Written by M. Alvarez, Operations
In the summer of 2023 a Boulder-based outdoor apparel brand asked us a simple question: can we send back the same gaylords we receive from your yard, again and again, instead of throwing them in the dumpster after one trip? The answer was obviously yes — that is most of what we do — but they wanted a formal pilot, with metrics, and we agreed to run it for six months.
The setup.
We dedicated 200 grade-A 40×48×40 doublewall gaylords to the pilot. Each one got a unique three-digit ID stamped on two opposing walls and tracked in a spreadsheet. Boulder received 50 boxes per delivery, used them to consolidate inbound product from contract manufacturers in California, returned them to us when empty, and we re-inspected and re-shipped them back. The full loop cycle was 13 days on average.
What worked.
After six months of cycling, 178 of the original 200 boxes were still in active service — an 89% retention rate. Average trips per box was 12.4. The replacement boxes (22 units) were swapped in from our regular grade-A inventory at no charge to the customer; that was part of the pilot terms.
What did not work.
Two things. First, the unique ID stamps faded faster than we expected — by trip 10 a few boxes were unreadable. We switched to a more permanent ink stamp halfway through the pilot. Second, Boulder’s receiving dock occasionally mixed pilot boxes with the rest of their inbound corrugated, which broke the loop. We solved that by adding bright orange tape to the pilot stock to make them visually distinct.
The economics.
Boulder’s previous setup was buying 200 new gaylords every 4-6 weeks. Six months of new-box purchases would have cost about $11,200. The pilot cost them $4,300 in box rotation fees plus $360 in replacement units. Total savings: roughly $6,500 over six months, or about 60% of their previous spend. The CO2 footprint dropped by an estimated 4.1 metric tons.
What we are doing next.
We are now running closed loops for 14 customers across Colorado and Wyoming. The pilot template — 200 dedicated boxes, ID-stamped, swapped on a regular cycle — has become our default for large accounts. If you want to talk to us about running one for your operation, the form on this page is the place to start.