Charlotte region, NC and SC I-85 I-77 I-40
Why is it called a gaylord? Because Gaylord Container of St. Louis made the first bulk bins, and the company's name became the trade's word for the box. Crown Zellerbach acquired the company in 1955, and the word outlived the owner.
Most people who use the word do not know it was once a brand. Gaylord Container of St. Louis made the first bulk bins, and when Crown Zellerbach of San Francisco bought the company in 1955, the product had already spread (source). Plenty of generic words started this way: the product was good enough that the name of the first maker became the name of the thing.
Today gaylord means a pallet-size corrugated box built to carry bulk goods. The trade also uses bulk box, bulk bin, skid box, pallet box and bin box for the same container. The eight-sided version is an octabin. The word is generic, and nobody on a dock expects a particular maker when they ask for a gaylord.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1930s | The corrugated gaylord is introduced |
| 1950s | It carries everything from plastic resin to watermelons |
| 1955 | Crown Zellerbach acquires Gaylord Container |
| Now | The word names any bulk box, from any maker |
The first two lines come from a maker's history (source); the third from the bulk box entry (source).
Early boxes were single and double wall. Triple wall arrived for heavier loads, and the octagon form arrived for loads that bulge walls. Today you can buy a gaylord with two to five layers, in several footprints and with several bottoms. Read the what is a gaylord guide for the parts, and the bulk box page for the types.
Because the word is generic, it says nothing about quality. A gaylord from one maker and a gaylord from another can carry very different weights. That is why we ask for the wall count and the maker's rating, not the name. The wall count page and the weight capacity guide cover how to read them.
Plants in Gaston County, Rowan County and Chester County use the word daily. They do not care about the company; they care about the footprint and the bottom. If you want to ask for boxes by the same words, the boxes hub is where to start, and the guides hub has the rest.
The word is slang, so makers and buyers use other names for the same box: bulk box, bulk bin, pallet box and octabin when it has eight sides. A request that says gaylord is understood on most docks in the region, but one that adds the footprint, wall count and bottom cannot be misread whatever name the reader uses. Use the nickname for the headline and the numbers for the detail. If a buyer replies with a different name for the box, answer with the three dimensions and the wall count, and the two of you will be talking about the same thing.
It began as the name of a company that made the first bulk bins. The word is now the generic trade name for the box.
Gaylord Container of St. Louis made the first bulk bins, according to the bulk box entry.
Most are. Plastic corrugated versions exist for closed-loop programs.
Count, footprint and wall count are enough to start.
No prices, minimums or times are stated here.