Areas · county desk
Reel pickup in Prince George's County: the region's warehouse belt
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Prince George's County is where much of the capital region's warehousing, contractor yards and distributor branches sit, so reels are emptied, stored and sorted here in large numbers, and spools are wanted here too. The desk covers the whole county, from Laurel on the Howard line to Brandywine near Charles.
From the reel desk · Checked 9 November 2026
Schematic line map, not to survey: Prince George's County marked, with US-50, US-301, Route 1, I-95, MD-5 drawn heavier. The Potomac, the Anacostia, the District line and the Beltway are drawn for bearings.
Fact box: Prince George's County
- Electric utilities
- Pepco (most of the county), BGE (parts)
- Distributor branches
- Graybar, Lanham
- Main corridors
- Capital Beltway, US-50, US-301, Route 1, MD-5
- Federal-employee residents
- About 54,000 (Comptroller of Maryland)
- Town pages
- 9
Why this county matters for reels
Look at a map of where the region keeps its things and Prince George’s stands out. The county planning department has studied its industrial land for years; its 2010 Industrial Land Needs and Employment Study, a 357-page report prepared with the University of Maryland, inventoried the county’s industrial and warehouse space as of 2009. That inventory is why so many of the region’s contractor shops, rental yards and supply houses are here, inside or just outside the Beltway.
For reels that means two things. First, many reels used on District and Montgomery jobs come back here, to a contractor’s yard or a supplier’s lot. Second, there is room: unlike the District, Prince George’s yards can hold reels long enough to sort them, which makes larger, less frequent pickups practical.
Who supplies the cable
Graybar’s Lanham branch is one of its capital-region locations, and Shepherd Electric, which Graybar acquired, has a location in Laurel. Distributor branches see reels come back from customers, and they clear their lots on their own schedule. If you run a branch, a recurring pickup is usually the right fit.
Utility work
Pepco serves most of Prince George’s, and BGE serves parts of it, according to Maryland’s Office of People’s Counsel. Utility distribution work, new services for subdivisions in the south of the county, and underground conversions all use cable on reels, much of it on the A-series aluminium reels in the 42 to 66 inch range.
Federal work
The Comptroller of Maryland’s June 2025 fact sheet counts about 54,000 Prince George’s residents who work for the federal government, and $46 billion in federal contracts for work in Maryland in fiscal 2024. Federal campuses in the county (Andrews, Beltsville’s agricultural research centre, Greenbelt’s space flight centre) generate the kind of steady electrical and communications work that leaves reels behind.
Fibre
Maryland’s final broadband round, approved in February 2026, funds about 9,000 locations across 18 counties. Fibre builds produce smaller reels, often plywood, and they arrive a few at a time from crews working along county roads.
Buying in the county
Prince George’s also has a lot of people who want reels: landscapers and nurseries in the south of the county, farms around Upper Marlboro and Brandywine, event businesses, and homeowners with space for a big outdoor table. Large reels travel short distances here, which keeps delivery practical.
The county’s town pages
Nine town pages follow, each with its own roads, ZIP codes and kind of work: Beltsville, North Brentwood, Lanham, Landover, Capitol Heights, Upper Marlboro, Brandywine, Hyattsville and Laurel.
Sending a request from Prince George's County
- Count and measure. Count the reels and measure the largest flange edge to edge across the face. A photo with the tape in it is better than a guess.
- Check the build. Nailed lumber, plywood sheet, steel or plastic. Look for a stencil or tag naming the maker and the reel number.
- Set aside steel and tagged returnables with their serial numbers. Those go back to the maker, not to the desk.
- Say where they stand: yard, dock, garage level, alley or curb, plus clearance, gate hours, badging or escort a driver needs.
- Say what loads them: forklift, pallet jack, loader, ramp, or only people. Reels over 42 inches weigh more than 100 lb empty.
- Say how often: one time, weekly, monthly or at each job close-out.
- Buying instead? Give the flange and height you want, how many, and how the reel gets from the truck to where it will sit.
- No form handy? Email info@dcwoodenspools.com with the same details and a few photos.
Reels you are likely to have
| Reel | Build | Flange | Traverse | Drum | Lb | Usually carries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-5 | Nailed wood | 23 | 17 | 12 | 34 | Copper building wire, grounding |
| A-10 | Nailed wood | 30 | 22 | 16 | 66 | Service drop, bare aluminium |
| N-24 | Nailed wood | 36 | 28 | 14 | 83 | Insulated and multiplex cable |
| A-29 | Nailed wood | 42 | 28 | 21 | 154 | Overhead conductor, feeders |
| A-38 | Nailed wood | 48 | 28 | 24 | 212 | Aluminium and ACSR, large feeders |
| A-62 | Nailed wood | 60 | 28 | 28 | 397 | Utility conductor |
| A-76 | Nailed wood | 66 | 28 | 30 | 473 | Heavy conductor |
| S-120 | Steel, returnable | 84 | 36 | 42 | 895 | Transmission and medium voltage |
Other makers' reels differ by an inch or two. All flange sizes · How to measure
Questions the desk gets
Can the desk clear a contractor yard in Prince George's on a schedule?
Yes. Recurring pickups suit yards and distributor branches that refill on a regular cycle. Choose "Monthly" or "At each job close-out" in the request.
Which utility serves my part of the county?
Pepco serves most of Prince George's and BGE serves parts of it, according to the Maryland Office of People's Counsel.
Sources
Each opened and read on 9 November 2026.
- Prince George's County Planning, Industrial Land Needs and Employment Study (2010): the county's inventory of industrial and warehouse space
- Maryland Office of People's Counsel, Your Local Electricity Companies: which utility serves which Maryland counties
- inside.lighting, Graybar expands in Baltimore-DC, acquires Shepherd Electric (2023): Graybar branches in Lanham and Sterling; Shepherd locations in Baltimore, Laurel, Frederick, Washington and Sterling
- Comptroller of Maryland, Impact of the Federal Government on Maryland's Economy (June 2025): $46 billion in federal contracts for work in Maryland in fiscal 2024; Defense and HHS 60%; third per capita
- Southern Maryland Chronicle, Maryland unlocks $79.1M to close final broadband gaps (6 February 2026): NTIA approval announced 4 February 2026: about 9,000 locations in 18 counties