Reference

Grades explained, with the thresholds published

Anybody can call a box 'good'. Below are the actual pass/fail criteria we grade against on our own yard, so you can check our work on your dock instead of taking our word for it.

Published thresholdsSix-point inspectionGrade your own

Answer first: 1A is new and unused. Grade A has one clean fill with no cuts and square corners. Grade B has up to two properly patched repairs. Grade C has multiple repairs but still stands on its own. Anything with soft corners, a bulged bottom, moisture history or odour is scrap and is priced as fiber by the ton.

Request a quote

Get a written quote in one business day

Tell us what you have or what you need. A real person in Houston reads every one of these — usually within a couple of hours during dock time.

A single open octagon bulk bin standing on a wooden pallet on a warehouse floor — An eight-sided bin on a standard 48 × 40 pallet. No corner to blow out.

Bulk bins stacked two high on pallets down a warehouse aisle, with banded knocked-down bundles alongside — Assembled bins stacked two high, knocked-down bundles alongside — the two ways stock waits to move.

The five categories

What each grade is, costs, and survives

GRADE 1A

New / never filled

Straight from the corrugator, unused, printed or plain.

Specification

Zero prior fill cycles
Full published edge-crush and burst rating
Square corners, no crush anywhere on the stack
Cut to your exact ID, wall count and flap style

Trips remaining: 4–6 trips typical

Price position: Highest cost per box, lowest cost per trip if you only get one trip

Typical use: Food-contact, export, cleanroom, first-article shipments, anything a customer will photograph.

Automatic rejection: Nothing. If it is not perfect it is not 1A.

GRADE A

Grade A used

One fill, clean, no repairs, no cuts. The sweet spot.

Specification

One prior use, usually a single inbound freight leg
No cuts, no tape patches, no staples through the wall
Clean interior — no residue, odour, oil or staining
Square, self-standing, flaps intact

Trips remaining: 3–5 trips typical

Price position: Roughly 35–55% of new, depending on wall count and volume

Typical use: Outbound shipments to customers, retail returns, textile and plastics collection, anything visible.

Automatic rejection: Any cut, any moisture line, any odour, any pest evidence.

GRADE B

Grade B used

Two or three uses. Up to two clean repairs. Structurally honest.

Specification

Up to two patched cuts or taped seams, done properly with box tape or glued patches
Minor scuffing, print bleed-through or ink transfer allowed
Corners intact, no delamination of the liner
Still self-standing when empty

Trips remaining: 2–3 trips typical

Price position: Roughly 20–35% of new

Typical use: In-plant WIP, scrap collection, internal transfer, anything staying inside your four walls.

Automatic rejection: Delamination, soft corners, blown bottoms, more than two repairs.

GRADE C

Grade C used

Working boxes. Cosmetically rough, structurally usable, cheap.

Specification

Multiple repairs, heavy print, mismatched flaps
Some crush on the top edge is acceptable if the walls hold
May need a lid or a strap to hold shape when full
Sold as-is, by the truckload, sorted for wall count only

Trips remaining: 1–2 trips typical

Price position: Roughly 10–20% of new

Typical use: One-way scrap moves, floor sweep, demolition debris, landscape and nursery use.

Automatic rejection: Wet, mouldy, contaminated or pest-infested. Those go to the baler, not the rack.

GRADE SCRAP

Scrap / OCC

End of life as a container. Beginning of life as fiber.

Specification

Baled old corrugated container (OCC), grade #11 or #12
Moisture below mill spec, no wax, no plastic liner left in
Sold to regional mills by the ton, not the box
Weighed on a certified scale, ticket issued the same day

Trips remaining: Reborn as new liner within weeks

Price position: Paid by the ton at the prevailing regional OCC index

Typical use: Anything that failed grading, plus your own baled cardboard waste stream.

Automatic rejection: Wax-coated, foil-lined and heavily contaminated fiber — those need a different outlet.

The inspection

Six points, ninety seconds, same answer every time

Stand the box up empty on a flat surface, flaps open. If it will not stand on its own, stop — that box is Grade C at best and probably scrap.

