Reuse ledger, year to date: 41,200 totes diverted from Texas landfills this year. 2,060k lb of HDPE kept in service. 1,772k lb of steel cage recovered. 3,140 tons of CO₂e avoided. 92% of our wash water recycled on site. 68 Texas counties served from one Austin yard. Full methodology at /sustainability/reuse-ledger.

Service · transport

Consolidation is
why a four-tote
order works.

Freight is what kills small used-container orders. We run fixed weekly routes across Texas so a four-unit drop and a forty-unit load ride the same truck, and neither one pays for a dedicated trip.

IBC totes strapped two high inside a box trailer with timber dunnage between the layers

The short answer

We run scheduled consolidated routes: Austin daily, San Antonio and the I-35 corridor twice weekly, Houston and DFW weekly, the Coastal Bend biweekly, and the Permian monthly. Dedicated loads are available any time volume justifies them — typically twenty units or more. A 48-foot flatbed carries twenty totes on the floor.

From the yard

IBC totes staged on a port terminal apron beside stacked shipping containers and gantry cranes — Gulf Coast staging. The densest source of recoverable totes in North America.

Flatbed trailer loaded with two rows of IBC totes secured with straps, hooked to a blue tractor unit — Twenty on the floor of a 48-foot flatbed. Forty if they're empty.

totes per 48' floor

Forty if empty and stacked.

empty totes, double-stacked

Never stack full units in transit.

equipment types

Flatbed, van, hotshot, moffett.

48 hr

typical Central Texas delivery

Next business day inside Austin.

Routes

The schedule, honestly stated

Cut-off times matter more than distance. Miss a Tuesday cut-off for San Antonio and you're waiting until Thursday, not paying more.

Consolidated route schedule
Destination	Distance	Drive time	Cadence
Austin	Yard	Same city — yard pickup available	Daily routes, same-day pickup at the yard
San Antonio	80 mi	1 hr 20 min via I-35	Twice weekly, Tuesday and Thursday
Houston	165 mi	2 hr 40 min via SH-71 and I-10	Weekly consolidated run, plus dedicated loads
Dallas–Fort Worth	195 mi	3 hr via I-35	Weekly consolidated run, Wednesday out
Waco & Temple	100 mi	1 hr 40 min via I-35	Weekly, on the DFW route
San Marcos & New Braunfels	35 mi	40 min via I-35	Twice weekly, on the San Antonio route
College Station & Bryan	105 mi	1 hr 45 min via SH-21	Weekly, Thursday out
Corpus Christi	215 mi	3 hr 20 min via US-183 and US-77	Biweekly consolidated, dedicated on 25+ units
Midland–Odessa	320 mi	4 hr 45 min via I-10 and SH-158	Monthly consolidated, dedicated loads on demand
Victoria	130 mi	2 hr 10 min via US-183	Biweekly, on the Coastal Bend route

Full service area with cut-off times and per-metro notes →

Equipment

Four ways it arrives

48' flatbed

Twenty totes on the floor, strapped and tarped where needed. Requires a forklift or dock at your end. The default for anything over eight units.

Dry van

Weather-protected, dock-height loading. Preferred for food-grade stock, rebottled units and anything with a wash record to protect.

Hotshot

Two to six totes on a gooseneck. Fast, flexible, more expensive per unit. What we use for urgent orders that can't wait for a route.

Moffett truck

Piggyback forklift on the back of the trailer. Unloads itself anywhere with firm level ground. The answer for jobsites, farms and any site with no material handling.

How freight is actually priced

Three variables: distance, whether the load is consolidated or dedicated, and how much of the trailer you fill. Distance is obvious. The other two are where most of the money is.

A consolidated route is a truck we are running anyway. Adding four totes to it costs almost nothing marginal, which is why we can quote small deliveries to San Antonio or Waco at rates that look impossible against a standard LTL tariff.

A dedicated load is a truck running for you alone. Per unit, it only makes sense above roughly twenty totes — but above that threshold it usually beats consolidated pricing, because you are paying for the trip rather than for a share of it.

Weight and why it rarely binds

Empty totes cube out long before they weigh out. Twenty empty 275s is about 2,600 lb on a trailer rated for tens of thousands — the constraint is deck space, not mass. That changes entirely if you are shipping full totes, which is a different conversation involving DOT regulations and, usually, a different carrier.

Loading patterns and securement

Totes ride best in two rows of ten with the pallet stringers running fore and aft, strapped over the cage top rail rather than the bottle. The details, including double-stacking empties and what actually goes wrong when people get it wrong, are on the freight and loading page.

The return leg

Every truck we send out comes back. If there are empties at your site — or anywhere near it — putting them on the return leg costs you nothing, pays you something, and stops us burning diesel on an empty trailer. Ask about it on every order. See buy-back.

Questions people actually ask

+Can you deliver to a site with no forklift?

Yes. We run a moffett-equipped truck — a piggyback forklift that rides on the back of the trailer — for exactly this. Note it in the Message field so dispatch schedules the right equipment, because a standard flatbed cannot unload itself.

+How many totes fit on a truck?

Twenty on the floor of a 48-foot flatbed or dry van. Forty if they're empty and double-stacked. Full totes are never stacked in transit — the load shifts and cages fold.

+Do you charge freight separately?

It's a separate line on the quote so you can see it. On consolidated routes above about four units it's usually small enough to be absorbed into the unit price on larger orders.

+Can you collect our empties on the same trip?

Yes, and it's the arrangement we prefer. A truck running empty on the return leg is wasted diesel. Tell us in advance and dispatch builds the collection into the run.

+Do you ship outside Texas?

Occasionally, for volume orders into Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Beyond that the freight usually makes more sense with a yard closer to you, and we'll say so.

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

Outlet thread

S60x6 — 60 mm coarse buttress. Not 2" NPT.

Grades published

N, R, F, A, B, C, X — applied at the wash bay.

Wash standards

W1 rinse through W4 caustic CIP at 160°F.

UN retest

Leakproofness 2.5 yrs, requalification 5 yrs.

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.

All 32 articles

On the yard this week

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.

Read the full FAQ

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)
Email: sales@ibctotestexas.com
Coverage: 68 Texas counties on scheduled routes, from one Austin yard.

+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.

+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.

+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.

+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.

+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.

Send the destination ZIP and a unit count.

That's enough to price the freight properly. Add a note about the site — forklift, gate, ground surface — and we'll send the right truck first time.

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