Nestable and Stackable Pallets: Scranton-Wilkes-Barre

Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, by road

I-81, I-80 and the Northeast Extension meet in the Wyoming Valley, a day's truck from New York and Philadelphia. The Scranton-Wilkes-Barre area sits in Pennsylvania, and the freight pattern follows the roads above.

Warehousing and storage is where this area is most concentrated, at 5.9 times the national share of employment. The area reaches into Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wyoming counties.

Counties

ZIP codes with the most warehouses

The five largest ZIP codes hold 56 establishments between them. Pittston (18640) leads with 28, 50.0 percent of the five.

Reading the numbers

• Luzerne County has 13,602 warehousing jobs, 71.9 percent of the 18,912 in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre area.
• Lackawanna County has 5,310 warehousing jobs, 28.1 percent of the 18,912 in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre area, 8,292 fewer than Luzerne.
• Hazleton (18202) has 12 fewer warehousing establishments than Pittston (18640), 16 against 28.
• Wilkes Barre (18706) has 24 fewer warehousing establishments than Pittston (18640), 4 against 28.
• Scranton (18504) has 24 fewer warehousing establishments than Pittston (18640), 4 against 28.
• Gouldsboro (18424) has 24 fewer warehousing establishments than Pittston (18640), 4 against 28.
• Luzerne County's 13,602 is 11.0 percent of all 123,481 warehousing jobs in Pennsylvania.
• Lackawanna County's 5,310 is 4.3 percent of all 123,481 warehousing jobs in Pennsylvania.
• ZIP 18640 in Pittston ranks number 1 of the five, with 28 warehousing establishments, 50.0 percent of their combined total and 7.00 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 18202 in Hazleton ranks number 2 of the five, with 16 warehousing establishments, 28.6 percent of their combined total and 4.00 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 18706 in Wilkes Barre ranks number 3 of the five, with 4 warehousing establishments, 7.1 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 18504 in Scranton ranks number 4 of the five, with 4 warehousing establishments, 7.1 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• ZIP 18424 in Gouldsboro ranks number 5 of the five, with 4 warehousing establishments, 7.1 percent of their combined total and 1.00 times the smallest of them.
• Warehousing and storage employs 18,912 in the area (partial), 1.00 for every warehousing job.
• Beverage manufacturing employs 1,378 in the area (partial), 0.07 for every warehousing job.
• Food manufacturing employs 4,798 in the area (partial), 0.25 for every warehousing job.
• Pennsylvania's warehousing and storage employment, 123,481, is 6.53 times the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre area's warehousing jobs.
• Pennsylvania's plastics product manufacturing employment, 34,094, is 1.80 times the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre area's warehousing jobs.
• Pennsylvania's pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing employment, 20,358, is 1.08 times the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre area's warehousing jobs.
• Pennsylvania's refrigerated warehousing employment, 4,102, is 0.22 times the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre area's warehousing jobs.
• Lehigh Valley, also in Pennsylvania, has 19,122 warehousing jobs, 1.01 times Scranton-Wilkes-Barre's.
• Harrisburg, also in Pennsylvania, has 17,241 warehousing jobs, 0.91 times Scranton-Wilkes-Barre's.
• Philadelphia, also in Pennsylvania, has 38,250 warehousing jobs, 2.02 times Scranton-Wilkes-Barre's.

Who ships pallets here

In Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, warehousing and storage employs 18,912 (a partial count). Racks decide the order of questions: a pallet that sits on beams needs a racking load that matches the span, and a floor-stacked pallet needs a static load that matches the bottom of the stack. It tends to lean on rackable where the pallet lives on beams, stackable for block stacking, nestable for the empties that go back, usually in 48 x 40 in, and to ask about the racking load, and the beam span it was rated on.

The empty return

An illustration, not a forecast: if each of 56 warehouses in its five largest ZIP codes in Scranton-Wilkes-Barre sent back 1,200 empty pallets in a week, that would be 67,200 pallets. The table counts the 53 ft trailers that takes at three makers' published nestable figures, beside the 540 per trailer of a rackable.

In its state

Among the 6 metros of Pennsylvania that have a page here, Scranton-Wilkes-Barre ranks number 3 by warehousing jobs.

Scranton-Wilkes-Barre holds 15.3 percent of Pennsylvania's 123,481 private warehousing jobs. See the Pennsylvania page for the whole state.

Other metros in Pennsylvania with their own page: Lehigh Valley, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Lancaster.

Interstates serving the area: I-81 and I-80.

Words on this page

ZIP Code Business Patterns

A Census Bureau series that counts establishments by ZIP code and industry.

HDPE

High-density polyethylene, a tough resin used in many plastic pallets, valued for strength against its weight.

Beam span

The open gap between two rack beams. The longer the span, the lower the load the pallet can carry across it.

Euro pallet

A 1200 by 800 millimetre pallet, about 48 by 31.5 inches, widely used in Europe.

Edge rack

A rack arrangement where the pallet rests on the edges of the beams. It is the common test case for a racking rating.

Recycled content

The share of a pallet moulded from reground plastic. Makers print it as a range, often by colour.

Interstate corridor

A freight route named for its highway, together with the metros along it.

Bulk bag

A large woven bag, often sold as a Super Sack, that holds a ton or so of powder or granules and sits on a square pallet.

Closed loop

A route where pallets return to the sender after delivery, so the empty trip is a standing cost.