Crating and export crates in San Diego

A harbor, a border and a bay of shipyards

The Port of San Diego runs two cargo terminals on the bay, Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal in San Diego and the National City Marine Terminal, handling vehicles, breakbulk and project cargo alongside some containers. Most container traffic for Southern California goes through the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports instead, to the north on I-5. I-5 and I-805 are the north-south freight roads, and SR-905 runs out to Otay Mesa.

San Diego International Airport handles air cargo on a smaller scale than LAX. Rail freight is limited in the metro, so trucks do most of the moving, and a San Diego crate gets its first long ride on a trailer.

Shipbuilding, defense and devices

San Diego is known for naval shipyards and ship repair on the bay, defense electronics and aerospace-related manufacturing, and a deep biotech and medical-device sector. Add marine equipment, outboard and inboard engines, and the instruments and components that go to them. A great share of what is crated is bound for the Navy, a prime contractor or an overseas customer of one.

The packaging requirements follow the buyer. A defense contract may cite MIL-STD-2073 or a customer specification, and a device maker may want a particular sealed-bag arrangement. We build the wood part to the clause and expect the shipper's quality office to approve the drawing.

• Marine engines and gearboxes: skid-base crates with VCI
• Shipboard electronics: sheathed crates, shock indicators
• Device parts and fixtures: small cleated crates
• Heavy shipyard components: open-frame solid-lumber crates

Salt air and the sea-level problem

A coastal location means every day is a corrosion test. Bare steel left in a crate near the harbor picks up surface rust quickly, even before it is shipped. Wrap machined parts in VCI film, size the desiccant to the volume of the sealed bag, and put a moisture card in the bag where the receiver can read it.

Marine engines in particular are heavy at one end. We ask where the centre of gravity falls, build the strongback to carry it, and mark the crate with the centre-of-gravity symbol so the forklift driver knows where to put the forks.

Crossing at Otay Mesa

Otay Mesa is the busiest commercial crossing in the San Diego region, with trucks bound for Tijuana's industrial parks, and the Tecate crossing provides a smaller alternative to the east. Many San Diego manufacturers run operations on both sides, shipping components south and finished goods north.

Crates for that traffic go on short hauls and are lifted by forklift at every end. Returnable crates make economic sense when the same fixture crosses weekly: reinforced corners, latched lids and a stencilled inventory last longer than one-way boxes.

Delivery to your San Diego dock

Crates are built to order and delivered to the shipper's dock in the San Diego area. We keep no facility or yard in the city. A knockdown kit is a good fit for a shipyard supplier or a lab where the load sits in a bay too narrow for a finished crate.

For large pieces, tell us how the crate is unloaded, by forklift or by crane. A crane-lifted crate needs sling points on the strongback and a roof designed not to crush under a spreader.

Export wood from the Southern California coast

Exports through Los Angeles or Long Beach, or from San Diego's own terminals, usually need HT lumber with the IPPC stamp where the destination applies ISPM 15. APHIS administers the US heat-treatment program, and heat-treated packaging carries the ISPM 15 mark together with an accredited agency mark.

If a reconditioned crate comes in with new boards, those boards need their own stamp. Ask for it in the quote request and we confirm what the build requires.

What to include in a San Diego request

List the load's inside dimensions in inches, the gross weight in pounds and the destination. If the packaging is written into a purchase order or contract, quote the clause number and attach the text. Our job is to build what the document asks for, and we cannot read it if it is not in front of us.

Say whether the crate will be opened and reclosed on the way, as it often is when a customer inspects a part. Screws or lag bolts at the lid make that practical, and nails do not.