Wholesale plastic pallets shipped to Alabama

Measured against the national total for each industry, Alabama is strongest in motor vehicle manufacturing, with 7.7% of the US jobs, and weakest in food manufacturing, with 1.9%. The state holds 1.15% of US warehousing jobs, so a share above that line means the industry is bigger here than the warehousing base alone suggests.

Jefferson holds 31.6% of the state's warehousing jobs, and the 3 counties shown together hold 52.8%. Counties with undisclosed data are left out, so these are floors, not complete counts.

Alabama stands 2,661 jobs behind Colorado and 722 ahead of Kansas. The median state has 23,211 warehousing jobs, so Alabama sits at 94 percent of that line.

• The average Alabama warehousing site employs 72 people against 81 nationally, so a typical site here is 88 percent the size of the national one.
• Food manufacturing employs 1.54 people for every warehousing job in Alabama; across the whole country the figure is 0.93.
• Motor vehicle assembly and parts together account for 51,529 jobs in Alabama, 6.4% of the 809,845 nationwide.
• Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing adds 1,535 jobs, 0.44% of the national 350,886, which makes it 32nd of the 46 states that report.
• Cold storage runs 1,965 thousand cubic feet of gross refrigerated capacity for every thousand warehousing jobs here, against 2,098 thousand for the country as a whole.
• California has the most warehousing jobs of any state, 236,923, and Alabama has 9.2% of that.
• By number of warehousing establishments Alabama is 25th of fifty, and by average site size it is 30th, so it has more sites than its job count alone would suggest.
• In food manufacturing Alabama ranks 22nd with 33,728 jobs, 1.9% of the US total of 1,775,008.
• The 3 counties shown hold 11,552 of the state's 21,880 warehousing jobs, so 10,328 sit in other counties or in counties whose data is not disclosed.

Every measure on this page has a figure for Alabama: warehousing, food, pharmaceutical, motor vehicle assembly and parts, counties and cold storage.

Loads for Alabama often share a corridor with the neighbours below. The ratio column divides the neighbour's warehousing jobs by Alabama's 21,880, so a ratio above 1 means a larger warehousing base across the line.

Lane pages for the neighbours: Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

The table sets Alabama beside each state that borders it on the same five measures: establishments, jobs per site, food manufacturing jobs for each warehousing job, share of the US warehousing total, and sites for every thousand warehousing jobs. All of it is arithmetic on the BLS counts named in the sources.

• To reach the median state's 23,211 warehousing jobs, Alabama would need to add 1,331; to reach its 306 median sites it would have to lose 0.
• Its 1.15% of US warehousing jobs compares with 1.90% of US food manufacturing jobs, a ratio of 1.65: food plants weigh more here than warehouses do.
• If each of the 306 sites took one standard 53 ft trailer of pallets a month, the state would see 3,672 trailers a year; that is an illustration of scale, not a forecast of demand.
• ZIP codes in Alabama fall in 350 to 369, so the first three digits of a ship-to are enough to place a dock inside the state.
• Motor vehicle manufacturing is the largest listed industry on this page at 22,311 jobs, 1.02 for every warehousing job and 73 for every warehousing site.
• Dividing the 33,728 food manufacturing jobs by the 306 warehousing sites gives 110.2; across the country the same division gives 76.0.
• The state's 1.15% of US warehousing jobs equals one job in every 87 nationwide.

A thought experiment with the same data: if all 306 Alabama sites were the size of the average US site, at 81.5 jobs, the state would have 24,931 warehousing jobs, which is 3,051 more than the 21,880 it has. Its sites are smaller than the national average.

• Against Florida, Alabama has 83,521 fewer warehousing jobs, 943 fewer sites and 5,662 fewer food manufacturing jobs; the typical Florida site holds 84.4 jobs and the typical Alabama site 71.5; food jobs per warehousing job run 1.54 here and 0.37 there.
• Against Georgia, Alabama has 62,850 fewer warehousing jobs, 844 fewer sites and 40,437 fewer food manufacturing jobs; the typical Georgia site holds 73.7 jobs and the typical Alabama site 71.5; food jobs per warehousing job run 1.54 here and 0.88 there.
• Against Mississippi, Alabama has 3,574 fewer warehousing jobs, 1 more sites and 9,001 more food manufacturing jobs; the typical Mississippi site holds 83.5 jobs and the typical Alabama site 71.5; food jobs per warehousing job run 1.54 here and 0.97 there.
• Against Tennessee, Alabama has 31,547 fewer warehousing jobs, 336 fewer sites and 6,592 fewer food manufacturing jobs; the typical Tennessee site holds 83.2 jobs and the typical Alabama site 71.5; food jobs per warehousing job run 1.54 here and 0.75 there.

• Motor vehicle manufacturing employs 22,311 in Alabama, 7.7% of the 288,633 nationwide; for every warehousing job the state has 1.02 of these jobs.
• Motor vehicle parts manufacturing employs 29,218 in Alabama, 5.6% of the 521,212 nationwide; for every warehousing job the state has 1.34 of these jobs.
• Meat and poultry processing employs 24,973 in Alabama, 4.5% of the 556,647 nationwide; for every warehousing job the state has 1.14 of these jobs.
• Plastics product manufacturing employs 14,217 in Alabama, 2.5% of the 575,006 nationwide; for every warehousing job the state has 0.65 of these jobs.
• Food manufacturing employs 33,728 in Alabama, 1.9% of the 1,775,008 nationwide; for every warehousing job the state has 1.54 of these jobs.

• Jefferson is 1st of the counties shown with 6,920 warehousing jobs, which is 96.8 times the average Alabama site headcount of 72 and 0.36% of all US warehousing jobs.
• Mobile is 2nd of the counties shown with 2,677 warehousing jobs, which is 37.4 times the average Alabama site headcount of 72 and 0.14% of all US warehousing jobs.
• Montgomery is 3rd of the counties shown with 1,955 warehousing jobs, which is 27.3 times the average Alabama site headcount of 72 and 0.10% of all US warehousing jobs.

• The dock address and ZIP; ZIPs in Alabama begin with 350 to 369.
• Receiving hours and whether delivery needs an appointment.
• The footprint and the number of pallets, or the number of trailers.
• The three ratings the load needs, or a description of the load.
• Resin and colourant papers wanted, if the pallets touch food or pharma product.
• The month you want them, and whether a standing supply follows.
• Whether the dock has a loading dock or needs a liftgate trailer.