Container delivery,
Australia-wide.

Container Delivery — the detail that matters is below, written for this business rather than for the industry in general.

Delivery is the part of buying a container that goes wrong most often, and it is almost never about distance. It is about access: whether the truck can reach the drop point, turn around, and set the unit down on ground that will hold it.

We deliver across Australia from a Queensland yard. The quote is built from two things — your postcode, and a description of how the truck gets in. Get the second part wrong and the first part does not matter.

Container Delivery: the short version

What follows covers container delivery: what is included, what is quoted separately, what we do not claim, and what to send us to get a firm number. It is written to be read before you commit rather than after.

Container Delivery: site access: what the truck needs

A truck carrying a container needs width, height, turning room and a firm surface. As a rule of thumb, allow a clear approach of at least three metres, overhead clearance above four metres, and ground that will not sink under a loaded vehicle. Gates, carports, low power lines and overhanging trees are the four things that most often stop a delivery.

If the drop point cannot be reached, the options are a crane lift over the obstruction or a smaller unit. Both are quotable in advance and neither is quotable at the gate. Send photographs, and the quote will reflect what the driver will actually find.

Tilt-tray, side-loader or crane

A tilt-tray tips the tray and slides the unit off, which works where there is room in front of the drop point. A side-loader picks the unit up and sets it down beside the truck, which works where there is width but not length. A crane lifts over fences, walls and obstructions, and is the answer when the unit has to go where no truck can drive.

The equipment determines the price as much as the distance does. Choosing it before the truck is dispatched is the difference between a delivery and a failed trip.

What container grades actually mean

Container grades describe fitness for use, not appearance. Cargo-worthy means the unit would still be accepted for freight: structurally sound, watertight, no holes through the panels. Wind and watertight means it keeps weather out, without any claim about freight certification. As-is means the faults are disclosed but not rectified.

Cosmetic marks — scuffs, faded paint, old decals, small dents that do not affect the frame — are consistent with any working grade and are not defects. A hole through the panel, a soft floor, a seized lock or a bent frame would be. The distinction matters because buyers sometimes reject a perfectly sound unit over paint, and sometimes accept a structurally compromised one because it looks tidy.

What this site does not claim

There are things a container listing is often expected to state that this site deliberately does not. We do not publish a warranty period, because the honest term depends on the unit, the use and the site. We do not publish stock quantities, because they change daily and a stale number is worse than no number. We do not publish delivery prices, because delivery is a function of distance and access and a published price would be wrong for most buyers.

What we do instead is answer those questions specifically when asked, against the unit and the postcode in front of us. A quoted answer is worth more than a published average, and it cannot mislead someone whose situation differs from the average.

Where we deliver

Delivery runs across Australia from a Queensland yard. Queensland, northern New South Wales and the Northern Territory are the shortest runs; Western Australia, Tasmania and remote sites are longer and priced accordingly. Distance is only half the calculation — the other half is access, which is why the delivery quote asks about the site as well as the postcode.

For remote and regional deliveries, the constraint is usually the last hundred metres rather than the thousand kilometres. A grader can reach a mine camp; a tilt-tray may not reach a backyard behind a carport.

How to get a price

Send the product name and your postcode. Add a photograph or description of the approach and the drop point if the site is anything other than open, level and clear. That is enough to come back with a delivered price rather than a unit price plus an unknown.

If the layout needs changing, describe the change at the same time so the modification and the delivery can be quoted together. Two quotes for one job are slower and usually worse than one quote for the whole job.

Questions about this page

How is container delivery quoted?

From distance, equipment and access. Distance is the easy part; equipment depends on whether the unit is tipped, side-loaded or craned, and access decides whether the truck can get close enough.

Does container delivery cover every state?

Yes. Container delivery runs Australia-wide from the Queensland yard, priced on distance and access. Interstate work is arranged rather than routine, so asking early gets a better answer.

What is a tilt-tray container delivery?

The truck tips the bed and the unit slides off the back. It needs a straight run, a firm surface and enough length to lay the bed down, which many suburban sites cannot provide.

What is a side-loader container delivery?

The truck lifts the unit off its own side and sets it down alongside. It needs clear space along one flank, and it is usually the answer where there is no room to reverse and tip.

When is a crane needed for container delivery?

Where the set-down point cannot be reached by either truck, or where the unit has to pass over a fence, wall or building. A crane needs a reachable position and firm ground for its outriggers.

What ground does container delivery need?

Firm, level and able to take the weight of the truck and its load, not just the container. Soft ground that supports a car will not support a loaded tilt-tray.

How long does container delivery take?

A stock unit can often move quickly. A unit that has to be modified first cannot move until the work is finished, and that timeline is quoted with the price rather than assumed.

Can container delivery place the unit exactly where I want it?

The unit is set down at the agreed point. Moving it after set-down is a separate job with separate equipment, so the set-down point is agreed in advance rather than chosen by the driver.

Does container delivery include unloading?

Unloading is the delivery: the unit is set down by the truck or the crane. Carrying it further onto a site needs equipment that is not on a delivery vehicle.

