The Grade Decoder
Six questions. Out comes a wall count, a grade, a footprint and a wall height — plus the reasoning, so you can argue with it if you disagree.
Prefer to just ask a person?
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.
Answer six, get a spec
Nothing here is stored or sent anywhere until you press the button at the bottom.
0 of 6 answered
Answer all six and the decoder returns a wall count, a grade and a footprint you can paste straight into a purchase order.
What the decoder is actually doing
Step one — the load your bottom box carries
Weight of one full box × (stack height − 1). If you never stack, we still apply a 35% self-load allowance, because a box sitting alone still has to hold its own contents against its own walls.
Step two — the derates
Storage duration multiplies by 1.0 to 1.6 (corrugated creeps under sustained load). Environment multiplies by 1.0 to 1.5 (corrugated retains roughly half its dry strength at 90% relative humidity). Both are applied, not just the worst one.
Step three — the mapping
Under 1,100 lb is 2-wall. Up to 1,900 lb is tri-wall. Up to 2,900 lb is 4-wall. Above that is 5-wall. Sharp material bumps one grade, because sharp edges cut liner from the inside on the first fill.
Step four — grade and shape
Grade is a cosmetic and compliance question, not a strength one: regulated needs new, customer-facing needs A, internal needs B, one-way needs C. Shape is decided by whether your material flows — if it would pour out of a tipped box, eight sides distribute the outward pressure that blows corners out of square ones.
Is the result binding?
No — it is a well-reasoned starting point, not a certification. Send it with your quote request and a person will sanity-check it against what we have on the floor.
Why does it sometimes recommend a cheaper box than I asked for?
Because over-specification is the most common expensive habit in bulk packaging. Each extra wall adds 25–35% to the price. If your load does not need it, we will say so.
Does it store my answers?
No. Nothing leaves your browser until you press the button that opens a quote form, and then only what is in that form.
What if my situation is unusual?
Then the decoder will be roughly right and a person will be exactly right. Send the result plus a description and we will work through it.