre on the west side and propulsion suppliers around it.

Hydraulic cylinders, valves and pumps are made here in volume. They are heavy for their size, leak-sensitive and oily, and each shipment has to arrive clean.

• Hydraulic components: sealed ports, skid-base crates
• Welding equipment: sheathed crates, tip indicators
• Bearings and gears: VCI, blocking, small cleated crates
• Steel parts and castings: heavy solid-lumber crates

Oil, grease and sealed ports

Fluid-power equipment leaves the factory with fluid in it or on it. Open ports are capped, hoses are bagged, and drip trays go under anything that might leak. Wood contaminated with oil is a mess at the other end, so absorbent pads go inside the barrier bag. We do not pack hazardous materials; those need their own handling under 49 CFR.

For long cylinders, we add intermediate cradles and a strongback so the rod is not bent by its own weight in transit.

Steel mill parts and heavy castings

Rolls, shafts, and housings for steel plants are among the heaviest things crated in the metro. The crate here is mostly a base: full-length runners, a bolted-down load, a roof of heavy boards for tarps and straps. Open sides let the receiver inspect and rig.

If the receiver lifts with a crane, the strongback and the sling points take the load. We design for them and mark them.

Export through the lake and beyond

Some cargo leaves by Great Lakes vessel and the Seaway for Europe in the open season; much goes by rail to East Coast ports. Where the destination applies ISPM 15, HT lumber with the IPPC stamp is the standard. Plywood is exempt according to NELMA, which is why sheathed crates ride well on this lane.

Confirm the rule for your lane with APHIS and the destination authority before we build.

Delivery across Northeast Ohio

Crates are built to order and delivered to the shipper's dock throughout greater Cleveland, from Lorain and Elyria to Akron and Mentor. We keep no yard or facility in Ohio. A knockdown kit suits a plant whose bays are narrow.

Tell us the dock hours and the cut-off at the port or airport.

Aerospace and research hardware

Cleveland's federal research centre and the propulsion suppliers near it send test hardware, instrumentation and components to sites across the country. These items are one-off or low volume, and their crates follow the engineers' drawing: nominated lift points, no contact on finished surfaces and a closing sequence written on the lid.

Where the item is both delicate and heavy, a foam-faced cradle bolted to a heavy skid does the work, and tip and shock indicators on the outside tell the receiver if it was mishandled.

What to send for a Cleveland quote

Send the load's inside dimensions in inches, the gross weight in pounds and the destination country. Include the quantity and date needed. If oil or grease is present, say so, since it changes the bagging.

Tell us whether the crate will be opened at a dock or carried into a plant. A crate that must pass through an interior doorway is better shipped as a knockdown kit.