New IBC totes delivered in South Carolina
Vehicles drive South Carolina's demand for totes. Vehicle assembly employed 15,531 people in 2025, 3.7 times the national share, and parts makers another 21,585, with Spartanburg County (6,496) among the top parts counties in the US (BLS QCEW 2025; BLS QCEW 2025). Paint shops, coolant systems and parts washers use coatings, fluids and cleaners delivered in totes.
Chemical manufacturing (22,678 jobs), plastics (13,499) and pharmaceuticals (6,517) add rated-tote buyers, and food manufacturing employed 17,789. At the coast, SC Ports' Wando Welch Terminal has 15 ship-to-shore cranes and room for 2.4 million TEUs a year, including 1,274 refrigerated container slots (SC Ports). The Charleston metro had 2,486 chemical jobs.
Delivery to South Carolina
I-85 runs through the Upstate past Greenville and Spartanburg, where the auto plants are, and I-26 runs from there through Columbia to Charleston. Warehousing jobs are led by Lexington County (5,481) near Columbia, York (3,009) on the Charlotte side and Greenville (2,870). Plant deliveries often need a booked slot at a receiving dock.
What South Carolina buyers usually ask for
Upstate auto plants usually spec the fitting and sometimes the tote's height, because totes feed paint and coolant systems on the line. Send the drawing if there is one. Charleston-area chemical shippers should give the UN code and the packing group letter. Solvent-borne paint goes in steel, not a composite tote.
- UN-rated chemical totesFor auto-plant fluids, cleaners and chemical makers’ regulated products.UN code: 31HA1/Y · Packing groups: II and III · Specific gravity: 1.6 or 1.9 · Retest: every 2.5 years
- Carbon steel and metal IBCsFor solvent-borne paints and flammable cleaners.Build: Carbon steel shell · UN code: 31A · Approval: often UL 142 · For: Class I flammables
- Food-grade new IBC totesFor food plants and pharmaceutical buyers wanting first-use bottles.Bottle resin: 21 CFR 177.1520 · Prior contents: None · Gaskets: EPDM or Viton · Sizes: 275, 330 gal
Not sure which tote? Start from the product. A regulated liquid needs a UN-rated tote marked for its specific gravity.
Anything people eat or drink needs a food-contact bottle; a Class I flammable needs a steel IBC.
Quote totes delivered in South Carolina
Give the delivery ZIP in South Carolina, the product you will fill, how many totes and how often, and whether the site has a dock or needs a liftgate. If your plant books receiving slots, name the window and any site rules for drivers.