Size guide · 03
The IBC
reference desk.
Short answer
- Six detailed reference pages below
- Capacity conversions by product specific gravity
- UN marking strings decoded character by character
- Valve, thread, cap and gasket compatibility charts
Ask about a spec
Six reference pages
Where the detail lives
- R-01
Dimensions & Weights
Full comparison tables for every common IBC footprint.
Open - R-02
Capacity Conversions
Gallons, litres, cubic feet, fill weights by product density.
Open - R-03
Grades Explained
Food, rinsed, reconditioned, rebottled, as-is, scrap.
Open - R-04
UN Markings Decoded
Read 31HA1/Y/1120/… character by character.
Open - R-05
Valves & Fittings Sizes
DN50/DN80 outlets, thread charts, cap and gasket codes.
Open - R-06
Pallet & Base Types
Steel vs plastic vs composite vs wood — and when each fails.
Open
Master table
Every size we trade
Gross weights assume water at specific gravity 1.0. For your own product, multiply by its specific gravity — or use the conversions page, which does it for you.
| Capacity | Litres | Dimensions | Metric | Tare | Gross (water) | Stacking | Base |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 275 gal | 1,040 L | 48 × 40 × 46 in | 1200 × 1000 × 1168 mm | 125 – 140 lb | ~2,440 lb (water) | 3 high filled | Steel / plastic / composite |
| 330 gal | 1,250 L | 48 × 40 × 53 in | 1200 × 1000 × 1346 mm | 140 – 158 lb | ~2,910 lb (water) | 2 – 3 high filled | Steel / plastic |
| 120 gal | 450 L | 40 × 48 × 28 in | 1000 × 1200 × 711 mm | 85 – 95 lb | ~1,090 lb (water) | 3 high filled | Steel |
| 180 gal | 680 L | 48 × 40 × 36 in | 1200 × 1000 × 914 mm | 105 – 118 lb | ~1,620 lb (water) | 3 high filled | Steel / plastic |
| 550 gal | 2,080 L | 48 × 48 × 72 in | 1220 × 1220 × 1830 mm | 290 – 340 lb | ~4,900 lb (water) | 1 – 2 high filled | Heavy steel |
| 350 gal stainless | 1,325 L | 48 × 42 × 54 in | 1220 × 1067 × 1372 mm | 420 – 520 lb | ~3,400 lb (water) | 3 – 4 high filled | Integral legs |
275 gal
The default. Fits two-wide in a 53-ft trailer and clears a standard 7-ft dock door.
330 gal
Same floor space, 20% more payload. Watch trailer height and 2-high storage racks.
120 gal
Half-height. Popular for dense liquids where a 275 would exceed a floor or lift rating.
Quick conversions
Volume, weight and footprint at a glance
Fill weights shown at water density and at two common product densities. Add the tare weight for the gross.
| US gallons | Litres | Cubic feet | Water fill (lb) | SG 1.2 fill (lb) | SG 1.4 fill (lb) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 275 gal | 1,040 L | 36.8 ft³ | 2,292 | 2,750 | 3,208 |
| 330 gal | 1,250 L | 44.1 ft³ | 2,751 | 3,301 | 3,851 |
| 120 gal | 450 L | 16 ft³ | 1,000 | 1,200 | 1,400 |
| 180 gal | 680 L | 24.1 ft³ | 1,500 | 1,800 | 2,100 |
| 550 gal | 2,080 L | 73.5 ft³ | 4,584 | 5,501 | 6,418 |
Full density tables, metric conversions and head-pressure maths on the capacity conversions page.
Work backwards
Start from the liquid, not the container
Volume, density and clearance. Three inputs, and the tool tells you the size, the unit count, the filled weight and the floor space.
Size finder
Working to real tare weights
Water = 1.00 · solvent ≈ 0.85 · 50% caustic ≈ 1.53
Closest fit
120 gal half-height
13 units · 1,091 lb each when filled · 173 sq ft of floor
See this size- 180 gal9 units · 1,614 lb filled
- 550 gal3 units · 4,900 lb filled
- 330 gal tall5 units · 2,902 lb filled
- 275 gal standard6 units · 2,427 lb filled
Anatomy
Learn the six parts and the vocabulary follows
Almost every specification question in this trade is really a question about one of six components. Tap a number.
Part 02 of 06
HDPE inner bottle
Blow-moulded high-density polyethylene, roughly 52 kg of resin on a 275-gallon unit. This is the part that ages: UV crazing, chemical stress cracking and permeation all live here. When the bottle is spent, the cage usually has years left — which is exactly why rebottling exists.
Questions
Sizing questions
What size is a standard IBC tote?
275 US gallons (1,040 litres), measuring 48 × 40 × 46 inches on a 48 × 40 inch GMA pallet footprint, with a tare of about 132 lb. The 330-gallon unit shares that footprint and adds seven inches of height.
Do all IBC totes have the same footprint?
