IBC ToteTexas

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.

Comparison

Seven inches.
Fifty-five gallons.
One decision.

These two sizes account for nearly everything that leaves this yard, and the choice between them comes down to a single measurement most buyers never take.

Close-up of a single 275 gallon IBC tote showing its capacity label, UN placard and blue ball valve

The short answer

Buy the 330 if your doorways, rack beams, trailer and floor loading can take a 53-inch-tall, 2,915 lb unit — it delivers 20% more product per pallet position and per truck for a smaller price premium. Buy the 275 if clearance is tight, if people fill through the top lid by hand, or if the totes get handled on unimproved ground.

Not sure which fits?

Send your door height, rack beam spacing and floor rating. We'll tell you which size works.

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From the yard

Rows of used 275 gallon composite IBC totes stacked two high in an outdoor yard under a blue sky
Graded stock on the outdoor rows, stacked two high and waiting on a grade tag.
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.

Side by side

The numbers

275 vs 330 gallon composite IBC
Attribute275 gallon330 gallonDifference
Nominal capacity275 US gal / 1,040 L330 US gal / 1,250 L+55 gal (+20%)
Footprint48 × 40 in48 × 40 inIdentical
Height46 in53 in+7 in
Cube51.1 cu ft58.9 cu ft+7.8 cu ft
Tare weight≈ 130 lb≈ 160 lb+30 lb
Gross with water≈ 2,425 lb≈ 2,915 lb+490 lb
Floor load≈ 182 lb / sq ft≈ 219 lb / sq ft+37 lb / sq ft
Per 48' trailer floor20 units20 unitsIdentical
Gallons per trailer floor5,5006,600+1,100 gal
Two stacked, clear height needed≈ 96 in≈ 110 in+14 in
Outlet threadS60x6S60x6Identical
Used market availabilityAlways in stockAlways in stock, thinner supply—

Choose the 330 when

  • Pallet positions are your scarce resource, not height
  • You pay freight by the truck rather than by the unit
  • You're filling from a line rather than by hand through the lid
  • The totes live indoors on a rated floor
  • You're running a nurse tank on a gooseneck and want fewer refills
  • Cost per gallon is what you're actually optimising

Choose the 275 when

  • Doorways, rack beams or a box truck cap your height
  • Somebody fills it standing on the ground without a platform
  • The totes get dragged around pasture, jobsite or lease road
  • You're on a mezzanine or a floor with a modest load rating
  • You need a specific grade and want the widest choice of stock
  • Two people need to manhandle it in an emergency

Freight

Where the 330 quietly wins

A trailer holds twenty totes on the floor regardless of size. That single fact drives most of the economics.

Per-load comparison, 48-foot trailer
275 gal330 galAdvantage
Units on the floor2020Tie
Total capacity5,500 gal6,600 gal330: +1,100 gal
Freight costIdenticalIdentical330 per gallon
Tare weight on the load2,600 lb3,200 lb275, marginally
Pallet positions consumed at destination2020330 per gallon stored
Loads needed for 20,000 gallons44 (with 6,400 gal spare)330

Full loading patterns, securement and freight class guidance →

The case for standardising on one

Most operations end up with a mix by accident and then discover the cost. Mixed sizes break stacking (never stack unlike pallet types or unlike heights), complicate rack planning, and make it harder to plan a truck.

If you buy more than a handful of totes a year, pick one size and hold to it. The marginal loss on the occasional awkward order is smaller than the ongoing friction of running two formats.

The exception: two fleets, two jobs

One legitimate reason to run both is when you have two genuinely different applications — for example 330s indoors on a rated floor for bulk storage, and 275s outdoors for field work where height and centre of gravity matter. That is a deliberate split, not an accident, and it works fine as long as the two fleets are visually distinguished.

Availability, honestly

We keep both in stock continuously, but 275s outnumber 330s in the used market by a wide margin simply because more were built. If you need a specific grade in a 330 — food-grade with a butterfly valve, say — order ahead rather than expecting same-week availability. See the 330 gallon page for what we typically hold.

What about 264 and 350?

The 264 gallon unit is the true 1,000 litre European spec — same footprint and height as a 275, eleven gallons smaller, and frequently mislabelled as a 275 by sellers who round up. The 350 is a taller format at 56 inches, popular where headspace matters for viscous product. Both are on the master size chart.

Questions people actually ask

+Is a 330 gallon tote just a taller 275?
Essentially yes. Same 48 × 40 inch footprint, same fittings, same pallet options, same handling. The bottle is seven inches taller and the cage is built to match. Everything you own that works with a 275 works with a 330.
+Which is cheaper per gallon?
The 330, almost always. The price premium over a 275 is smaller than the 20% capacity increase, and the freight is identical because a trailer holds twenty of either size on the floor.
+Why would I ever buy the 275 then?
Clearance, fill access, handling on rough ground, and availability. Seven inches breaks more rack plans and doorways than people expect, the 330's lid sits 53 inches up, its higher centre of gravity is less forgiving on unimproved ground, and the used supply is thinner.
+Do they use the same valves and lids?
Yes. S60x6 outlet, 6 or 9 inch screw lid, same adapters and same accessories across both sizes.

Related

Next

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

Close-up of a single 275 gallon IBC tote showing its capacity label, UN placard and blue ball valve
A 275 with the plate, the capacity label and a standard 2-inch ball valve.
Rows of used 275 gallon composite IBC totes stacked two high in an outdoor yard under a blue sky
Graded stock on the outdoor rows, stacked two high and waiting on a grade tag.

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.

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)
Coverage
68 Texas counties on scheduled routes, from one Austin yard.

+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.
+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.
+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.
+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 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.

Send four measurements.

Door height, rack beam spacing, ceiling clearance and floor rating. That's all it takes for us to tell you which size will actually work in your space.

Get a quoteBack to the size chart