Shiping Container

[daddy2]

I'm looking to get a deal on a 40 foot shipping container. I'm going to cut it in half and use one half for storage and the other half I plan on using to fabricate a camper on the back of my m36. I will need it deliverd to my property in Easton, PA using a roleback. I plan on starting the fabrication in May. Any leads on a used shipping container company would be appreciated.

 

[123mack]

Containers make nice storage, but they are heavy. Your truck will be much happier with something like a S-280 commo shelter. Here are some empty weights: 40 foot contianer 7780 lbs
20 foot container 4850 lbs
S-280 shelter 1400 lbs

 

[Recovry4x4]

Those container weights look light. I just looked at 3 20' containers here at the port and they had an average tare weight of 6600#.

 

[3dAngus]

S-280's are expensive right now. Not sure what the 40' containers go for, but if you need two of them for your needs, I'm sure the used 40' container would be less. I could look up some in this area as they are becoming more plentiful, but you don't want to pay the shipping from this distance. You are better off buying local.

You can start getting quotes by googling, "shipping containers for sale pennsylvania"

It will give you a good ballpark number for when you find a good deal.

 

[jasonjc]

Last time I looked at containers they were $2500-$3500.

 

[Preacherboy]

Last time I looked at containers they were $2500-$3500.

I bet you could find an S-280 in that price range, or even an aluminum body for a box truck. Actually, I've seen whole trucks go for under $2,000...get the box and scrap the chassis.

 

[3dAngus]

He would need two S-280s to do what he wants to do.

 

[ETBaals]

Hi
If you look at craigslist or ebay there are some for sale in north NJ for about $2000 delivered last time i looked.

Ernie

 

[comdiver]

I wonder if you could find the right size truck box. I have seen them for $500-$1000. The kind that are on a box truck. Check this out, http://unicell.com/pdfs/Dry%20Freight.pdf

 

[gunboy1656]

Another thing to consider (if you have not already). The container is going to be as wide as the bed on your trucks now, so in order for it to fit you will have to cut the sides of the container which will reduce the strength of it.

 

[Bighurt]

Another thing to consider (if you have not already). The container is going to be as wide as the bed on your trucks now, so in order for it to fit you will have to cut the sides of the container which will reduce the strength of it.

Or just remove the bed...

 

[daddy2]

I though about an alum. box but I seen my neibor hit a tree branch with his camp trailor and tear a hole in the side. I decided the steel walls would hold up much better. I checked the weight specs with a dealer. The 40 have a empty weight of 8000 The 20 are 4400. The reason for the heavy weights are due to the four corners. I plan on cutting the two corners off the piece that is going on the deuce. Graphs list is. Good idea. Didn't think of looking there. I'm estimating the fab. Weight of the box to be around 1400lbs. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[gunboy1656]

Or just remove the bed...

That's to simple. You should know by now most people on here don't do things the easy way.

I had seen a 5 ton on GL a few months ago that had a box on the back with a roll up door and side doors. Actually looked pretty good.

Good found the pic....

 

[stampy]

or just get a 109

 

[oldMan99]

I though about an alum. box but I seen my neibor hit a tree branch with his camp trailor and tear a hole in the side. I decided the steel walls would hold up much better. I checked the weight specs with a dealer. The 40 have a empty weight of 8000 The 20 are 4400. The reason for the heavy weights are due to the four corners. I plan on cutting the two corners off the piece that is going on the deuce. Graphs list is. Good idea. Didn't think of looking there. I'm estimating the fab. Weight of the box to be around 1400lbs. Thanks for the ideas.

I don't mean to rain on your parade but....

Whoever told you a 40' steel shipping container weighs 8,000 lbs was just a little bit off. There are dozens of websites that list the specifications of ISO shipping containers. Here is just one of them: Steel Storage Containers for Sale Direct from the Container Depot at Port Newark

You will see that the 40' container is listed at 8,223 lbs.

When you cut it in half that still leaves 4,111.50 lbs and then you need to ADD weight to create a new end. I'm not sure how you figured that you would end up with less than 1/2 the weight but 1/2 a box (20') with a new end is by simple physics going to weight more than 1/2 the weight of the box when it was a 40 ' with closed ends.

Just for comparison, it has been determined by several members here on SS that the empty M109 box weighs about 4,000 to 4,500 pounds, (2 to 2.25 tons).

That same website I linked above also sells containers nationwide. You can contact them and see if they have any units in your area. You can also look in the "Equipment trader online". Her is a link, I searched for "Container" http://www.equipmenttraderonline.co...facturer:ASC/RentalsOnly-false/Auctions-true/

You can figure about $2.00 to $5.00 per mile from the point of origin to your location plus usually $150 to $500 (depending on the company) for a delivery charge of a 40' container.

