Crating and export crates in Phoenix

An inland metro looking at three horizons

Phoenix freight faces west, south and east. West on I-10 is Los Angeles and Long Beach, where the ports are a day's truck ride away or a Union Pacific ramp away. South on I-17 and I-19 is Nogales, the commercial crossing into Sonora. East, the same I-10 runs on to Tucson and El Paso. Phoenix Sky Harbor is the main airport, and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway adds room on the east side of the valley. The Loop 101, 202 and 303 freeways carry trucks around the metro to plants in Chandler, Tempe, Mesa and Goodyear.

Since no ocean terminal sits in the valley, most export crates make two moves: a truck or rail leg to a coastal port, then the ship. The crate has to be strong enough for a second set of forklifts at the end of a day on the road.

Chips, aerospace and the desert economy

Phoenix is known for semiconductor fabrication and its supplier base, for aerospace and defense work in Mesa and elsewhere, for electronics, and for a growing set of data center and solar-equipment loads. The industrial machinery and medical-device sectors are present as well.

Fab equipment, aerospace subassemblies and server hardware share one trait: they are valuable per pound. So the best crate is one sized to protect the item and avoid wasted cube, and a foam-blocked sheathed crate is more common here than an open frame.

• Fab tool modules: cleaned and bagged, then sheathed crates
• Aerospace subassemblies: cleated plywood with foam blocking
• Server and network racks: strongback frames, upright marks
• Solar and electrical gear: sheathed crates, moisture barrier

Heat is part of the spec

A trailer parked in a Phoenix lot in July bakes its cargo. Adhesives soften, tape releases, plastic bags warp and desiccant packs reach capacity faster than expected. Choose a barrier bag and tape rated for heat, and seal after the load is cool, not when the crate sits in the sun.

Dry air has a downside, too. Freshly cut lumber dries and shrinks, and a crate built from green boards opens gaps at the joints. We build with seasoned lumber and fasten with screws or lag bolts where the crate will be reopened.

Nogales and the Sonora lane

Nogales sees truck traffic carrying produce north and manufacturing inputs south. Phoenix machinery and electronic assemblies bound for plants in Sonora generally go by truck down I-19, where a cross-border carrier takes over. Some Phoenix shippers also use Guaymas on the Gulf of California as a port, since it sits within reach by road.

The same border handling applies as at Laredo: a crate may change carriers, and it will be lifted by forklift several times. Reinforced skid ends and clear fork-side marks reduce damage.

Rail and the Pacific ports

Containers bound for Asia often leave Phoenix on a trucked leg to the Port of Los Angeles or Long Beach, loaded by a forwarder's crew. Some shippers use an intermodal ramp and load the box in the valley. In both cases the crate is braced in the container with blocking, and the interior door of the container sets its maximum size.

Put the container type and your forwarder's loading date in the quote request. If the crate will be trucked and not railed, tell us that too.

Delivery across the Valley

Crates are built to order and delivered to the shipper's dock anywhere in the Phoenix area. We have no yard or facility in the valley. For plants with tight receiving doors, we ship knockdown kits with numbered panels and a bag of hardware, and your crew closes the crate beside the load.

Give us the hours the dock is open, because summer delivery windows often start early to avoid peak heat.

What a Phoenix request should list

Start with the load's inside dimensions in inches, its gross weight in pounds and the destination country. Add the quantity, the date needed and the route you expect: Los Angeles or Long Beach, Nogales or Sky Harbor.

If the load will sit on a dock or in a trailer in summer, say so; it affects the bag, the tape and the desiccant we specify.