Who runs gaylords here
Who runs gaylords in the Twin Cities
Plastics, food, devices, electronics, warehouses, growers, metal and print: the trades that fill the metro's docks with gaylords, with Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) job counts for each.
Twin Cities metro manufacturing reached 175,817 jobs in 2023, per DEED's Twin Cities Manufacturing Profile. Those jobs sit in a handful of sectors, and each handles gaylords differently. This ledger lists the sectors that matter to the box trade, with the 2023 job counts DEED reports.
| Sector | Twin Cities jobs, 2023 | Where it meets a gaylord | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plastics and rubber | 10,483 | Pellets, regrind, film scrap: octabins and 5‑wall boxes | Plastics and regrind |
| Food manufacturing | 11,002 | Ingredients in, empties out; dryness decides resale | Food and ingredients |
| Miscellaneous (incl. medical devices) | 22,389 | Components, staging and scrap; storage history matters | Medical devices and electronics |
| Computer and electronic products | 36,050 | Light parts, dry indoor stacks | Medical devices and electronics |
| Fabricated metal | 25,848 | Dense parts: short boxes, 5‑wall | Parts and metal |
| Machinery | 17,836 | Castings and chips: full flap bottoms | Parts and metal |
| Printing | 11,375 | Paper stock on the floor for weeks | Printing and paper |
| Chemical | 9,600 | Dry-side loads only; no dangerous goods | Parts and metal |
Source: DEED Twin Cities Manufacturing Profile 2024 (QCEW data). Warehouses, 3PLs and growers are outside manufacturing counts; their pages draw on the metro's industrial market figures.
Beyond manufacturing
The Minneapolis industrial market is the 13th-largest in the United States at 346 million sq. ft., and Twin Cities industrial vacancy hovered around 4% in the first two quarters of 2025, against 9.3% nationally. Tight space puts a premium on stacking boxes properly: see the warehouses and 3PL page. At the metro's southern and western edge, produce growers buy octabins on a harvest calendar.
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Plastics and regrind | Plastics and Regrind: which gaylords the trade uses in the Twin Cities, the grade and stack height to plan, and the towns where it clusters. |
| Food and ingredients | Food and Ingredient Plants: which gaylords the trade uses in the Twin Cities, the grade and stack height to plan, and the towns where it clusters. |
| Devices and electronics | Medical Devices and Electronics: which gaylords the trade uses in the Twin Cities, the grade and stack height to plan, and the towns where it clusters. |
| Warehouses and 3PLs | Warehouses and 3PLs: which gaylords the trade uses in the Twin Cities, the grade and stack height to plan, and the towns where it clusters. |
| Produce growers | Produce Growers: which gaylords the trade uses in the Twin Cities, the grade and stack height to plan, and the towns where it clusters. |
| Metal parts | Metal Parts Makers: which gaylords the trade uses in the Twin Cities, the grade and stack height to plan, and the towns where it clusters. |
| Printing and paper | Printing and Paper: which gaylords the trade uses in the Twin Cities, the grade and stack height to plan, and the towns where it clusters. |
These pages describe trades, not customers. Employers named on area pages appear only as sourced facts about what an area's industry looks like.
Using this ledger
Find the sector closest to your shop, then open its page. It lists the towns where that trade appears, and it shows three Stack Check scenarios for the kind of box that sector tends to use. If your trade is not on the list, the closest one is a good starting point and the request can add the details.
Questions, answered
Who uses gaylord boxes in the Twin Cities?
Plastics molders, food and ingredient plants, device and electronics makers, metal shops, printers, 3PLs and growers. The table above shows the sectors and what each ships in a gaylord.
Sources and last reviewed
Facts on this page were last reviewed 2026-11-11.
- DEED Twin Cities Manufacturing Profile 2024: Minnesota DEED job counts by manufacturing sector for the Twin Cities metro in 2023.
- CBRE: emerging industrial market, Minneapolis: Market research on the size of the Minneapolis industrial market.
- REBusiness: Minneapolis-St. Paul industrial market: Trade press on Twin Cities industrial vacancy and demand.
- DEED: leading life sciences: DEED on the life-sciences cluster, including Minnesota's rank in medical device manufacturing.