20ft shipping container delivery diagram
45FT Shipping Container Delivery Diagram

Delivery Guidelines


Our Delivery Guidelines are designed to ensure a smooth, hassle free delivery of your storage container. Please take a few minutes to read through them. If you have any questions feel free to contact us.

The Drop Site:

Both the delivery site where your container will be dropped and the ground where the truck will park while unloading need to be level ground, or at most a mild incline of not more than five degrees. If the truck or trailer need to pass over any terrain that is sloping while unloading your container, damage to the equipment could result, so the driver may refuse to unload your container.

Suitable Road Surfaces:

Paved road surfaces such as concrete and asphalt are best for the delivery of shipping containers. If you live in a rural area we can deliver a container to you, but as a minimum standard, the delivery site must be on a maintained two lane county road. Unsuitable road surfaces include loose dirt, sand, flooded and muddy areas, sandy, grass areas with soft soil, ice and snow, steep inclines or declines, sloping surfaces, drains, ditches and trenches. Additionally you should walk around the delivery site and remove rocks, tree stumps and other debris that could damage our equipment. It’s important to remember that most delivery trucks not Four Wheel Drive, so they can easily lose traction and get stuck when moved off sealed roads.

Weight Distribution:

When placing the container onto the ground the weight of the container needs to be distributed equally onto the four steel corner castings. If not, a slight twist in the container may result, making the doors difficult to open and close. Alternatively you can place pavers, hard blocks of wood or railroad ties under the container, remembering to check that the surface is level.

How to level a shipping container: CLICK HERE

Height and Width Restrictions:

Generally, a minimum height and width of 14 feet is required. When the container is unloaded the driver will raise up the container to slide the container off of the trailer. The highest point of the container is approximately 20 feet. Beware that low hanging tree branches, gates, arches, eaves and other obstacles can damage the tractor or trailer, so you need to ensure there is sufficient clearance to avoid the driver hitting them. Limited visibility may also be a safety hazard for the delivery driver so on the day of the delivery ideally you should have two people on site to act as spotters of low hanging objects.

Length Restrictions:

For a 20ft container delivery our trucks need a minimum of 60ft in straight line. For a 40ft container delivery our trucks need a minimum of 100ft in straight line.

*Trucks cannot make make a turn while unloading your container*

Door Orientation:

Finally, please let us know if you want your container loaded with Doors to the Cab of the truck, or Doors to the Back. 

53ft shipping container delivery diagram

NEED MORE INFORMATION? CALL OUR SALES TEAM NOW ON (661) 412-2227