Updated
Buying a container is not complicated, but the decisions have to be made in the right order. Buyers who start with "which container" and finish with "can the lorry get in" are the ones who end up paying for a failed delivery or a unit that will not fit.
Start with the site. Everything else follows from it.
1. Establish what the site can take
Before anything else, work out whether a delivery vehicle can reach the standing position and get the container off. As a planning guide, a 20ft tilt-bed delivery wants roughly 25 m of straight, firm approach and about 4 m of width; a 40ft wants roughly 30 m. Height clearance of about 4.5 m is needed along the whole route.
If that is not available, the answer is a crane truck, a smaller container, or collection from the depot. It is not "try it and see" — a failed delivery is charged.
2. Choose the size
Volume, payload and access pull in different directions. 20ft vs 40ft sets out the trade-off; the short version is that dense cargo wants 20ft, bulky cargo wants 40ft, and difficult access wants 20ft regardless.
3. Choose the condition
Ask one question: will the container ever be carried on a ship as freight? If yes, cargo worthy with a valid CSC plate. If no, wind and watertight. If appearance matters, refurbished to a nominated colour. See container conditions.
4. Decide what "delivered" means
- Ex depot — you collect. Cheapest if you have suitable transport.
- Delivered to address — the normal case in Europe; priced on vehicle type and access.
- Delivered to port — for export; requires a booking to already exist.
- CFR / CIF to a destination port — overseas supply on Incoterms, with destination-side costs on the buyer.
5. Send an RFQ that can actually be priced
The difference between a quotation and an estimate is the information in the enquiry. Type, size, condition, quantity, delivery postcode or destination port, and a sentence about access is enough to produce a real number.
"How much is a container?" cannot be answered, because the transport leg is frequently a significant share of the total and depends entirely on where it is going.
6. Confirm before you pay
- The specific unit or grade allocated, and whether a CSC plate is included and current
- What the price includes: unit, transport, unloading method, taxes, and what it excludes
- The delivery method and who is responsible for the standing position being ready
- Access assumptions in writing, so a failed delivery is not an argument afterwards
- For overseas supply, the Incoterm and which costs sit at the destination