Pallets in Sterling Heights
Sterling Heights Assembly builds the Ram 1500 in 5 million square feet with 7,008 workers in 2022, and defense vehicle makers share the city.
What is here
- Plant
- Stellantis Sterling Heights Assembly, Ram 1500
- Floor area
- 5,000,000 square feet
- Workers
- 7,008 in 2022
- Also
- Defense vehicles
- ZIPs
- 48310, 48311, 48312, 48313, 48314
A truck plant this size is pulled along by hundreds of supplier shipments a day, and the roads around it fill with delivery trucks. The suppliers that serve it, including seat, wheel and frame makers, are the places pallets can be had in volume.
Big parts, big pallets
Pickup-truck components are large and heavy. Frames, axles and bed parts ride on strong pallets or racks, and what is left over after the racks are returned is a stream of heavy-duty pallets that is worth sorting well. Sound ones sell; bent ones are cores.
- Check for sag in the middle of the deck.
- Look at the stringer ends for splits.
- Note which pallets are four-way, since supplier docks prize them.
Close to Warren
Warren is next door, so a route can serve both. The defense side of the city adds a smaller stream of machined-part pallets; see defense and machining.
Questions from truck-plant suppliers
Our parts go on racks. Do we still have pallets?
Yes: inbound materials arrive on pallets even when outbound goes on racks.
Are sagging pallets worth listing?
List them as cores. A sagging deck means a pallet that will fail under load.
Can a defense vehicle supplier mix in with automotive stock?
Keep them apart if the loads differ. Heavy defense pallets sell to a different buyer.
A planned city
Sterling Heights has wide arterial roads and large industrial blocks, which suits big trucks. A full trailer can reach most docks without trouble, and a dock that can hold a full trailer's worth is well placed for a bulk handover.
Wide roads and big blocks
Sterling Heights was laid out for cars, and its mile roads and big industrial blocks suit large trucks. A tractor-trailer can reach most docks without difficulty. That makes a bulk pickup easier here than in the older river cities.
If your dock can load a full trailer, say so. The trailer arithmetic is in the trailer guide. A full trailer is the efficient unit for a long haul, and a dock that can fill one in a day makes the trip worthwhile.
Gate rules
Large plants and their suppliers keep rules for visitors. Ask whether a driver needs an appointment, ID or protective gear.
Mile roads
Sterling Heights runs north from Warren and the 14 Mile Road line, and the mile roads from 14 Mile to 20 Mile (M-59) carry its east-west traffic, so naming the cross street helps.