Nearly all composite IBCs in North America are built to the 48 × 40 in GMA footprint so they interchange on pallet racking and in trailers. Exceptions are the 550-gallon class, which is usually 48 × 48, and rigid poly and stainless tanks, which follow their own geometry.
How do I work out the filled weight of a tote?
Multiply gallons by 8.345 lb for water, then by the specific gravity of your product, then add the tare. A 275-gallon tote of SG 1.2 product is 275 × 8.345 × 1.2 + 132 = 2,885 lb. Our capacity conversions page tabulates this for common densities.
What is the tallest IBC tote that fits a standard trailer?
A 53-foot van has about 110 inches of interior height, so two 330-gallon totes stacked at 53 inches each fit with roughly four inches to spare — enough in practice but not enough for a swollen wood base or an uneven floor. Three 275s at 46 inches is 138 inches and does not fit.
Which size is cheapest per gallon stored?
The 330, by 8 – 12% over the 275, because the extra plastic and steel cost less than the extra 55 gallons of capacity are worth. The 120-gallon half-height is the most expensive per gallon, and you buy it for floor loading or clearance reasons rather than economy.
Keep going
Dimensions & Weights
Full tables, including door and rack clearance maths.
Grades Explained
The six grades, what each process involves, price bands.
UN Markings Decoded
Read a certification string character by character.
Valves & Fittings
Thread forms, caps, adapters and gasket compatibility.
Pallet & Base Types
Four bases, their crush ratings and how each fails.
Capacity Conversions
Gallons, litres, cubic feet and fill weights by density.
Quick lookup
The numbers people ask for most
Everything below is covered in depth on the six reference pages. This is the version you can screenshot.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Dimensions of a 275 gal tote | 48 × 40 × 46 in (1,200 × 1,000 × 1,168 mm) |
| Dimensions of a 330 gal tote | 48 × 40 × 53 in (1,200 × 1,000 × 1,346 mm) |
| Empty weight, 275 gal | 125 – 140 lb depending on base |
| Filled weight, 275 gal of water | ~2,427 lb |
| Filled weight, 330 gal of water | ~2,902 lb |
| Litres in a 275 gal tote | 1,040 L nominal |
| Narrowest dimension | 40 in — you need 42 in clear to pass one |
| Clear height to handle on a pallet jack | ~52 in for a 275, ~59 in for a 330 |
| Nested empties per 53-ft trailer | 42 (36 if the cages do not nest) |
| Filled 275s per legal load | 18 at water density |
| Standard outlet thread | S60×6 buttress on DN50; S100×8 on DN80 |
| Standard lid | 6 in (150 mm) coarse thread |
| Hazmat service life | 5 years from the moulding date on the plate |
| Leakproofness retest interval | 2.5 years, minimum 3 psi |
| Gravity head pressure | 0.433 psi per foot × specific gravity |
| Fill weight formula | gallons × 8.345 lb × SG, plus tare |
Common mistakes
Eight specification errors we correct every week
Collected from quotes where the first answer had to be “that will not work”. Each one is cheap to avoid and expensive to discover late.
| Mistake | What happens | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Measuring the room instead of the doorway | Delivery cannot get inside | A tote is 40 in at its narrowest; you need 42 in clear |
| Assuming a 330 fits 275 racking | Beam openings are 7 in short | Check beam opening before ordering |
| Quoting volume without density | Overweight load or a derated forklift | Send the liquid name; we do the arithmetic |
| Treating 3-high as a size property | Over-stacking a 2-high-rated assembly | The rating is on the plate, per assembly |
| Assuming UN marked means currently valid | Shipping on an out-of-life container | Read the two-digit moulding year and count |
| Fitting NPT into an S60 outlet | Stripped boss; the bottle is scrap | Use an adapter; stop if it binds in half a turn |
| Default EPDM gasket on solvent duty | Gasket swells, valve weeps within months | Specify Viton at order time |
| Wooden base in a return loop | Base fails at about four turns | Swap to steel or plastic during reconditioning |
From the Yard Journal
Longer pieces from the people who run the wash line, the test bay and the trading desk.
24 July 2025 · 3 min
Specific gravity is the number nobody sends us
Almost every enquiry gives a volume. Almost none gives a density. It is the difference between a container that works and a load that gets turned away at a scale.
Nina Caldwell · Trading desk
Read21 November 2024 · 4 min
A short history of the 48 × 40 footprint
Every composite IBC in North America is built to a grocery-industry pallet standard from 1968. That accident governs trailer loading, rack design and half our freight arithmetic.
Marcus Vreeland · Founder
Read2 October 2025 · 4 min
The case against buying new, written for a procurement team
Not an environmental argument. A specification argument, with the three clauses that genuinely require new containers and the four that do not.
Nina Caldwell · Trading desk
Read
Next move
Specification you cannot find?
Send us the plate photograph or the measurement you are stuck on. We would rather add a row to one of these tables than answer the same question twice.