Yard notes
32 pieces
written on the yard.
Not marketing copy. Wash chemistry, freight arithmetic, compliance intervals, grading arguments and what a Texas February does to stored water — written by the people who do the work.
The short answer
32 long-form articles across 8 subject areas, published since 2021. If you're new: start with what a used tote should cost, then the five-minute inspection, then grades.
From the yard
3 articles
Texas
- June 11, 2026What Fourteen Years on Montopolis Drive Taught UsA gravel pad, a pressure washer and one observation: breweries were paying to throw away perfectly good tanks.3 min
- March 6, 2024Rainwater Harvesting That Survives a Texas SummerAlmost every disappointing rainwater system was sized against annual rainfall. The constraint is the gap between storms.3 min
- November 21, 2023What a Texas Freeze Does to Stored WaterWater expands nine percent. A brimful container has nowhere to put it, and the shoulder is where it gives.3 min
5 articles
Reconditioning
- May 22, 2024How a Container Moves Through Our Yard, Gate by GateEight zones, four decision gates, and one direction of travel. Where a container exits determines what we can honestly sell it as.3 min
- May 30, 2023Second-Life Builds: What a Cut Container BecomesOne tote, two raised beds, and a galvanized trellis frame that came free with them.3 min
- March 15, 2022When to Rebottle Instead of WashingReplacing fifty pounds of the container to save ninety. The single highest-leverage thing this industry does.3 min
- November 30, 2021What a Wash Cannot RemoveWashing removes what's on the plastic. It does nothing about what's in it. That distinction explains most disappointment with reconditioned containers.3 min
- June 8, 2021Inside a Caustic Clean-in-Place CycleSix stages, 110 gallons of water, 160 degrees and a piece of paper. Here's each part and why it's there.4 min
5 articles
Buying
- January 17, 2024Five Drums or One Tote: Running the Comparison HonestlyOne lift instead of five, one pallet position instead of two, one closure instead of ten. And four situations where the drum still wins.3 min
- July 25, 2023Buying Used Containers Without Getting Burned: Four QuestionsFour questions, asked by email, before any money moves. The quality of the answers tells you more than the price does.3 min
- May 11, 2022275 or 330: The Seven Inches That Decide ItSame footprint, same fittings, twenty percent more product. The choice comes down to one measurement almost nobody takes before ordering.3 min
- January 19, 2022Grade A Is Not Food Grade, and the Difference Costs Real MoneyThe most abused phrase in the used-container business, and the three things that have to be true before anyone should use it.4 min
- April 14, 2021What a Used IBC Tote Should Actually Cost in TexasNobody publishes prices, and there's a reason for that. Here's what actually moves the number, in the order it moves it.5 min
4 articles
Sustainability
- September 14, 2023Reverse Logistics Is the Whole ProblemForward logistics is a solved commercial problem because somebody gets paid for it. The empty coming back is nobody's job.3 min
- January 12, 2023How We Calculate Avoided Carbon, Including the Weak PartsIf you're going to publish environmental numbers, you owe people the method — including the parts you'd attack first.3 min
- November 16, 2022What 92% Water Recovery Actually MeansWashing containers could easily be a water disaster. Here's the plant that stops it being one, and the honest reason the number isn't 99%.3 min
- July 21, 2022The Hierarchy We Actually Follow at the GateEvery container that arrives gets assessed against four options in order. It only descends when the option above genuinely fails.3 min
5 articles
Industry
- August 9, 2023Concrete Washout That Keeps TCEQ HappyMovable, legal, and recoverable at the end of the job instead of becoming a disposal line item.3 min
- June 14, 2023Hypochlorite Eats Containers. Plan Accordingly.The workhorse disinfectant of Texas water treatment, and one of the hardest things you can put in a container.3 min
- August 30, 2022The Permian Has a Container Problem, and It Is FixableProduction chemical programmes consume containers continuously. Historically most of those empties were stacked, forgotten and buried.3 min
- April 6, 2022Spent Grain and the Open-Top ConversionOne cut container holds a full 15-barrel batch of wet grain and forklifts straight onto the farmer's trailer.3 min
- May 19, 2021Pasture Water When the Windmill Is Half a Mile AwayCattle drink 12 to 20 gallons a head a day in a Texas summer. That single number sizes the whole system.3 min
5 articles
How-to
- April 18, 2023S60x6 Is Not Two-Inch NPT, and That Sentence Solves Most Fitting ProblemsTwo threads that measure almost the same and will never, ever mate. Here's how to tell them apart in three seconds.3 min
- February 2, 2023Why Your Valve Choice Costs You an Hour a WeekThe cheapest component on the container decides how much of your week you spend watching liquid move.3 min
- October 5, 2022Stacking Limits That Actually HoldFour variables decide the answer: full or empty, moving or static, matched pallets or mixed, and what they're standing on.3 min
- September 7, 2022The Vacuum Collapse Problem, and the Four-Dollar Part That Prevents ItSomebody destroys a perfectly good container this way most weeks. It takes under a minute and it's entirely preventable.3 min
- August 26, 2021How to Inspect a Used IBC Tote in Five MinutesYou don't need the full 48-point checklist at a tailgate. You need five points and a flashlight.4 min
3 articles
Compliance
- March 8, 2023Tracking Retest Dates Before They Quietly ExpireNothing announces itself. The container looks identical the day after its window closes as it did the day before.3 min
- February 24, 2022Who Is Actually Responsible for a Hazmat ShipmentShort answer: you are. Longer answer: here's exactly which parts, and which parts your supplier genuinely owns.3 min
- September 21, 2021Reading the UN Plate on Your Cage31HA1/Y/0426/USA/M1234. Five fields, each of which tells you something you probably need.3 min
2 articles
Logistics
- June 16, 2022What a Flatbed Load of Totes Teaches You About SecurementTwo rows of ten, stringers fore and aft, strapped over the cage rail. Everything else is a way to fold a cage.3 min
- October 13, 2021Why Freight Decides Whether Your Tote Order Makes SenseFor used containers, freight isn't a rounding error. On a small distant order it can cost more than the goods.3 min
Archive
Everything, by year
Oldest pieces still hold up — the physics of a 275-gallon container hasn't changed since 2021.
