Frequently asked
45 questions.
45 straight
answers.
Every question we get more than twice, grouped by topic and answered without hedging. Where the honest answer is 'buy the cheaper thing' or 'we can't do that', it says so.
The short answer
The three most common: grade drives price more than size does, so buy the cheapest grade that genuinely works. 'Food grade' requires documentation, not appearance. And a UN plate on used stock from an unregistered yard proves nothing at all.
From the yard
01 — 8 questions
Buying
Price, grades, minimums and how an order actually runs.
+How much does a used IBC tote cost?
Used composite IBCs in Texas run from the low hundreds for rough jobsite stock up to most of the price of a new unit for documented food-grade or rebottled containers. Grade moves the price more than anything else — often by a factor of four across the same size.
+Why don't you publish prices?
Because a published list would be either wrong or so hedged it tells you nothing. Price depends on grade, quantity, valve spec, pallet type and freight distance. Send the form and you get a real number the same business day.
+What is your minimum order?
None for yard pickup. For delivery, small orders ride our consolidated routes with a modest freight line, and above about four totes it's usually absorbed into the unit price.
+Can I buy a single tote?
Yes. Plenty of customers buy one for a garden, a workshop or a wash station. Pickup at the yard is the cheapest route for a single unit.
+Do you offer volume discounts?
Yes, with real steps at 10, 24 and 48 units, and again at full-trailer quantities where the freight economics change substantially.
+What payment terms do you offer?
Card or ACH prepayment on first orders. Net-30 on approved commercial, municipal and school-district accounts after an initial prepaid order.
+Can I inspect before buying?
Yes, and we encourage it for first-time buyers. Yard hours, walk the rows, pick your own units. Grading is honest but it's still a judgement — seeing the stock settles every question at once.
+What if the totes arrive worse than described?
Tell us within 48 hours with photos and we make it right: replacement, credit or collection. It happens rarely, because the person who grades a tote is the person who washed it.
02 — 5 questions
Grades & condition
What the codes mean and which one you actually need.
+What do your grades mean?
N is new, R is rebottled, F is documented food grade, A is clean and presentable, B is sound with visible history, C is structurally sound but cosmetically rough, and X is material recovery only. Full definitions are on the grades page and they are applied by the person who washed the unit.
+Which grade should I buy?
The cheapest one that genuinely does the job. For water and general industrial duty that's usually B. For anything edible it's F or rebottled. For regulated chemical shipping it's rebottled with valid UN marking. For washout containment and cutting projects it's C.
+What's the difference between Grade A and food grade?
Documentation. Grade A means clean, straight and presentable. Food grade means every prior content is recorded and edible, and the unit was washed to a documented standard. A shiny tote is not a food-grade tote.
+Are stained totes a problem?
Cosmetically yes, functionally usually not. Staining is a strong signal about prior contents, which is why stained units drop a grade, but a stained bottle holds liquid exactly as well as a clear one. It does make the level strip harder to read.
+How do I tell if a used tote is sound?
Check five points: cage welds at the base corners, the bottle around the outlet, the valve seat, the lid gasket and the pallet feet. Those account for nearly every problem we see at intake. The 48-point inspection checklist covers the systematic version.
03 — 5 questions
Food grade & safety
Documentation, allergens and what the standards actually require.
+What makes a used tote food grade?
Three things at once: an FDA 21 CFR 177.1520 compliant HDPE bottle, a documented history in which every prior content was edible, and a wash to a written standard with recorded parameters. Missing any one and the honest description is 'clean'.
+Do you provide wash certificates?
Yes for W3, W4 and W5 washes: standard, temperature, detergent, sanitiser, date and operator. We retain copies for seven years.
+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.
+What about allergen control?
Washing reduces residue; it does not certify absence. If you produce allergen-free product, rebottle and dedicate the units rather than relying on a wash. No honest reconditioner will give you an allergen-free guarantee on a reused bottle.
+Are your totes NSF certified?
The resin in new and rebottled bottles meets FDA 21 CFR 177.1520. Container-level NSF/ANSI 61 certification is a manufacturer programme that does not carry over to reconditioned units. If your specification cites it, you need new containers and we'll tell you so.
04 — 6 questions
Sizes & specifications
Dimensions, weights, fittings and what fits where.
+What are standard IBC tote dimensions?
48 inches long by 40 inches wide — one standard pallet position — with height varying by capacity: 46 in for 275 gallons, 53 in for 330, 56 in for 350.
+How much does a full 275 gallon tote weigh?
About 2,425 lb with water. With liquid fertilizer it's about 3,130 lb, and with 93% sulfuric acid it's over 4,300 lb. Always calculate from your product's density.
+How many totes fit on a truck?
