Revolving Credit Facility	9 Months Ended
Revolving Credit Facility	Sep. 30, 2012
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Revolving Credit Agreement	Revolving Credit Facility On September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the Company and Graybar Canada Limited, the Company's Canadian operating subsidiary (“Graybar Canada”), had an unsecured, five-year, $500,000 revolving credit agreement maturing in September 2016 with Bank of America, N.A. and other lenders named therein, which includes a combined letter of credit sub-facility of up to $50,000, a US swing line loan facility of up to $50,000, and a Canadian swing line loan facility of up to $20,000 (the "Credit Agreement"). The Credit Agreement also includes a $100,000 sublimit (in US or Canadian dollars) for borrowings by Graybar Canada and contains an accordion feature, which allows the Company to request increases in the aggregate borrowing commitments of up to $200,000. There were $75,676 and $42,562 in short-term borrowings outstanding under the revolving credit facility at September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively.

The entire disclosure for information about short-term and long-term debt arrangements, which includes amounts of borrowings under each line of credit, note payable, commercial paper issue, bonds indenture, debenture issue, own-share lending arrangements and any other contractual agreement to repay funds, and about the underlying arrangements, rationale for a classification as long-term, including repayment terms, interest rates, collateral provided, restrictions on use of assets and activities, whether or not in compliance with debt covenants, and other matters important to users of the financial statements, such as the effects of refinancing and noncompliance with debt covenants.

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