Actually, yeah, they kinda are. Aluminum cable ladder trays or racks have been around since the dawn of manufacturing automation. You’ll find them wherever there are industrial-class environments and electricity—which means basically anywhere: factory floors, chemical plants, offshore oil platforms, power substations, distribution centers, hyperscale data centers, sports stadiums, and the like. Made from extruded aluminum, they are very lightweight, weather-resistant, and strong enough to handle tremendous loads without sagging. They can be used indoors or outdoors, installed on rooftops, on top of rows of server cabinets, attached to walls, or suspended from ceilings. They are also more expensive than heavier generic steel cable runways, for example.
There are many manufacturers of aluminum cable trays, and the truth is you would be hard pressed to tell them apart by brand from a distance. Essentially a commodity product, all are designed to do the same thing: carry large loads of line voltage electrical lines and/or low voltage data and telecommunication cables from Point A to Point B in an industrial environment. And as a commodity product, competition on price is intense; manufacturers must look elsewhere to create value.
Most manufacturers, including Snake Tray, offer their aluminum cable trays in 10-foot to 20-foot long straight sections in a choice of ladder, ventilated trough, and non-ventilated trough styles (Figure 1), with crosses, Ts, turns, and reducers available in matching formats. The trays usually are available in widths between six and 36 inches, with vertical side rails ranging from three to seven inches tall to allow for high cable loading capacities, and a variety of spans.
So what makes Snake Tray’s 653 Series Aluminum Cable Trays different from all the other generic aluminum cable trays? Honestly, from a functional perspective, not much, (although we do allow our customers to specify rung spacing widths for the Ladder cable tray). Our aluminum cable trays are lightweight, competitively priced, easy to install with a quick connection system, and available in a wide range of sizes, just like our competitors, BUT…
- Snake Tray is located on Long Island, New York, making it the only manufacturer of extruded aluminum ladder cable trays in the northeast United States. That equates to reduced lead time, faster delivery, and lower transit costs. Think about it. Aluminum cable tray sections and fittings are lightweight but large. They take up a lot of space when shipping. For a big job, that means a lot more trucks carrying goods to the construction site; trucks that were designed to carry much denser loads. As a result, long distance transportation expenses for aluminum cable trays are astronomical compared to other building materials. Selecting a local manufacturer closer to the job site can speed delivery and dramatically reduce shipping costs. Snake Tray organization manages its own fleet of trucks for regional deliveries allowing for job site delivery and sensitivity of our own Snake Tray staff to ensure predictable, responsible fulfilment of your needs. Test us; we’ll prove it.
- Snake Tray is the designer and manufacturer. You deal directly with the source, not a third party contract manufacturer; we are able to handle customized orders and non-standard widths with the same speed and cost-effectiveness as stock products. Snake Tray can usually fulfill your order in roughly half the time of our competitors.
- Snake Tray is a one-stop shop for all of your cable management needs. Chances are your cabling project will require more than just aluminum trays. You might need hand-bendable trays, risers, under floor trays, power distribution solutions, or prefabricated wire baskets to complete the job. Why deal with multiple vendors when you can partner with just one? Snake Tray has it all, including the transitions and adapters to route cables off and onto aluminum cable trays as well as between any type of cable management system.
Snake Tray offers its 653 Series Aluminum Cable Tray to round out its product line for customers seeking high capacity cable management solutions in rugged environments. While functionally identical to most generic aluminum cable ladder racks, only Snake Tray delivers the added value of local manufacturing for fast turnaround with the potential for dramatically reduced shipping costs, plus the convenience of a single solution provider for all of your data cabling and power distribution needs.
Snake Tray has revolutionized the data and power distribution market with cable management, power distribution systems and enclosures all designed to install quickly, reduce labor and material costs, and significantly drive down the total cost of construction. If you would like to learn more, visit us at snaketray.com. Our engineers and sales teams stand ready to help execute your next cabling project with maximum efficiency and profitability.