Twenty on the floor of a 48-foot flatbed or dry van, regardless of whether they're 275s or 330s. Forty if they're empty and double-stacked.
+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.
+How high can I stack totes?
Empty, three high indoors on a level floor. Full and static, two high on matched pallets and improved level ground. In transit, never stack full totes.
+Is a 275 gallon tote the same as 1,000 litres?
No. 1,000 litres is 264 US gallons. Many sellers round it up to 275; we list both figures because eleven gallons matters if you batch to a recipe.
05 — 6 questions
Selling & buy-back
Turning a pile of empties into revenue.
+Do you buy used totes?
Yes — it's half the business. Anywhere in Texas, from a handful behind a brewery to several hundred on a chemical yard. Send photos and prior contents and we'll price them the same day.
+How much are my empties worth?
It depends mostly on cage condition and prior contents. A straight cage with a rinsed bottle and a readable UN plate carries the best value. A stained bottle in a folded cage is worth its material recovery.
+Do you pick up?
Free at 20 units or more anywhere in Texas, because the collection rides a return leg. Below that we can often still fit you onto a route we already run.
+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 about totes with product still in them?
Rinsed and drained only. We are not a hazardous waste disposal facility and cannot accept regulated waste. If your totes still hold product, you need a licensed disposal contractor.
+Cash or credit?
Either. Credit against future purchases is typically worth more per unit, which suits operations that buy and return continuously.
06 — 5 questions
Compliance
UN markings, DOT rules and who carries the responsibility.
+Does a used tote keep its UN rating?
Only if it was reconditioned by a registered facility, passed the required testing, and is inside its retest window. A UN plate on a rusty cage from an unregistered yard means nothing.
+How often does an IBC need retesting?
Leakproofness testing every 2.5 years and full requalification every 5 years under 49 CFR 180.352. The test date must be marked on the container.
+Can I transport fuel in an IBC tote?
Not on public roads — totes are not DOT-approved for it. Static storage on private property, properly placarded and contained, is a different question and is generally permissible subject to local fire code.
+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.
+What does 31HA1/Y mean?
Composite IBC for liquids (31), plastic inner receptacle (H), steel outer casing (A), category 1, approved for Packing Group II and III materials (Y).
07 — 4 questions
Delivery & logistics
Routes, equipment and getting totes onto your ground.
+How fast can I get totes?
Austin metro is usually next business day. Most of Central and South Texas is inside 48 hours. Longer hauls ride consolidated routes — San Antonio twice weekly, Houston and DFW weekly, the Permian monthly.
+Can you deliver with no forklift on site?
Yes — we run a moffett-equipped truck with a piggyback forklift for exactly this. Note it on the form so dispatch sends the right equipment.
+Do you ship outside Texas?
Occasionally into Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico on volume orders. Further than that, a yard closer to you usually beats us on freight and we'll say so.
+Can I pick up at the yard?
Yes, and it's the cheapest option. Bring a truck that takes a 48 × 40 pallet, ratchet straps and closed-toe shoes. We load with a forklift at no charge.
08 — 6 questions
Care & use
Keeping a tote working for a decade rather than a season.
+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.
+Why did my tote collapse inward?
Vacuum. You pumped liquid out faster than air could get in through a sealed lid. Fit a vented lid or crack the existing one before pumping.
+Can I bury a tote?
No. The bottle is not rated for external soil pressure and the cage will not hold the shape. Berm above ground or buy a purpose-built cistern.
+How should I store totes through a Texas freeze?
Leave headspace — water expands about 9% freezing and an over-full tote splits at the shoulder. Drain exposed plumbing and keep valves closed rather than trusting a hose bib.
+Can I clean a tote myself?
For non-critical uses, yes — a proper three-stage rinse with agitation and full drain between stages does a lot. For food service, no: you need documented parameters and a caustic clean-in-place, which is what our W4 standard is for.
+How long does an IBC tote last?
The steel cage runs 15 to 25 years. The bottle depends entirely on contents — one to three fills of aggressive chemistry, or five to ten years of benign service. That asymmetry is why rebottling exists.
Go deeper
The long-form versions
Every answer above has a page behind it with the reasoning, the numbers and the exceptions.
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.
- How-to · August 26, 2021 · 4 minHow 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.
- Industry · June 14, 2023 · 3 minHypochlorite Eats Containers. Plan Accordingly.The workhorse disinfectant of Texas water treatment, and one of the hardest things you can put in a container.
- Reconditioning · November 30, 2021 · 3 minWhat 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.
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.
Ask us the awkward one.
Whether a grade is really necessary, whether a competitor's claim holds up, whether your application needs documentation at all. We'd rather answer it than have you guess.