Legs

The five legs out of the junction

The junction has five legs: I-44 Southwest, I-40 West, I-35 North, I-40 East and I-35 South. Each runs past a different kind of dock with a different pallet problem, so start with the road your dock sits on.

The crossroads in three lines

I-35 runs north and south through Oklahoma City, I-40 runs east and west, and I-44 comes in from the southwest. I-40 and I-35 run together for roughly a mile and a half near downtown, and I-40 meets I-44 at the Amarillo Junction west of downtown. Greater Oklahoma City adds two Class I railroads, Union Pacific and BNSF.

Which leg is yours

Leg	Reaches	The pallet problem
I-44 Southwest	Will Rogers airport district, Chickasha	48x40s by the trailer; rail-served plants beyond
I-40 West	Stockyards City, Yukon, El Reno	Mixed outdoor piles in oilfield-supply yards
I-35 North	Northeast OKC, Edmond, Guthrie	Parcel hubs and steady, clean outbound stock
I-40 East	Tinker, Midwest City, Shawnee	Consistent small lots; heat treatment for export parts
I-35 South	Moore, Norman, Purcell	Heavy units on built-to-spec skids

I-44 Southwest

I-44 Southwest is the fulfillment leg: the Will Rogers airport district, where fulfillment and retail distribution turn 48x40s by the trailer, and beyond it the rail-served plants at Chickasha.

Inside the city I-44 is the Will Rogers Expressway, running southwest from the Amarillo Junction past the airport. Further out the H. E. Bailey Turnpike carries it through Chickasha, served at US 81 (exit 80) and US 62 (exit 83). Corridor ZIPs are 73159, 73179, 73010 and 73018.

Expect 48x40s in volume, a steady stream of cores and demand for sorted Grade A and B outbound; smaller footprints are rare. Hobby Lobby supplies more than 900 stores from its Oklahoma City distribution center. See the airport district, Chickasha, 48 x 40 pallets and fulfillment and retail distribution.

I-40 West

I-40 West runs out of the Amarillo Junction through west Oklahoma City, Yukon and El Reno, past oilfield-supply yards, distribution and manufacturing. The signature pile is outdoors and mixed.

The leg passes the west Reno strip and Yukon and ends at El Reno, where it meets US 81; Mustang and Bethany group here too. Corridor ZIPs are 73127, 73128, 73099 and 73036.

Pipe, fittings and equipment move on skids and 48x48 footprints, and the yards that store them keep pallets outdoors. Over a season that becomes a mixed pile: some Grade B, some cores, a few odd sizes, weathered grey. See oilfield supply for the dock's side and the storm-season guide for the weather.

I-35 North

I-35 North leaves the junction past the parcel hubs of northeast Oklahoma City, then runs through Edmond and Guthrie. The docks along it send steady, fairly clean outbound stock.

I-44 overlaps I-35 from exit 133 to exit 138, where the Turner Turnpike (I-44 east) and the Kilpatrick Turnpike (I-344 west) leave. Edmond's exits run from Sooner Road to Second Street, and US 77 rides with I-35 from Edmond to Guthrie's South Division Street exit. Corridor ZIPs are 73111, 73131, 73003, 73034 and 73044.

See northeast I-35, Edmond and Guthrie. Stock that comes on a weekly rhythm suits recurring dock pickups; a store back lot is a one-off clear-out.

I-40 East

I-40 East runs along Tinker Air Force Base through Del City and Midwest City, then on to Shawnee's mills and plastics plants. The docks want clean, consistent stock, and some of it needs the ISPM 15 mark.

Past downtown, I-40 runs through Del City and Midwest City on the Tinker Diagonal, which gives access to the base. It meets I-240 on the far east side, then runs north of Shawnee. Corridor ZIPs are 73110, 73115, 73130, 73020 and 74801.

Aerospace suppliers buy small, repeat lots, and parts that go overseas need heat-treated wood with the ISPM 15 mark; Shawnee's plants buy one size and grade by the truckload. See southeast and Tinker, Midwest City, Del City, Shawnee, aerospace and defense supply and mills and plastics.

I-35 South

I-35 South runs from the junction through Moore and Norman toward Purcell, the McClain County seat. It is the HVAC and equipment leg, where heavy units ship on built-to-spec skids and the back lot holds broken ones.

ODOT plans to rebuild the I-35 and I-240 cloverleaf on the south side in phases. Corridor ZIPs are 73149, 73160, 73165, 73069, 73071 and 73080.

A rooftop unit does not ride on a worn 48x40: expect new or combo builds, extra deck coverage and, for oversize units, custom footprints, while the broken skids out back are a pickup job. See Moore, Norman, HVAC and equipment, new pallets and the 48 x 45 size.