20-Foot Shipping Container

Questions, answered on the page

Everything below is already argued at length somewhere above, or on a guide this page links to. It is repeated here in the shortest honest form, in the order buyers actually ask it, so that nobody has to read the whole page to get an answer.

Q1Is delivery included in the price?

Within 250 miles of Cincinnati, yes. We quote all-in on purpose: the container, delivery to your ZIP, and placement on flat ground, in one number, rather than a container price with a freight line arriving later. The figure at the top of this page is a delivered average across the home metros, not a bare unit price with delivery still to come. Past that home region we deliver from regional depot hubs, and the delivery cost depends on the distance from the depot your container ships from, so that one has to be quoted for your address.

Q2How long does delivery actually take?

Almost all deliveries take about two weeks, and we will give you an honest window before you commit. Depot inventory is stacked and sequenced rather than staged for a quick pull, and drivers book out several weeks ahead, so exact timing depends on current availability and where you are. Scheduling depends on independent drivers and can shift; that is true of container delivery generally, and Steel Box Direct does not control it.

Q3Will the driver put it exactly where I want it?

Where it lands is decided before delivery is scheduled, not on delivery day. A tilt-bed does not lower the container down: it raises the front of the bed and the box slides off the back while the truck creeps forward, so the container lands in a straight line along the truck's path. Placement is directional, and if you want the doors facing the house, that has to be planned before the truck backs in.

So send photos of the route and the placement spot with your quote request, mark the exact spot with stakes, paint or cones at the four corners, and have somebody on site who can point at it and make a decision. Where a site cannot give the truck what it needs, a crane-set delivery places the container instead: that exists precisely for sharp turns, fencelines and soft ground.

It is worth knowing what happens if the site will not take it, because it costs money. Under our terms, if delivery cannot be made due to space limitations or an unsuitable environment, for example wet ground, snow, mud, no clear path, graded hills or low bridges, it is the customer's responsibility to cover the transport fee, the return delivery fee, and any third-party costs such as wrecker or tow charges. If there is not adequate space, we confer with you to either call the attempt a failed delivery or agree an alternate suitable location. An hour spent looking at your access now is the cheapest hour in the whole transaction.

Q4What does Wind and Water Tight mean, and what wear should I expect?

Wind & Water Tight (used): no holes, doors that seal, and storage-ready, with honest cosmetic wear from prior service. It is the one grade we stock, in all three sizes, sealed against rain, wind, snow and pests, and sold as-is for storage and on-site use. It spent years at sea and it looks like it. Expect surface rust, patched paint, dents in the corrugation and a previous owner's markings, over weathering (Cor-Ten) steel built to last decades. What you should not expect is daylight through the roof, a floor that gives, or door seals that have gone.

Q5What happens if it leaks?

There is a limited Lifetime Leak Warranty, and the remedy is the part worth knowing before you buy rather than after. If you discover a leak, we send you an industry-approved equipment patch along with installation instructions, and the patch is installed by you.

It is a durable fiberglass-reinforced polyester fabric that bonds to the metal surface, flexible and easy to apply, and it becomes solid when fully cured: roughly five to ten minutes under a UV lamp or direct sunlight, one to two hours in other conditions. Once cured it can be drilled, sanded or painted. That is the entire remedy, and we state it here rather than in fine print, because the remedy is where every warranty argument in this business ends up. Read the terms

Q6What do I need to set it on?

Level ground that drains, and no slab to pour. A container carries its load at its four corner castings, and when one corner sits low the frame twists slightly; that twist shows up at the door end, because the door opening is the one side of the box with no wall across it, and the result is doors that bind or will not latch fully. Level side to side matters most for door operation, and keeping the container up out of standing water lets the underside dry between rains. Gravel is the most reliable surface because it drains and spreads load. Packed dirt is dependable when dry and much less so when wet. Grass is the one that fools people: turf is a thin mat over topsoil, and topsoil holds water, so a lawn that felt solid underfoot in the morning can rut badly under loaded tires by the afternoon. If you want the container set on blocking, say so in your quote request: blocking changes how the box comes off the truck, and it has to be planned before the driver is on your property rather than decided in your driveway.

Q7Will a truck fit down my driveway?

A loaded container delivery rig is roughly a sixty-five foot truck combination. For a tilt-bed delivery it needs at least 100 feet of straight approach, 12 feet of width clearance at the narrowest point of the route, and 14 feet of overhead clearance for branches and wires. The ground along the route and at the drop point has to support a 30,000 lb truck. When a site cannot provide that, a crane-set delivery places the container instead.

Measure the narrowest point of your route rather than the average: gate posts, a mailbox, a parked truck, the corner of the garage. And look up at the drop spot as well as at the lane, because when the bed tilts the raised end reaches higher than the truck stood driving in. See the clearance figures in section 03.