Plastic crates and bulk bins in California
California buyers mostly ask us for harvest-size macro bins, vented produce crates and collapsible bulk containers, and we quote new, used and refurbished units delivered to any address in the state. Give us the footprint, the height and what goes inside, and we price the box and the freight for that one load.
- Top commodities
- Milk, almonds, cattle, grapes, lettuce
- Vehicle plant
- Tesla, Fremont
- Ports
- Long Beach, Los Angeles, Richmond, Oakland
- Main interstates
- I-5, I-80, I-10, I-15
- Cities
- Los Angeles, Fresno, Stockton, Salinas
Fields first: what California growers fill
No state grows a wider spread. The California Department of Food and Agriculture says nearly half of US vegetables and over three-quarters of US fruits and nuts come from California, across more than 400 commodities. Its 2025 crop-year leaders were milk, almonds, cattle, grapes, lettuce, pistachios and strawberries, in that order by value. That mix decides the container.
Tree fruit and wine grapes go into macro bins on a forklift-ready base, usually with a vented wall so field heat escapes. Lettuce and leafy greens move in hand-held vented crates on a 48x40 pallet. Strawberries want shallow trays that never crush the bottom layer. Nut handlers lean toward solid-wall bulk bins that hold fines and hulls inside.
Containers California buyers ask for
A rough map from sector to box. Heights vary by maker, so we confirm each one against its spec sheet before quoting.
| Sector | Containers | Usual footprints |
|---|---|---|
| Tree fruit, table and wine grapes | Macro bins, vented harvest bins, picking lugs | About 47x39 and 48x40 bins; hand-held lugs |
| Lettuce and leafy greens (Salinas, Imperial) | Vented produce crates, bulk bins for trim | 600x400 mm crates, 48x40 bins |
| Strawberries and berries | Shallow vented trays, nest-stack totes | 600x400 and 400x300 mm |
| Almonds and pistachios | Solid-wall bulk bins, collapsible bulk containers | 48x40, 48x45 |
| Dairy and food plants | Attached-lid containers, stacking crates | Hand-held, about 24x16 |
| Vehicle and parts plants | 48x45 collapsibles, euro containers, dunnage | 48x45, 600x400, 400x300 mm |
| Ports, 3PLs and DCs | Nest-stack totes, bulk bins, collapsibles | 48x40, hand-held |
Moving loads on I-5, I-80 and the port roads
Most farm loads ride I-5 through the San Joaquin Valley or I-80 between the Bay Area and Sacramento, while the Inland Empire distribution belt sits on I-10 and I-15. Port traffic is heavy: the Port of Long Beach ranked 6th and the Port of Los Angeles 9th among US ports by 2023 total trade, with Richmond and Oakland further down the list.
Order size sets the freight method. A few pallets of crates or totes go LTL, shrink-wrapped and stacked. Bins and collapsibles make sense by the trailer. PHS Plastic lists its 48x40x45 collapsible at 88 per 53-foot trailer assembled and 128 folded, so a full truck of folded units carries about half again as many boxes. Our trailer fill page shows how to work out a load.
Bay Area plant work and the 48x45
Tesla builds vehicles at its factory in Fremont, and suppliers feeding assembly lines across the country standardize on the automotive bulk footprint. ORBIS calls its 48x45 BulkPak the AIAG standard and lists 17 versions from 19 to 50 inches tall rated about 1,500 to 2,000 lb. A part-specific load also needs dunnage: dividers, foam or cell inserts cut to the part.
If your parts arrive in euro-style hand-held containers, measure the outside footprint in millimeters and the inside height. That pair, plus the lid style, is enough for us to match a used or new box.
Dairy, cold rooms and valley food plants
Milk is California's single largest commodity. USDA NASS counted about 1.71 million milk cows on January 1, 2026, producing nearly 41 billion lb of milk in 2025, spread across roughly 62,100 farms statewide. Creameries, cheese makers and bottlers along Highway 99 and in the Tulare basin buy cased-product crates, ingredient totes and lidded bins for maintenance cribs.
Cold rooms are hard on plastic. Ask for a resin rated for low temperatures if containers live near freezing, and for a smooth inner surface where sanitation crews spray down every shift. A case crate with drain holes dries faster than one with a closed deck. Replacing a crate already on your line? Measure its outside length, width and height, and note how it interlocks when stacked, because two crates with the same footprint can refuse to stack together.
Selling surplus bins and totes from California
Bins pile up when a ranch changes crops, a packer switches to a pooled program, or a plant retires a part number. We buy surplus. Send the count, footprint, height, wall type, rough grade and the address where they sit, and say what they held. Photos of the base and the drop doors help us price it faster. Start on our harvest bin selling page or the general sell page.
Questions
Can a used bin that held almonds go into lettuce?
Only after you have checked it. We never call a used container food-grade; ask for the maker's documents on the resin and tell us what the bin carried before, so we can say what we know about its history.
Do you quote delivery to both the Central Valley and the coast?
Yes. We quote delivery to any California address, priced per load, and the quote names the trailer type. We don't promise a delivery date until the carrier confirms it.
Is a full truckload cheaper per bin than LTL to Fresno?
Usually per unit, yes, because a trailer spreads one freight charge across many bins. For a small top-up order LTL can still cost less in total, so we can quote both.
What do grade A, B and C mean on a used macro bin?
Grade A looks close to new with sound runners and clean walls; B shows scuffs, stains or repaired spots but carries its rated load; C is worn and suits rough, non-food jobs. We state the grade and what it means for that particular bin.
Sources
Figures on this page come from these pages, last reviewed 2026-11-08. Makers update their sheets; confirm a model's figures on its current sheet before you order.