Shipping Containers Blog

There have been quite a few people recently who have been interested in hiring shipping containers for storage for the very first time. This has been for a variety of reasons, downsizing, house renovation, or just to gain extra storage whilst seeing whether a new home business is a viable option. What none of them has realised is how hiring a container actually works.

Firstly, it is much cheaper to hire a standard 20ft or 40ft container than any other size such as a 10ft or 30ft. This is because 20ft and 40ft shipping containers are the industry standard and the other sizes are cut down from them - and it is the labour involved in doing this that makes it more expensive.

Secondly, the way that hire works it that you are charged haulage both for delivery and collection on the first invoice. The payment for the collection of the container acting as a guarantee that the regular hire charge will be paid. Obviously at the time of off hire no further haulage cost would be due. The first invoice also contains a charge for the initial hire of the container - usually to the end of the calendar month. From then on subsequent invoices are purely for the next calendar month in advance.

When the time comes that the shipping container is no longer required a weeks notice to allow for time to book in the collection with the haulier is normally required. If the customer decides to buy the container the collection charge is normally deducted off the sale price.

Shipping container hire rates are normally variable depending on how long the hire period is. The monthly rate for a year’s hire is going to be less than for the minimum 28 day hire.