Crate spec ticket
| Inside dimensions | L x W x H in inches |
|---|---|
| Gross weight | Pounds, as loaded |
| Destination | Country, and vessel, barge or truck |
| Construction | Solid lumber, sheathed or slatted |
| Export | HT stamp on solid wood |
| Delivery | Built or knockdown to your dock |
Where the river meets the Gulf
New Orleans handles goods from a river system that reaches deep into the Midwest. Barges carry grain, steel and bulk cargo down the Mississippi, while ships take containers, breakbulk and project cargo out to the Gulf and beyond.
For a crate, that means exposure to river air and Gulf humidity, long waits for berth space and several handlers. We build the crate to the longest stay it might face.
The river rises and falls, and ships queue at the anchorage. A crate that leaves the plant on Monday may not load until the next week, which is why we ask about storage rather than just shipping date. A shipper who answers honestly gets a crate with the right shell for the wait.
Gulf offshore and oil-and-gas equipment
Offshore equipment makers and their suppliers ship wellhead components, subsea hardware, valves, pumps and control skids. They are heavy, often awkward and valuable, with machined sealing faces.
Valves and connectors travel in solid-lumber crates with blocking cut to the flange. We protect machined faces with caps and VCI, and add lifting points to the skid that match the rigging. See the oil and gas page for further detail.
Subsea and wellhead components often come with certification paperwork that must stay with the item. We leave room for a document holder on the outside of the crate, and we keep the written spec on file so that a repeat order for a similar component is built identically.
Petrochemical plant equipment
The river corridor upriver and downriver holds refineries and chemical plants, and the machinery to support them: heat exchangers, pressure vessels, compressors and instrument skids.
Pressure vessels and exchangers ship on saddles or skids with solid blocking, and flanges get covers. Long units go into long crates with intermediate skids. Send the saddle spacing and weight.
Breakbulk, steel and coffee
The port has long handled breakbulk cargo, including steel, rubber, forest products and coffee. Project cargo comes through for plants along the river.
Crated machinery travels breakbulk when it is too big for a container. That means crane lifts and chain tie-downs, so lift points, tie-down strength and external markings are specified in advance.
Shipyard and fabrication work along the river adds large steel pieces, pipe spools and structural sections. Spools are best crated on saddles with the flange faces covered; structural pieces ride on a skid with bracing. Send a sketch if the shape is complex.
Rail, barge and the interstate network
Class I railroads meet at the port, and I-10, I-55 and I-310 connect the metro to Baton Rouge, Houston and the Atlantic coast. Barge terminals make a third mode.
Barge cargo can sit in the open and be jostled by tow movements. A crate for barge needs a sheathed shell and tie-down points through the skid, never through the walls.
Hurricane season and storage
From June to November, a hurricane can close the port or delay a vessel. Crates waiting on a pier or a trailer yard in that period need extra protection.
We seal the crate closed, use lag bolts rather than nails at the lid, and advise on stacking height. If a storm closes the port, a crate that is well sealed will still be dry when it opens.
Salt air, river fog and summer thunderstorms test every seam in a crate. We use sheathing with overlapped joints, rather than butt joints, and fasten lids with lag bolts or screws so the crate can be opened and re-closed without splitting.
Quote notes for New Orleans shippers
Send inside dimensions, gross weight, destination, quantity, transport mode and the delivery date.
Crates are built to order and delivered to your dock in the metro. Export crates with solid wood need an IPPC heat-treatment stamp where the destination requires it; confirm the rules with APHIS.
Tell us whether the dock is on the river, a canal or a city street. Trucks reach some uptown and Westbank locations only by narrow approaches, and a knockdown kit with numbered panels often gets through where a finished crate cannot.
Questions buyers ask
Do you crate oilfield equipment in New Orleans?
Yes. Send dimensions, weight, flange details and rigging requirements.
What about hurricane delays?
Tell us the storage period. We seal the crate and recommend a stacking limit.
Do barge shipments need tie-downs in the skid?
Yes, we build them through the skid, not the walls.