What if the weather stops container delivery?

A wet or soft site can stop a tilt-tray or crane job on the morning it is due. Where that happens the delivery is rebooked rather than forced, because a truck bogged on a site is worse than a day’s delay.

Is container delivery insured?

The transport we arrange is our responsibility until set-down, and damage caused in transit is dealt with under that. Insurance of the unit after set-down belongs to the buyer.

What information does container delivery need from me?

The product, the postcode, and a description or photograph of the approach and the drop point. That is enough to come back with a delivered price rather than a unit price plus an unknown.

What does container delivery cost?

Container delivery is priced on distance, equipment and access. A short run on a tilt-tray and a craned set-down over a fence are different jobs at different prices.

Is container delivery available to regional areas?

Yes. Container delivery covers regional and remote sites, and the freight is quoted against the actual postcode rather than a zone table.

How much notice does container delivery need?

As much as possible, particularly for craned work where the equipment has to be booked. Container delivery for a stock unit can sometimes be quick, but quick is not guaranteed.

Can container delivery happen on a weekend?

Ask. Weekend container delivery depends on the operator and the site, and a craned set-down is harder to arrange at short notice than a tilt-tray.

Does container delivery need a council permit?

Sometimes, where the truck has to stand on a road or the set-down affects a footpath. Container delivery into a property usually does not, and the access decides.

What happens if the truck cannot reach the site?

Container delivery sets down at the nearest workable point and the reason is explained. A second attempt where the site was not as described is charged; where we had the wrong equipment, it is not.

Can container delivery be combined for several units?

Yes. Container delivery for several units in one trip is usually cheaper than several separate trips, so it is worth ordering together.

Who is responsible during container delivery?

The transport is ours until the unit is set down. Container delivery damage found on arrival is noted on the paperwork and handled from there.

Does container delivery include levelling?

The unit is set down level where the ground allows. Container delivery cannot correct a surface that falls away, which is why firm, level ground is part of the quote.

Can I track container delivery?

The day is confirmed in advance and again on the morning where the site is difficult. Container delivery is scheduled rather than tracked in real time, and the driver calls if the plan changes.

What condition means on a container

Grades exist because buyers need a shorthand, and the shorthand is only useful if it is applied honestly. A container is offered as cargo-worthy, wind and watertight, or as-is. Behind that label sit four separate checks: does it keep water out, does it keep weight in, does anything mechanical still work, and does it look the way the price implies.

The practical consequence is that two containers offered at the same grade can still differ in how long they will last before they need work. A unit that has sat empty in a yard ages differently from one that has been loaded and unloaded weekly. We describe the unit in front of us rather than the category it belongs to — which is the only description worth having when you are buying at a distance.

How a container is inspected before dispatch

The inspection list for a container is short and unglamorous, and that is the point. It covers doors swung open and shut, door seals run by hand, floor sounded for soft spots, corner castings inspected, frame and roof photographed as found. None of it requires special equipment; all of it requires someone to actually do it rather than assume.

The reason to spell this out is that buying a container remotely is otherwise a leap of faith. You are trusting a photograph and a sentence. The inspection is what turns those into something you can act on: specific findings, recorded at a specific time, on the unit with your name on it. Anything found is disclosed before dispatch, not after payment.

Delivery and site access

Delivery is quoted against your postcode and what the truck can physically reach. That second part catches people out more often than the first. A container this size arrives on a tilt-tray truck or a side-loader, and the driver needs a clear approach, room to set down, and ground that will take the load. Overhead branches, power lines, a steep driveway, a soft verge after rain, a gate narrower than the load — any one of these can turn a straightforward drop into a failed trip.

So the question we ask before quoting is not only where you are but how the truck gets in. Send a photograph of the approach and the drop point and the quote will reflect reality. If the truck cannot reach, the answer is a crane lift or a smaller unit, and it is better to know that before the truck is loaded than when it is idling at your gate.

Delivery is available across Australia; the yard it leaves from is in Queensland.

What modification is possible on a container

Modification is quoted separately once the layout is known, because the honest answer to “how much” is that it depends on what you are trying to achieve. A door in a flat panel is a different job from a door in corrugation. Windows in a lined space are a different job from windows in a bare shell. Power is a different job again depending on whether it needs to be certified for the use you have in mind.

The work is done in our own workshop rather than subcontracted, which is why the quote can be specific. Come with a sketch, a purpose and a constraint — budget, timeline, or the fact that it has to pass an inspection — and the scope can be priced against that. Common changes for a container of this kind are site storage, secure tool lock-up and shipping and export.

Hire as well as purchase

Hire is available on a container for short and long terms, and the same inspection standard applies to a hired unit as to a sold one. That is not a marketing line: a hired container that fails on site costs the hirer a day of labour and costs us the relationship, so the incentive to check it is identical.

Hire suits a project with a known end date, a trial before committing to a purchase, or a peak that does not justify owning a unit outright. Terms are quoted against duration and delivery distance. If you are weighing hire against purchase, the useful comparison is not the monthly rate — it is the monthly rate plus delivery, collected twice, against the purchase price less whatever the unit is still worth at the end.