Corners

Run a hand down all four verticals. Softness, rounding or delamination is structural. Corners carry 60–70% of a stacked load.

Bottom seam

Look from underneath. Intact glue or staples, no bulge, no separation at the fold. A bulged bottom is an automatic C.

Wall integrity

Raking light across each wall shows crush as a shadow line. Count cuts and patches: zero is A, one or two is B, three or more is C.

Flaps

All four present, folding cleanly at the score. Missing flaps drop a grade — a lid will not seat and the box cannot be stacked without a cap.

Moisture

Palm flat against the inside wall. Damp is obvious; the tide line is the real find. Even bone dry, a tide line means permanent strength loss.

Odour

Head in the box. Solvent, food, mildew or chemical sweetness means residue that will transfer to your next load.

The whole rule in one line: cosmetics never change a grade, geometry always does. Ink, print, labels and scuffing are free. Crush, cuts and curves cost you.

Decision table

Which grade should you actually buy?

Situation	Buy	Why
Product touches the fiber	1A new	Used stock has no documented history an auditor will accept
UN-rated or regulated shipment	1A new	Certification covers the box, closure, liner and pallet as one system
A customer will see it	Grade A	Clean face, no repairs, no explaining to do
Stays inside your building	Grade B	Same strength envelope, roughly two thirds of the price
One-way scrap or debris	Grade C	The box is a consumable — buy by the truckload, sort for walls only
Everything else	Grade A	Covers roughly 60% of real-world demand

Questions

Grading questions

Who decides the grade?

We do, on our own line, against the six-point inspection published on this page. If you disagree with a grade on a delivered load, tell us — we would rather re-grade a pallet than have a customer stop trusting the categories.

Does a repair always drop the grade?

Yes. One or two clean patched repairs makes a box Grade B, permanently. Reconditioning without honest re-grading is just hiding damage under tape.

Do cosmetics matter at all?

Only for what a customer sees. Ink, labels, print bleed and scuffing have zero effect on load capacity, which is exactly why buying on physics rather than appearance is cheaper.

Can a Grade C box be used safely?

For one-way scrap and debris moves at modest weight, yes. It should not be stacked high, stored loaded for long, or trusted with anything you would mind losing on a forklift.

What is the difference between scrap and Grade C?

Grade C still works as a container. Scrap does not — soft corners, bulged bottom, will not stand empty, or wet. Scrap is priced as fiber by the ton, not as a box.

Grade a box in 90 seconds

The procedure, step by step

Grade Decoder

Which grade do you need?

Sell your boxes

Grade before you quote

Ready to move some boxes?

Send the form once. We answer in writing with grades, quantities, sizes and freight — no phone tag, because we don't even have a phone number.

Request a quote Contact us

Every number on this site, on one screen

The numbers we get asked for most

Standard size: 48" × 40" × 36"

