Guides to IBC totes
These guides explain the tote itself: what it is, how big it is, how to read the plate, when it needs a retest, what empty means under federal rules, how to clean it and how to move it. Each page is short, specific to totes and dated.
Last reviewed November 11, 2026
The bottle, the cage, the pallet and the plate.
275 and 330 gallon footprints, heights and liters.
Which size fits the job and the doorway.
What a tote weighs with water, fuel or syrup.
31HA1 and the other marks.
The 2.5 and 5 year cycles.
When a tote counts as empty.
Washing by last contents.
Forklifts, jacks and straps.
Adapters and gaskets.
Why fuel is a special case.
Naming a tote's last contents.
How to use these pages
Start with what an IBC is if the word is new. Go to dimensions and weight if you are planning a truck or a stand. Go to the plate and retest pages if you are buying a regulated tote. Go to RCRA empty and cleaning if you are selling or disposing of one. Each guide ends with the tote grades it affects and links to the next page.
We write only what we can source. The rules we cite are federal regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations. We say when a point is general guidance rather than a rule, and we date every page with the day it was last reviewed.
Where these guides stop
They are not legal or engineering advice. For a regulated product, a hazardous waste or a structure that will carry thousands of pounds, ask the person responsible: your environmental manager, your county, your engineer or the maker of the tote.
Which guide for which person
A buyer weighing 275 against 330 should read the size and dimension guides. A household storing water should read the weight page and then the water pages. A warehouse manager with a stack should read the plate, RCRA empty and SDS guides. A grower should read the cleaning and fittings guides. A blender should read the retest guide. A boat owner or a generator owner asking about fuel should read that page before anything else. A student or a journalist writing about the trade should start with what an IBC is. Each guide links to the next, and each carries a review date and its sources so you can check us.
Questions people ask
Where do I start if I am buying?
With the dimensions and the grades.
Where do I start if I am selling?
With the load sheet and the plate guide.
Where do I start?
With what an IBC is.
Are the guides advice?
No. They are explanations, with sources.
How current are they?
Each page carries a review date.
Who writes them?
We do, from the sources listed at the foot of each page.
Can I suggest a guide?
Yes, through the request form.
Ask a tote question
We answer by email and add common ones to the guides.