We get inbound calls and emails every week from facility managers with a small pile of used totes they want gone. The question is always the same: will we come pick them up. The honest answer depends almost entirely on volume. At twelve units the economics work for both sides. Below that, we either piggyback the pickup on another route or we suggest an alternative. The twelve-unit threshold is not arbitrary — it is the exact point where freight, labor, and salvage value all start to break even.
What twelve units does to the freight
A 53-foot dry van can carry roughly 24 totes. A 26-foot box truck — which is what we run for most regional pickups — carries 12 to 14. Twelve units fills the local truck and lets us run the route at full payload, which is the only way the per-unit pickup cost stays low enough to fund a salvage offer to the seller. At six or eight units, the truck runs half-empty and the per-unit economics collapse.
The salvage offer above twelve
For pickups of twelve or more reasonably-clean totes within about 200 miles of Boonville, we typically pay between $25 and $55 per unit depending on grade, prior contents, and the lane. The variation comes from how much wash work each unit needs and how easily we can resell it after reconditioning. Premium-grade food-side units in good cosmetic shape sit at the top of that range; rough industrial units with marginal cages sit at the bottom.
- 1 to 4 totes: not economical for dedicated pickup, ask about route piggyback
- 5 to 11 totes: case-by-case, often combined with adjacent pickups
- 12 to 24 totes: standard pickup, salvage offer included
- 25 to 60 totes: priority scheduling, slightly higher salvage offer
- 60-plus totes: full TL pickup, custom quote
What to do with a smaller pile
If the pile is under twelve units, email us anyway. We run a regional route grid and we may have another pickup within 30 miles of your facility on a given week, in which case the small lot can ride along at no marginal freight cost. Sellers with small lots who are flexible on timing often get the same per-unit salvage offer as larger sellers, just on a longer schedule. The only thing that does not work economically is a dedicated long-haul truck for a tiny lot.