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Services · Six ways we work with totes

One yard.
Six services.
Zero phone calls.

The work of keeping IBC totes in service breaks into six categories. We do all six because they all feed each other — and because doing any one in isolation leaves totes stranded.

Get a quote · Ask a question

Tell us a bit about what you need. We respond within one business day. No phone tag — we work email-first.

Email-first · 1 business day
01You
US or Canada only · format: (555) 123-4567
02Where
03Your project
By submitting you agree to our privacy policy. No phone calls — email only, response within one business day.
How the services connect

The closed loop, in practice.

Buying and selling are the obvious ones. Reconditioning is what lets us sell at grade. Transportation is what lets us serve customers whose volumes don't justify a national dealer's minimums. Recycling is the floor — what happens when the tote genuinely cannot be saved. Fabrication is what we do with the totes that have a second use that isn't bulk liquid storage. Each service only works because the others exist.

Services matrix

Volume, turnaround, geography — at a glance.

ServiceMin volumeTypical turnaroundGeographyQuote SLA
Buy from us1 tote3–7 business days deliveredLower 48Same day
Sell to us12 totes5–14 days to pickup window9-state core + corridor routingWithin 1 business day
Reconditioning20 totes per batch4–9 business days dock-to-dockPickup in 9 states, ship-in from anywhereSame day for standard wash
Transportation1 pallet LTL / 1 full truck2–5 business days line-haulWeekly: MO, KS, IA, AR, IL, KY, OK, NE, TNWithin 1 business day
Recycling1 truckload (or piggybacked)10–21 days to disposition recordAnywhere if routed with other workWithin 1 business day
Custom fabrication1 unit1–3 weeks depending on complexityPickup MO / freight nationwideWithin 2 business days
Response-time SLA

What "email-first" actually commits us to.

4 hr
Median first reply, business hours
1 biz day
Maximum first-reply window
95%
Quotes returned same business day
0
Phone calls required, ever

We staff the inbox like a dispatch desk. If you write at 7:42 a.m. CT on a Tuesday, you usually have a real reply with numbers before lunch. If you write at 11 p.m. on Saturday, you have it Monday morning. We don't use chatbots. There is no "your ticket has been assigned to" auto-reply. A person opens it, reads it, and answers.

Common combined-quote scenarios

Most jobs are two or three services at once.

Scenario A

Sell + recycle

You have 40 totes — 28 are saleable, 12 are blown out. We pay you for the 28, take the 12 for recycling, send one truck, deliver one disposition record. Sell to us →

Scenario B

Buy + freight

You need 18 reconditioned food-grade totes in Tulsa. We quote totes plus freight as a single landed number, ship on an owned trailer. Buy from us →

Scenario C

Recondition + return

You own 80 totes that need a hot-wash and valve swap between SKUs. We pick up, wash by lot, and return on a dock-to-dock schedule. Reconditioning →

Scenario D

Buy + fabricate

Community garden in Kansas City wants 24 raised beds. We grade twelve totes, cut to spec, deliver finished beds on a flatbed. Custom fab →

Scenario E

Recycle + paperwork

Your sustainability lead needs end-of-life proof for 60 retired totes. We haul, separate cage from shell, document, and email the chain-of-custody packet. Recycling →

Scenario F

Standing program

You generate 30–50 empties a quarter. We set a recurring pickup, recondition or recycle by grade, send a single invoice and a single quarterly impact report. Set it up →

Who uses what

Service mix by customer type.

Customer typeBuySellReconditionFreightRecycleFabricate
Co-packer / contract bottlerOftenSometimesHeavyOftenSometimesRare
Liquid fertilizer / ag retailHeavyHeavySometimesHeavySometimesRare
Industrial chemical userSometimesHeavyRareOftenHeavyNever
Brewery / distilleryOftenSometimesOftenOftenRareSometimes
Municipal / utilitySometimesRareRareSometimesOftenSometimes
Farm / homestead / community gardenHeavyRareNeverSometimesNeverHeavy
School / nonprofitOftenRareRareSometimesRareHeavy
Sustainability tie-in

Numbers that go in the ESG report.

A 275-gallon composite IBC contains roughly 55 lb of HDPE in the bottle, 65 lb of steel in the cage, and 35 lb of wood or plastic in the pallet. Every tote we keep in service for one more cycle is roughly 155 lb of material that didn't need to be manufactured this quarter.

For customers tracking Scope 3 emissions, we provide per-load impact estimates — lb of HDPE diverted, lb of steel recovered, approximate kg CO2e avoided versus virgin-material baseline. Methodology is documented and ours to share.

Per-tote ballpark

What a single reused tote saves.

HDPE diverted
~55 lb
Steel diverted
~65 lb
Virgin-plastic avoided
~55 lb feedstock equivalent
CO2e vs new
~110–140 kg per reuse cycle
Water vs new mfg
~25 gal saved
Bundles that come up a lot

Pre-built service combinations.

Bundle 01

Empty-out program.

You generate 20–40 used totes a month. We schedule pickup every 4 weeks, you get one invoice and one chain-of-custody packet. Covers selling, freight, and any necessary recycling.

Bundle 02

Fleet refresh.

You own 100+ totes. Every 18–24 months we pick them up by lot, recondition or replace at grade, return on a published schedule. Reconditioning + freight.

Bundle 03

Landed delivery.

You buy a partial- or full-truckload of totes from us. Single landed price — tote + freight. No reweigh fees, no fuel-surcharge surprises. Buying + freight.

Bundle 04

Garden-build kit.

Community garden or school project. We grade, cut, finish, and deliver finished raised beds, rain catchers, or aquaponics builds. Fabrication + freight.

Questions we get every week

Services FAQ.

Can I get a quote that combines two or three services?
Yes — that's actually most of our quotes. Write one email describing what you have and what you need; we'll quote it as a single landed number. Easier on you, easier on us.
Do you have minimum order sizes?
Buying: one tote is fine, but small orders pay LTL freight minimums (typically $140–$220). Selling: twelve totes minimum so we can route a pickup. Reconditioning: roughly 20 per batch for the wash bay to run efficiently. Freight: any size.
What if I'm outside your nine-state core?
We still quote it. We use vetted partner carriers for longer hauls, and sometimes the smartest move is rail-to-truck for the line-haul. We'll tell you what makes sense for the lane.
Do you keep an inventory list online?
No. Inventory changes daily, and a stale list helps nobody. Tell us what you need and we'll send a photo of what's actually on the yard right now.
How do you handle payment?
ACH, check, card (3% surcharge), or open net-15/net-30 once we've done a few jobs together. We pay sellers by ACH or check within 3 business days of pickup confirmation.
Do you do residential delivery?
Yes, with a lift-gate and an honest conversation about access. See the transportation page for the details and the surcharge structure.
Will you talk to me on the phone?
If we've already exchanged emails and there's a complex spec to walk through, yes — we'll schedule a call. For first contact, email is faster and gives both of us a record.
Not sure which service you need?

Describe the situation. We'll sort it.

Send a paragraph and a photo or two. We'll tell you which of the six (or which combination) actually fits — even if the answer is "you don't need us, here's who you should call instead."

Email the yard →
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