Areas · Prince George's County
Reels and spools in Laurel: where three counties meet on I-95
LAUREL, Md. — Laurel, with ZIPs 20707, 20708 and 20723 to 20725, sits where Prince George's, Howard and Anne Arundel counties meet along I-95 and Route 1. It has a Shepherd Electric location, warehouses and constant building, and the desk collects reels there and delivers spools.
From the reel desk · Checked 9 November 2026
Schematic line map, not to survey: Laurel marked, with I-95, Route 1 drawn heavier. The Potomac, the Anacostia, the District line and the Beltway are drawn for bearings.
Fact box: Laurel
- ZIPs
- 20707, 20708, 20723, 20724, 20725
- Distributor
- Shepherd Electric (now part of Graybar)
- Main roads
- I-95, Route 1, MD-198, MD-200 (ICC), Baltimore-Washington Parkway
- Counties
- Prince George's, Howard, Anne Arundel
A three-county town
The city of Laurel is in Prince George’s County, but the Laurel mailing area spills into Howard and Anne Arundel. Route 1 and I-95 run through it toward Baltimore, MD-198 crosses east to Fort Meade, and the Intercounty Connector (MD-200) ends just south. The result is a place full of warehouses, flex buildings, offices and new housing, on the main road between Washington and Baltimore.
A supply location
Shepherd Electric, a regional electrical distributor that Graybar acquired, lists Laurel among its locations, along with Baltimore, Frederick, Washington and Sterling. A distributor location builds up empty reels from returns and from cutting cable to length. Like any branch, it rarely has a full truckload of one maker’s nailed reels at once, which is what most maker programs want. A regular pickup clears the stack.
Warehouses and contractors
The I-95 and Route 1 corridors around Laurel hold distribution warehouses, contractor yards and flex buildings. Warehouses are built with long runs of feeder and branch cable, and the contractors who build them are often based in the corridor. Yards here usually have room to sort reels by size and build before a pickup.
Federal work to the east
Fort Meade and the agencies there are just east of Laurel along MD-198 and MD-32. The Comptroller of Maryland counts $46 billion in federal contracts for work in Maryland in fiscal 2024. Federal construction and renovation is a steady source of reels for contractors based around Laurel.
Buyers
Laurel’s buyers are a mix: homeowners in Laurel and North Laurel wanting table reels, horse people near the racetrack and the farms to the north wanting large reels, and contractors wanting working reels.
Getting here
I-95 has interchanges at MD-198 and MD-216; Route 1 runs through the old town; the Baltimore-Washington Parkway runs to the east. Pickups in Laurel often combine with Beltsville to the south.
Sending a request from Laurel
- 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
Does the desk cover the Howard and Anne Arundel parts of Laurel?
Yes. Laurel mailing addresses in all three counties are covered.
Can a distributor location set up a standing pickup?
Yes. Weekly or monthly pickups suit branches that build up returned and stripped reels.
Sources
Each opened and read on 9 November 2026.
- 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