Guides to gaylords

Where to begin

If you are new to the word, start with what a gaylord is. If you have a stack to move, start with grading used gaylords. If you are buying, start with wall count and capacity.

Grouped by what you are doing

Buying. What a gaylord is, wall count and capacity, bottoms, octabin or rectangular, new or used, and what sets the price.

Selling. Grading a stack, folding and storing, per-pallet and per-truck counts, and keeping empties dry.

Handling. Slip sheets, liners, food use and box weight.

How the guides are written

Each guide opens with the answer, then goes deeper. Where a figure comes from a maker or a seller, it carries a link and a note on who said it. Where a figure is our arithmetic, the method is shown. Where a question needs the maker's number, the guide says so.

What the guides do not do

They do not state prices, minimums or turnaround times. They do not claim a used box is rated for a new load. They do not tell you a used gaylord is food safe. Those are decisions for the buyer, taken with the maker's rating or the program's rules in hand.

Short answers

The FAQ collects the short answers. The guides have the longer ones.

When you are ready

Every guide ends with the request. The first questions are the count, the footprint and the wall count.

How the guides are written

Every guide shows its working. Where a number comes from a maker or a regional source, the source is linked and the date is given. Where a number is arithmetic, the steps are shown, so you can run it again with your own box or truck. Where a statement is a rule of thumb, it is marked as one. No guide states a price, a minimum or a promised time.

A suggested order

If you are new to gaylords, read what a gaylord is first, then the wall count page, then the full flap and partial flap guide. If you are selling, read grading used gaylords, folding and storing, and stacking knocked-down gaylords. If you are moving a load, read the trucks guide and the slip sheets guide. If you are working with food or resin, read the food-grade guide before you commit.

All the guides

Buying

• What is a gaylordA gaylord is a pallet-size corrugated bulk box. What it's made of, how it's rated and where the name came from, answered first.
• Weight capacityGaylord capacity by wall count, with the maker ratings and seller ranges we cite and the conditions that lower a used box's strength.
• Full flap or partial flapFull flap bottoms close completely; partial flap bottoms sit on a slip sheet or pallet. Which load needs which, with drawings.
• Octabin or rectangularWhen the angled corners of an octabin earn their place over a rectangular gaylord, and when they don't, by load type.
• New or usedWhen a new gaylord is worth it and when a single trip used box does the same job, by load weight, stacking and how many trips it makes.
• What sets the priceGrade, wall count, footprint, bottom, quantity and distance all move a gaylord's price. How each one counts, without a price list.

Selling

• Grading used gaylordsHow to read a stack of used gaylords: single trip, good, functional and recycle only, with what each grade can still do.
• Folding and storingHow to set up a gaylord, knock it down flat and store it dry so it stays reusable and keeps its value.
• Knocked down, per palletStacking knocked-down gaylords on a pallet for pickup: how heights, bands and wrap decide the count, worked out step by step.
• Gaylords per truckSet-up and knocked-down gaylord counts per trailer and per pallet, with the arithmetic shown so you can check your own load.

Handling and background

• Slip sheetsWhat a slip sheet does under a partial flap bottom gaylord, when to use one, and what goes wrong without it.
• Food grade useCorrugated isn't a food-contact surface. What food and produce buyers check: liners, clean history and the buyer's own rules.
• Box weightThe empty weight of a gaylord by size and wall count, from maker listings, and why tare weight matters on a freight bill.
• Where the name comes fromThe Gaylord Container company of St. Louis made the first bulk bins; how a company name became the trade's word for a pallet box.

Questions from the dock

Where do I start?

With what a gaylord is if the word is new, or with grading if you have a stack.

Are the figures sourced?

Yes. Each linked figure names its source, and computed values show the method.

Can I ask for a guide on a topic?

Use the request form and add the topic in the message.