Buying a container instead of the alternatives

The alternative to a container is usually a site shed or a lock-up garage. That option wins on one axis and loses on others, and which axis matters depends on your site. Purpose-built structures are easier to finance and easier to insure as fixed property; a container is faster to place, easier to relocate and usually cheaper per square metre of covered space.

The question worth asking is how long you need it, and what happens at the end. If the answer is “two years then we move”, a container that can be picked up and taken with you is worth more than a cheaper structure that cannot. If the answer is “twenty years and it never moves”, the calculus changes, and it is worth saying so before you buy.

What buyers usually ask

Is the price negotiable? The price shown is the unit price. Delivery, modification and hire are separate. Ask about multiple units in one delivery — that is where there is usually room, because the saving is in the trip.

Can I inspect it first? Yes. The yard is in Queensland and inspections are welcome by arrangement. Bring a torch and a tape measure; the two things buyers most often wish they had brought are light and a way to check that the dimensions suit what they intend to put inside.

How do I pay? Bank transfer or PayID. The order number goes on the transfer reference so the payment can be matched without an email chain. Card payment is not offered because the surcharge would have to be added to the price.

What if it is not what I expected? Say so before it is modified or dispatched. Once a unit has been cut, painted or delivered, the scope of what can be undone shrinks quickly — which is why the inspection photographs exist and why we send them.

Do you deliver to my area? Delivery is Australia-wide. The quote depends on distance and access, and both are things you can influence by describing your site accurately.

What to check when it arrives

Check the unit against the photographs before the truck leaves. That sounds obvious and is routinely skipped, because the driver is in a hurry and everyone wants the job done. Ten minutes spent walking the container with the listing open on your phone is the cheapest insurance in the transaction.

Look at the four things that are expensive to fix: the floor, the door and its seals, the frame at the corners, and the roof. Everything else is cosmetic. If something does not match, note it on the delivery paperwork and photograph it before signing. A note made at delivery is a conversation about a fix; a note made a week later is a conversation about who is responsible.

Then leave it alone for a wet week before you load it, if you can. Water finds the weak point on its own schedule, and a dry week hides more than a wet one reveals.

Cost of ownership beyond the purchase price

The purchase price is the smallest part of what a container costs over its life, and the parts that follow are worth planning for. There is delivery in, and — if it ever moves — delivery out. There is the surface it sits on, which determines whether it stays level and whether the doors keep operating. There is whatever it takes to keep water out as the seals age. And there is the cost of the space it occupies, which in a city yard is not nothing.

Against that, a container depreciates far more slowly than a fitted-out building and can usually be sold into a live market rather than written off. The resale value is the reason used units hold their price, and it is the reason buying a sound used unit rather than the cheapest available one tends to work out better over five years.

Looking after a container

Most of what shortens the working life of a container is avoidable, and the avoidable parts are the same on every site. Standing water on the roof. A base that settles unevenly under one corner. Seals that were never looked at because the doors still shut. Fixings that were cut in and never sealed. None of these are dramatic failures; they are slow ones, and they compound.

A sensible routine is seasonal rather than constant. Before the wet season, clear the roof and check the door seals. Once a quarter, operate every moving part and look at the corners and the floor for anything new. Once a year, walk the whole thing with a torch and a camera, and compare the photographs to last year’s. That comparison is what catches a problem while it is still a touch-up rather than a panel replacement.

The terms used on this page

A few terms come up repeatedly when buyers discuss a container, and they are worth defining plainly because they are often used loosely. Cargo-worthy means the unit would still be accepted for freight — structurally sound, watertight, no holes. Wind and watertight means exactly that: it keeps weather out, without any claim about freight certification. As-is means what it says, cosmetic and functional faults disclosed but not rectified.

One-trip, sometimes called single-trip, means the unit has made one loaded voyage and is effectively new in service terms. Grade A describes the best cosmetic condition in a used band, not a structural standard. High cube refers to the extra height — around 9ft 6in against the standard 8ft 6in. Cor-ten and corten steel are the weathering steel most containers are built from. Where a term on this page is not one of these, it is being used in its ordinary sense and not as a rating.

Next step

If a container looks like the right unit, the fastest way to a firm number is to send the product name and your postcode. That gets a delivered price, which is the only price worth comparing against another supplier’s delivered price. If the layout needs changing, describe the change at the same time and both can be quoted together rather than in sequence.

If it is not quite right, say what is wrong with it. Too long, too short, wrong colour, wrong grade, wrong end of the budget — every one of those is a useful description, and it is quicker than starting the search again from the top of the catalogue.

Related pages

• Browse the full container and trailer catalogue
• Container delivery across Australia
• Container hire
• Container modification
• Shipping container questions
• Contact and get a quote

External reference

For freight and heavy vehicle rules that apply to moving a container, see the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator. We do not give regulatory advice, and nothing on that site is specific to this business.

Photographs from the yard