Standard volume: 40 cu ft nominal

Usable volume: 80–85% of nominal

Capacity range: 900 – 4,500 lb

Per 53′ trailer, KD: ≈ 480 boxes

Per 53′ assembled: 26 pallet positions

Overhang penalty: ≈ 20% per inch

Humidity at 90% RH: ≈ 50% strength

Trips per box: 3–6 when handled well

New box CO₂e: ≈ 13 lb

Reuse cycle CO₂e: ≈ 1.2 lb

OCC per 53′ trailer: ≈ 20 tons

Stocked sizes, capacities and truckload counts

Inside dimensions	Volume	Capacity	Per 53′ KD	Stock
48″ × 40″ × 36″	40 cu ft	1,200 – 2,800 lb	480	Deep stock
48″ × 40″ × 30″	33.3 cu ft	1,000 – 2,000 lb	540	Deep stock
48″ × 40″ × 24″	26.7 cu ft	900 – 1,800 lb	600	Regular stock
48″ × 40″ × 42″	46.7 cu ft	1,800 – 3,000 lb	420	Regular stock
48″ × 40″ × 48″	53.3 cu ft	2,500 – 4,000 lb	360	Regular stock
40″ × 48″ × 45″	50 cu ft	2,400 – 3,400 lb	390	Seasonal
41″ × 28″ × 25″	16.6 cu ft	700 – 1,400 lb	900	Regular stock
30″ × 30″ × 30″	15.6 cu ft	500 – 900 lb	1100	Regular stock
45″ × 30″ × 45″	35.2 cu ft	1,500 – 2,200 lb	560	Seasonal
47″ × 38″ × 44″	45.5 cu ft	2,000 – 3,000 lb	400	Seasonal
48″ × 48″ × 40″	53.3 cu ft	2,800 – 4,500 lb	320	Made to order
48″ × 40″ × 40″	44.4 cu ft	2,500 – 4,000 lb	400	Regular stock

Inside dimensions. Outside runs ½″ to 1½″ larger per dimension depending on wall count — use OD for racking and trailer clearances. Full size chart →

Wall count and load ratings

Walls	Static load	Stack	Typical ECT
2-wall	1,000–1,200 lb	2 high	48–61 lb/in
3-wall (tri-wall)	1,800–2,000 lb	2–3 high	71–82 lb/in
4-wall	2,500–3,000 lb	3 high	90–110 lb/in
5-wall	4,000 lb+	3–4 high	120+ lb/in

Ratings assume dry, aligned, fully supported, short duration. Derating explained →

Grades, at a glance

Grade	Condition	Trips left
1A	Straight from the corrugator, unused, printed or plain.	4–6 trips typical
A	One fill, clean, no repairs, no cuts. The sweet spot.	3–5 trips typical
B	Two or three uses. Up to two clean repairs. Structurally honest.	2–3 trips typical
C	Working boxes. Cosmetically rough, structurally usable, cheap.	1–2 trips typical
SCRAP	End of life as a container. Beginning of life as fiber.	Reborn as new liner within weeks

Every pass/fail threshold →

Derating factors — apply all that fit, multiplied

Condition	Factor	Why
Storage under a month	×1.0	No creep adjustment needed
One to six months loaded	×1.4	Corrugated creeps under sustained load
Over six months loaded	×1.6	Long-term storage
Dry warehouse	×1.15	Mild humidity exposure
Open dock, no A/C	×1.3	Most of Houston, most of the year
Outdoors or cooler	×1.5	Needs a lid as well

Required load = full box weight × (stack − 1) × creep × humidity. Run it automatically →

Service area and turnaround

Area	Turnaround	Region
Houston	Same day, most ZIPs	Harris County
Pasadena & Deer Park	Same day	Ship Channel East
Conroe & The Woodlands	Same day	Montgomery County
Beaumont & Port Arthur	Next day, scheduled routes	Golden Triangle
Dallas–Fort Worth	Scheduled backhaul lanes	North Texas
San Antonio & Austin	Scheduled lanes, 2–4 days	I-35 Corridor

Yard: 1050 E Richey Rd, Houston, TX 77073
Email: info@gaylordboxestx.com
Monday – Friday: 7:00 AM – 5:00 PM CT
Saturday: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM CT
Sunday: Closed
Telephone: None — every quote is issued in writing
Quote turnaround: One business day

Grades explained, with the thresholds published

Get a written quote in one business day

What each grade is, costs, and survives

New / never filled

Specification

Grade A used

Specification

Grade B used

Specification

Grade C used

Specification

Scrap / OCC

Specification

Six points, ninety seconds, same answer every time

Corners

Bottom seam

Wall integrity

Flaps

Moisture

Odour

Which grade should you actually buy?

Grading questions

Keep reading

Grade a box in 90 seconds

Grade Decoder

Sell your boxes

Ready to move some boxes?

Every number on this site, on one screen

The numbers we get asked for most

Stocked sizes, capacities and truckload counts

Wall count and load ratings

Grades, at a glance

Derating factors — apply all that fit, multiplied

Service area and turnaround

Everything on this site

Services

Products

Reference

Tools & writing