20243 posts
202310 posts
- What a Texas Freeze Does to Stored Water
- Reverse Logistics Is the Whole Problem
- Concrete Washout That Keeps TCEQ Happy
- Buying Used Containers Without Getting Burned: Four Questions
- Hypochlorite Eats Containers. Plan Accordingly.
- Second-Life Builds: What a Cut Container Becomes
- S60x6 Is Not Two-Inch NPT, and That Sentence Solves Most Fitting Problems
- Tracking Retest Dates Before They Quietly Expire
- Why Your Valve Choice Costs You an Hour a Week
- How We Calculate Avoided Carbon, Including the Weak Parts
202211 posts
- What 92% Water Recovery Actually Means
- Stacking Limits That Actually Hold
- The Vacuum Collapse Problem, and the Four-Dollar Part That Prevents It
- The Permian Has a Container Problem, and It Is Fixable
- The Hierarchy We Actually Follow at the Gate
- What a Flatbed Load of Totes Teaches You About Securement
- 275 or 330: The Seven Inches That Decide It
- Spent Grain and the Open-Top Conversion
- When to Rebottle Instead of Washing
- Who Is Actually Responsible for a Hazmat Shipment
- Grade A Is Not Food Grade, and the Difference Costs Real Money
20217 posts
Quick reference
Numbers worth having open in another tab
The figures that come up in almost every conversation, whichever page you arrived on.
275 gallon · 1040 L
48×40×46
- Tare
- 130 lb
- Gross, water
- 2,425 lb
- Stack full
- 2 high
- Stock
- Always in stock
330 gallon · 1250 L
48×40×53
- Tare
- 160 lb
- Gross, water
- 2,915 lb
- Stack full
- 2 high
- Stock
- Always in stock
264 gallon · 1000 L
48×40×46
- Tare
- 125 lb
- Gross, water
- 2,325 lb
- Stack full
- 2 high
- Stock
- Usually in stock
350 gallon · 1325 L
48×40×56
- Tare
- 175 lb
- Gross, water
- 3,095 lb
- Stack full
- 2 high
- Stock
- Order in
From the yard notes
Longer reading on this
32 articles written by the people who wash, grade, weld and dispatch. No marketing copy in any of them.
- Buying · July 25, 2023 · 3 minBuying Used Containers Without Getting Burned: Four QuestionsFour questions, asked by email, before any money moves. The quality of the answers tells you more than the price does.
- Buying · January 19, 2022 · 4 minGrade A Is Not Food Grade, and the Difference Costs Real MoneyThe most abused phrase in the used-container business, and the three things that have to be true before anyone should use it.
- Texas · November 21, 2023 · 3 minWhat a Texas Freeze Does to Stored WaterWater expands nine percent. A brimful container has nowhere to put it, and the shoulder is where it gives.
On the yard this week
More answers
While you're here
Pulled from the full FAQ, which runs to forty-plus answers across buying, grades, food safety, sizes, selling, compliance, delivery and care.
- Where we are
- 3505 Montopolis Dr, Austin, TX 78744
- Yard hours
- Mon–Thu 7:30a–5p · Fri 7:30a–4p · Sat 8a–12p · Sun closed (Central Time)
- Coverage
- 68 Texas counties on scheduled routes, from one Austin yard.
+How do I stop algae growing in a water tote?
Block the light. Paint the bottle, wrap it, shade it or buy a pre-wrapped opaque unit. Algae needs sunlight far more than it needs nutrients.
+Who is responsible for compliance?
You are, as the offeror of the shipment. We supply containers and documentation; the determination that a given container is suitable for a given regulated material is yours. We'll give you every fact we have to make it.
+Will you take totes that held chemicals?
Most of them, with the prior contents in writing. Some chemistries permanently permeate HDPE; those units go to material recovery rather than back into service, but we'll still take them off your yard.
+What thread is the outlet?
S60x6 on almost every composite IBC — 60 mm coarse buttress. It is not 2 inch NPT and NPT fittings will not screw directly into it. One moulded adapter converts it to NPT, camlock or garden hose.
+Can I put drinking water in a used tote?
For genuine potable storage, use a rebottled unit — the bottle is new, so prior contents are not a question. Documented food-grade stock is acceptable for short-term non-potable-rated use. General Grade A stock is not.
Read first, buy second.
Half the people who send us a quote request are asking for the wrong thing. Twenty minutes here usually saves more than it costs.