Chapter 01 · 275 gallon / 1000 L
The 275.
Ninety percent
of everything.
If someone says 'an IBC tote' without qualifying it, this is what they mean. One cubic metre of capacity on a 48 by 40 inch footprint, in a galvanised cage, at a height that clears almost every door in North America.
Nominal capacity
275 gal
1,040 L to the brim
Footprint
48"×40"
standard GMA pallet footprint
Height
46"
46 to 46.5 inches typical
Per flatbed
44
48' flatbed, single stacked
Full specification
Every number you might need
Working figures from our yard. Tooling varies between manufacturers by an inch here and there — the nameplate on your specific lot is the authority.
| Property | Imperial | Metric | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominal capacity | 275 US gal | 1,040 L | To the brim |
| Usable capacity | 260–268 gal | 985–1,015 L | With working headspace |
| Footprint | 48" × 40" | 1,219 × 1,016 mm | Standard GMA footprint |
| Overall height | 46" – 46.5" | 1,168 – 1,181 mm | Varies with pallet type |
| Bottle height | 38" – 39" | 965 – 991 mm | Excluding the pallet base |
| Tare weight | 120 – 140 lb | 54 – 64 kg | Steel pallet at the upper end |
| Gross weight (water) | ~2,420 lb | ~1,098 kg | 275 gal of water is ~2,290 lb |
| Max gross rating | ~2,750 lb | ~1,250 kg | Typical cage rating; check the nameplate |
| Fill port | 6" / DN150 | 150 mm | Screw cap, vented or solid |
| Outlet | 2" S60x6 buttress | 60 mm | Butterfly valve standard |
| Bottle material | Natural HDPE | — | Blow moulded, 20.5 kg typical |
| Cage material | Galvanised tubular steel | — | 36 kg typical |
| Stacking (empty) | 3 high | — | Sound cages only |
| Stacking (full) | 2 high static | — | Never in transit on our trucks |
Freight maths
How many, and what it weighs
Totes are bulky long before they are heavy, so load counts are governed by deck space, not by axle weight — until you fill them.
- 48' flatbed
- 44 units single stacked. Strapped in pairs with corner board.
- 53' dry van
- 48 units single stacked, dock-to-dock at both ends.
- 26' box truck
- 16 units. The metro Detroit workhorse.
- Empty load weight
- 44 × 130 lb ≈ 5,720 lb — a trivial load for any tractor.
- Full load weight
- 44 × 2,420 lb ≈ 106,000 lb — well over legal. Filled loads cap out around 18 to 20 units.
- Double stacked empties
- 88 units on a 48' flatbed, on tested cages only.
- Anything where door or dock height is tight
- Operations that already handle GMA pallets
- Gravity discharge into drums and sprayers
- Farm and greenhouse water, feed and fertilizer
- Brewing, syrup and produce wash in food grade
- Resale — it is the most liquid format in the used market
- Freeze expansion — fill to two-thirds for outdoor winter water
- UV — bare bottles yellow and embrittle over a few summers
- Forklift load centre — 2,420 lb at a 20 inch centre is not nothing
- Pallet-jack access on some composite bases
Ready to put a tote back to work?
Send one form. We answer with real numbers — grade, quantity, freight, lead time.