This is the actual list our buyers work through before committing to a load. We publish it because a seller who can answer these is easy to deal with, and because customers buying from other yards should be asking the same things.
About the contents
- What was in them last, by product name as labelled?
- What was in them before that?
- Is a safety data sheet available?
- Were they drained, and when?
- Has anything been rinsed, and with what?
- Were any of them ever used for food or potable water?
About the hardware
- How many units, by format and base type?
- Are lids and valves present?
- Any cut, drilled or modified units in the lot?
- Any units carrying a UN marking panel?
- Have they been stored indoors or outdoors, and for how long?
- Any known freeze events?
About the pickup
- Is the lot staged together on level ground?
- Forklift access, and will an operator be available?
- What are the gate hours, and who do we ask for?
- Is there a deadline we have to clear by?
What the answers tell you beyond the facts
Pay attention to the shape of the answers, not just their content. A seller who says 'eleven 275s on steel, three on composite, two of the composites have cracked decking' is a seller who has walked the lot. A seller who says 'about fifteen, all good' has not, and the load will contain a surprise.
That is not a character judgement. Most people selling totes are clearing a yard, not running a tote business, and they have no reason to know. It just means the buyer has to price the uncertainty — and the way a buyer prices uncertainty is by assuming the worst case for anything undisclosed.
Which is the real argument for answering all sixteen: every one you can answer removes a worst-case assumption from your own quote.