Before the truck comes: the pickup checklist

The six checks

1. Fill cap closed. Tight, with the vent clear. An open cap lets rain into a tote that held a chemical, and then you have a new heel to deal with.
2. Valve closed. Shut and capped. A weeping valve ends the conversation about reuse.
3. Old label on. Do not peel it. It is the cheapest record of the last contents.
4. SDS to hand. The sheet for the last product. It is the first document anyone asks for.
5. Cage and pallet sound. Straight tubes, no cracks at the welds, a pallet a forklift can lift.
6. Access clear. A loading dock, a forklift or a pallet jack can reach every tote.

None of these needs a tool. Most need five minutes.

Why each one matters

The checklist exists because every item changes a decision. A closed cap and valve keep the heel where it was when you measured it. The label and the SDS say what the heel is. The cage and the pallet decide whether the tote can be reused whole, rebottled or recycled in parts. Access decides whether anyone can reach it at all.

A tote that fails a check is not a reason to skip the request. Say so in the message box. A bent cage or a missing label is exactly the kind of fact that helps sort the parts.

Counting and staging

If there are more than a few totes, count them by size and by last contents, and stand them in rows with the fill caps facing the aisle. Empty caged totes can be stacked three high, according to Container Exchanger, and the IBC specifications page gives four high for empty 275 to 330 gallon poly totes. Stack only what your own EHS rules allow, and never a tote that is not empty.

Clearing totes from a dock or yard covers the large-run case, and storing empties outside covers the weeks before the truck.

What to put in the request

The pickup request asks for the size, the number of totes and the ZIP code first. Use the message box for the last contents, how the totes are reached (dock, forklift, pallet jack or ground level), and whether the SDS is ready. Run the Empty Check first and its ticket fills the message box for you.

We take no request for a tote that is not empty. A tote with more than an inch of residue that cannot be drained needs a licensed hazardous-waste hauler.