Plastic crates and bulk bins in New Jersey

Warehouses around the port

The Port of New York and New Jersey, with its main container terminals at Port Newark and Elizabeth, ranked 4th among US ports by 2023 total trade at about 123.7 million short tons. Imports land, get trucked a short distance and are unloaded, sorted and repacked in warehouses along the New Jersey Turnpike corridor of I-95, out I-78 and I-80, and around the I-287 ring through Edison.

Inside those buildings, returnable plastic does the repetitive work. Hand-held nest-stack totes carry picks and returns and nest for the trip back. Attached-lid containers close and take a security tie for store or customer deliveries. Collapsible bulk containers on a 48x40 base hold bulky items and fold flat when empty, which matters where every square foot of floor is expensive. Flexcon, for example, lists a 48x40x30 folding container at about 1,700 lb capacity and 89 lb tare, and names distribution centers and 3PLs among its users.

Choosing totes for a pick or repack line

Start with the conveyor. Its width and guide spacing limit the footprint, and photo-eyes and scanners limit height and label position. Next, consider loaded weight: many operations cap a full tote at a weight a worker can lift safely, which limits depth. Then decide on lids. Open totes are fastest to pick; attached lids stay with the tote and seal for transit; separate lids seal tighter but tend to go missing.

Color helps sort flows: one for inbound, one for outbound, one for returns or quarantined goods. Hot-stamped or labeled owner marks help get totes back from customers. If a client specifies a tote, send its spec or the maker and model and we'll match it, new or used. We describe used lots by grade, A, B or C, and say what that means for each.

Returns and reverse logistics

E-commerce returns flow back into warehouses near big population centers, and processing them takes a lot of containers. Each returned item gets opened, inspected, graded and sent to restock, refurbishment, liquidation or recycling. Workers sort into totes by destination, and those totes queue on shelves or conveyors until a batch is full.

Return lines favor open-top, nestable totes in several colors, sometimes with dividers, plus lidded containers for items that must stay sealed, like electronics awaiting data wiping. Bulk boxes collect liquidation lots. Because returns volume swings with the seasons, many operators buy a core fleet new and top up with used or refurbished totes during peaks, then sell the surplus afterward.

New Jersey containers by sector

South Jersey farms

New Jersey has about 9,900 farms on 690,000 acres. Blueberries were the top crop in 2025 at about $94 million in value of production, followed by bell peppers at $55 million, with peaches at $25 million, asparagus at $20 million and cranberries at $16 million.

Blueberries and peaches need shallow, vented crates that cool fast and keep stack weight off the fruit. Peppers and asparagus ride in vented produce crates or field bins that line up for forced-air cooling. Cranberries, often harvested wet, need bins with open floors that drain quickly. For produce contact we never call a used container food-grade; ask the maker's documents and tell us what the crates held before.

Freight in a crowded corridor

I-95 and the Turnpike carry the state's north-south freight, I-295 runs the Delaware River side through South Jersey, I-78 heads west toward Pennsylvania, I-80 crosses the north, and I-287 loops around the metro. South Jersey ports, on the Delaware, ranked 35th among US ports by 2023 total trade.

Traffic and dock congestion are part of every quote here. Warehouses often require delivery appointments, and urban sites may need a straight truck with a liftgate. A few pallets of totes ship LTL; a warehouse launching a new client or a grower buying a season's crates should price a full truck. Nested totes and folded collapsibles fit many more units per trailer than rigid bins.

Selling surplus from New Jersey

Warehouses that lose a client often hold totes and collapsibles that fit someone else's program. We buy them in volume, along with farm crates and bins. Send count, model, grade, location and what they carried. Start at sell totes and crates.