Storage Containers

A storage container is a shipping container that has stopped travelling and started earning its keep sitting still. The requirements change once a unit goes static: you care less about freight certification and more about dry air, a secure lock, and a base that will not shift under it. This category collects units suited to on-site storage, and the guidance below applies whichever size you end up buying.

What Makes a Good Storage Container

Four things do most of the work.

• A sound roof and seals. The roof takes standing water and the door gaskets take driving rain. Both should be intact.
• A straight door frame. A racked frame means doors that fight you every time, and a seal that never fully closes.
• A solid floor. Soft patches around old repairs are worth spotting before you load pallets onto them.
• Security hardware. A lockbox is the single most useful addition, and many storage units come with one fitted.

Lockboxes and Site Security

A lockbox is a steel shroud welded over the right-hand door lock, leaving a padlock enclosed and out of reach of bolt cutters. Combine it with a good disc or puck padlock rather than a shackle lock. Orientation helps too: park the doors facing a wall, a fence or a building so there is no working room in front of them.

Ventilation and Condensation

Steel boxes sweat. Warm damp air meets a cold roof overnight, condenses, and drips onto whatever is underneath. This surprises people who assumed a leak. The fixes are unglamorous and effective: keep the factory vents clear, add vents if the unit is packed tight, leave air gaps around stacked contents, insulate or line the interior for anything sensitive, and use desiccant for tools, paper or electronics. A lined interior with heating and lighting fitted, as some of our used units have, handles this better than a bare box.

Wind and Watertight or Cargo Worthy?

For a container that will never move again, wind and watertight is usually the right grade. It means the unit keeps weather out — sound roof, walls and seals — while carrying the dents, surface rust and mismatched paint of a working life. Cargo worthy is a stricter structural standard with a CSC plate, needed if the container will be shipped as freight again or stacked. Paying for cargo worthy on a unit that will sit on a pad for twenty years is money spent on paperwork you will not use. Refurbished units sit between the two on appearance, which matters if the container will be visible from a road or a customer parking lot.

Site Prep for a Static Container

Delivery is by tilt-bed trailer, which slides the container off the back, so the driver needs a straight approach and room to reverse.

1. Choose firm, level ground that drains. Standing water rusts the rails from underneath.
2. Set blocks or railroad ties under the four corner castings so the frame carries the load, not the floor.
3. Allow a slight pitch away from the door end so rain runs off rather than in.
4. Keep the approach clear of low branches, soft ground and overhead lines.

Where to Find More Storage Stock

Most storage-suitable units live in the size categories. 20ft containers are the default choice for a yard or driveway. 40ft containers give the most space per delivery. 10ft containers suit tight lots. Shipping is a flat $500 per order across the Lower 48, and every unit is inspected before dispatch. The buyers guide covers condition grades in more detail.