The empty leg is the expensive one. We plan around that.
In bulk corrugated, freight regularly costs more than the boxes. We route loads so trailers are paying in both directions — which is why standing-route customers pay noticeably less per box than spot buyers.
Request a freight & transport quote
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.
What fits on a truck
| Configuration | Per 53′ trailer | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| KD 48×40×36, banded flat | ~480 boxes | The default for used inventory |
| KD 48×40×30 | ~540 boxes | Dense material programs |
| KD 48×40×48 | ~360 boxes | Light bulky material |
| KD half gaylords | ~900 boxes | Best density in the catalogue |
| Assembled on pallets | 26 pallets | Straight-to-production same shift |
| Baled OCC | ~20 tons | Fiber outbound to mills |
Why we quote landed cost
Per-box price is a marketing number. Landed cost is the one your controller cares about: box price plus linehaul, plus fuel surcharge, plus accessorials, plus the labour of unloading it. We put all of that on the quote because leaving it off is how a cheaper box turns into a more expensive invoice.
- Linehaul — roughly $2.20–$3.40 per mile on Texas dry-van lanes, seasonal and directional.
- Fuel surcharge — typically 18–28% of linehaul, moves weekly.
- Detention — free time is normally two hours; hand-unloading knocked-down boxes eats it fast.
- Liftgate or driver assist — $75–$200 where a dock cannot take a 53-footer.
- Your labour — two people, about three hours, to unload 480 knocked-down boxes.
Equipment, and when each is right
- 53′ dry van — the workhorse. Weather protection matters more with corrugated than with almost any other freight.
- 48′ dry van — for facilities that cannot swing a 53 into the dock.
- Flatbed with tarps — for oversized or awkward loads, and for pallets and equipment moving alongside boxes.
- Hot shot — 8 to 12 pallets, same day, for the Tuesday-afternoon emergency that would otherwise stop a line.
- Box truck with liftgate — small metro deliveries to facilities without a dock.
Scheduled lanes
Rather than quoting every move as a one-off, we run planned lanes and slot customers into them. Metro Houston is next-day. Beaumont and Port Arthur run on a weekly cadence. DFW, Austin and San Antonio move on backhaul pairing, which is how we get metroplex pricing closer to local than most brokers manage.
Loading and securing
Knocked-down boxes travel banded to pallets in bundles sized for a standard forklift. Bundles are load-locked or strapped to prevent shifting, because corrugated that slides in transit arrives crushed and crushed boxes are a grade lower than the one you paid for. Assembled boxes travel with pallet caps and corner boards when they are going more than about fifty miles.
How it runs, start to finish
Give us the lane
Origin, destination, quantity, size and whether either end has a dock. Mention anything going the other way.
Landed quote
Per-box, linehaul, fuel, accessorials, and the all-in number. One page, one business day.
Schedule the window
Pickup and delivery windows fixed against your dock hours, not ours.
Load, secure, document
Banded, load-locked, counted at the dock, paperwork with grade and quantity on the load.
Pair the return
Empties, fiber or pallets come back on the same equipment wherever the timing works.
Freight & Transport — common questions
Do you handle LTL?
We can, but we will usually talk you out of it. Bulk corrugated has terrible freight class because of its density — under about 100 boxes you are almost always better buying local.
Can you deliver outside Texas?
Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas on planned lanes. Beyond that we would rather refer you to someone closer than sell you a bad freight number.
What are your dock hours for pickup?
Monday to Friday 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM Central, Saturday 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Tell us in advance if you need a load staged for an earlier departure.
Do you provide the pallets?
Yes, and we sell them separately too — GMA A and B grade, heat-treated for export, and plastic.