Essex County gaylords: towns, roads and docks

One city pair, a few heavy trades

The chart places Essex County's boxes at Lawrence and North Andover, ZIPs 01840, 01841, 01843 and 01845. Boiler manufacturing, advanced manufacturing and light industry in old mill buildings are heavy users of higher wall counts. Their loads are dense, so full flap bottoms and four-wall or five-wall boxes are the norm.

The same plants empty good boxes. Castings and fabricated parts arrive in sturdy gaylords that are worth another trip.

Roads

I-495 crosses the Merrimack at Lawrence, and I-93 runs a few miles to the east, with Route 114 and Route 125 connecting them. From Essex County a truck reaches Lowell along the same arc, Wilmington and Woburn down I-93, and Devens and Marlborough farther west and south.

The request

Heavy shops should lead with the load: "cast fittings" or "formed sheet." That gives us the wall count and bottom style without a visit. Include the footprint, the count and the ZIP.

The Merrimack Valley side

Essex County reaches this chart through Lawrence and North Andover on I-495 north. It is an older industrial district, with mills and newer plants side by side, and a pickup there is planned around the highway rather than the harbor.

Essex County appears here through Lawrence and North Andover and the I-495 north stretch. Docks elsewhere in the county, on Route 128 near Danvers or along I-95, are further from this page but not out of reach. Name the nearest highway exit in the request and say how far you are from Lawrence.

Mill buildings and heavy goods

Lawrence and North Andover's manufacturers ship heavy product from buildings that were never designed around a loading dock. The result is an unusual mix: new equipment in old buildings, tight yards and tough boxes. The Lawrence page describes how that shapes a request.

Beyond Lawrence

Essex County is larger than this page. If your dock is in Andover, Haverhill, Methuen or farther along the coast, the Lawrence page is still the closest on the chart, and the I-495 north stretch is the road that links them. Say how far you are from Lawrence and which exit you use.

Mention the exit you use on I-495 north, and whether your trucks head toward Boston or New Hampshire.

Say whether your dock faces a street or a rear yard, because mill buildings differ.