Bulk bags shipped to Arizona

Who fills bulk bags in Arizona

Copper country and its reagents

Arizona is known for copper, mined in big open pits in the central and southeast parts of the state. The ore is ground and floated into concentrate, and that process uses lime and other reagents, many of which arrive in bulk bags.

Lime and powdered reagents need coated fabric, a liner and a spout bottom over the feeder. Heavier reagents may call for 3,000 lb SWL or more. Mine sites often have their own rules for loops and lifting, so send us the site's bag spec sheet if one exists.

Most open-pit operations sit in rugged country off state highways, around Globe and Miami, Morenci, Bagdad and south of Tucson. Trucks reach them over grades and switchbacks, and many sites require a driver safety orientation before entry, so the carrier needs the site rules in advance.

Tailings and leach pads are part of every large mine, and reclamation crews cover and seed them with soil conditioners, mulch and native seed mixes delivered by the bag. Reclamation loads are not food or static-sensitive, so inspected multi-trip bags can serve.

Heat, sun and stored bags

Sun is the hazard most Arizona yards underestimate. UV exposure softens polypropylene and powders the fabric surface, and the bag makers' handling guides say bags should not be lifted after prolonged sun exposure or repaired by the user.

Store empty bales indoors or under cover, and keep filled bags out of the sun if they'll sit. Inspect every bag before use. A bag that has baked on a pallet all summer goes to a recycler, not onto a forklift.

Many bag fabrics carry a UV stabilizer, but stabilized fabric still breaks down in strong sun, only more slowly. Ask for UV-stabilized fabric if bags will sit outdoors at a mine or job site, and still rotate stock so the oldest bales go first.

Shade structures, ventilated warehouses and morning deliveries help. A driver unloading at midday in July works on pavement hot enough to burn skin, so early appointments are easier on crews and on the wrap that holds bales together.

• Keep bales wrapped and under a roof
• Fill older stock first
• Check loops and fabric for chalking before every lift

Fields, dairies and building sites

Yuma, on the Colorado River, grows lettuce and leafy greens through the winter. Those fields take fertilizer and seed in fall, so bag orders build from late summer. Fertilizer wants coated, lined bags; seed wants new, uncoated ones.

Central Arizona grows cotton and alfalfa under irrigation, and dairies around the Phoenix area buy feed and minerals in bags. Minerals are a job where an inspected 6:1 bag can be reused, if the dairy agrees.

Construction keeps a steady draw on sand, stucco, mortar and cement across the Phoenix and Tucson metros. Sand ships in uncoated bags and can reuse inspected multi-trip bags. Stucco and cement need coated, lined bags.

Job-site deliveries need a forklift or a loader at the drop. Tell us what will unload the truck before we quote.

Pecans, dates and monsoon dust

South of Tucson, the Santa Cruz River valley holds large pecan orchards, and the irrigated land around Yuma grows dates as well as winter greens. Shelled pecans and pitted dates are food: new bags, food grade, with a liner when the packer asks for one.

From July into September the monsoon brings sudden storms, flash floods and walls of blowing dust. Dust storms can drop visibility on I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson to almost nothing, and the highway patrol may close stretches until it clears. Tarp or wrap bales on open trailers, and keep filled bags off low ground where runoff collects.

A soaked bale of uncoated bags can be dried and inspected, but bags that sat in standing water with fertilizer or lime residue should go to recycling rather than back into service.

Out east, the Sulphur Springs Valley around Willcox grows pistachios, apples and wine grapes under deep wells. Those growers fill in-shell pistachios in new food-grade bags and buy fertilizer by the coated, lined bag.

Highways in, and how to book

I-10 crosses from California through Phoenix and Tucson to New Mexico. I-17 climbs north from Phoenix to Flagstaff, where I-40 runs east and west across the north through Kingman. I-8 runs from Yuma to Casa Grande, and I-19 goes south from Tucson to the Nogales border crossings.

For a quote, send the product, SWL, top, bottom, liner and ZIP. To book an empties pickup, send a count and photos; sun-damaged and 5:1 bags go to recycling.

Flagstaff sits high on the Colorado Plateau, and I-17 and I-40 there get snow and ice in winter even when Phoenix is mild. Kingman links to Las Vegas on US-93, which crosses the Colorado River below Hoover Dam.

Phoenix freight clusters in the West Valley around Goodyear, Tolleson and Buckeye, and in the southeast Valley near Chandler and Mesa. Tucson's warehouses cluster near the airport and along I-10, and Nogales on I-19 is busy with produce from Mexico through the winter.