There is a container rental/sale place just a few miles down the street from me. They have containers in condition from beat to almost scrap to what is called a "One trip unit". It seems that steel and labor are both so much less expensive overseas that what they do is make the containers "over there", rent them to a shipping company to use one time in exchange for free shipping to get the containers here. Once the load is taken out of the box they are then sold as "One trip units".

From the guys just down the street, a 40' one trip is $4,800. The price goes down to about $1,500 for one that is just this side of junk.

Also, keep in mind your overall height on the truck. ISO containers come in 3 basic heights. 8' (Rare, hard to find), 8'6" (The most common) and 9'6" (Almost as common as the standard 8'6". In some places it is in fact more common).

In order to stay legal (In most states/jurisdictions) your going to have to stay under 13'6" total from the ground to the tallest part of the vehicle. Even at 13'6" you will still have to CAREFULLY watch bridges, overhangs, wires and so forth, especially once you get off the interstate and are on surface roads.

To save weight you might consider using an aluminum shipping container as your donor for this project. The problem is that (As I have been told by several distributors of these containers) that aluminum containers have not been built for 10-15 years and the vast majority of them were sold long ago for scrap since the scrap value was higher than the value as a container. This means that aluminum containers are few and far between and if your lucky enough to find one in good shape it is likely to cost you an arm and a leg. And don't forget the delivery charge to get it to you from wherever it happens to be sitting...

Hope this helps some....

 

[wreckerman893]

Let me add this to the above....an uninsulated shipping container will be an oven in the summer and a freezer in the winter. Condensation will form on the inside and rain on everything you have in there. Been there...done that.

 

[Bighurt]

To add further to the above. We have places in town that have used reefer's containers and dry cargo containers that were on chassis at one point.

Those will be far lighter then the standard inter modal container, and not so oven like, if you find an insulated one.

 

[ETBaals]

I have has a 40 footer for about 5 years now in wouther NJ.
It has a vent in one end, ans i have it sitting up on blocks and i drill a couple of small holes in the floor for circulation.
summers here are 100 plus high humidity, winters 10 to 20 at coldest.
No condensation, or rain inside agreed that is is hot and cold depending on weather, it is very dry.
Here is a link for a good price on clean containers
$1799. (USED) 40ft STANDARD& HC (High Cube) Shipping Container 4 SALE--WWT

 

[oldMan99]

Something I forgot to mention about the containers;

Any dent in the roof/top/ceiling whatever you wish to call it will collect and hold rain water. It is very common for these boxes to get dented in this area. Also, due to the design of the roof material (It is bent or corrugated just like the side walls) the lower sections naturally want to hold water.

The pooling water will cause rust. While these boxes are pretty tough rust through in spots due to water pooling can happen in as little as 5 years.

If you plan to use one for long term storage or on the back of a truck for a cargo box or RV you might want to seriously consider methods to combat this. When I was considering using one for my RV project I had planned on 3 full coats of the do-it-yourself pick-up truck bed liner applied over the entire roof and down the sides for 2" to create a solid near impenetrable cap on the roof.

I had actually decided to switch from the normal steel box to a 20' insulated container. It has smooth sides and looks a lot like a S280. The 2 main problems are the weight of the empty box is about 5,600 lbs (No problem really for the M920 I was going to put it on but to much for a deuce). The other problem is I was unable to find one with a DOA or completely missing refrigeration unit. (The weight quoted does not include the refer unit). The refer unit actually makes up the "Back" wall of the box and bolts in with probably 30 or 40 large bolts. I was going to remove the refer and build a new wall with a door and insulate it (wall and door) then weld up the "normal" door on the "normal entry end" and install the box on the truck with the old door facing forward.

The inside of the box is stainless steel, the outside as noted looks a lot like the S280. A side door and windows would be easy to add. The box is VERY heavy duty and would easily withstand bashing by branches and so forth with no problem. However, the big problem is the height of the box on the M920 frame would be very tall leaving very little room for the required vents and other items that need to penetrate and extend above the roof in an RV application. The height is of course still a concern for the Deuce and should be carefully evaluated prior to spending money.

Of course the cost with the refer unit was also prohibitive at $18,000 to $25,000. That does however include not only the refer but something like a 10kw diesel generator but that hardly makes up for the exorbitant price, and the refer is not suitable for use as an air conditioning unit unless your idea of comfortable is in the range of -10.

Check the commercial truck trader. There you will find both non-insulated and insulated boxes removed from commercial delivery trucks ranging in length from about 10' to about 26' with prices usually ranging from $500 to about $2,500 (Or way more if you want close to new condition) depending on condition and length. Sometimes they even have a lift gate which may or may not be a bonus for your application.

The insulated boxes are generally built much sturdier than the non-insulated boxes and if your going to use it as an RV, so much the better.

Search for new and used trucks - CommercialTruckTrader.com A search for "Bodies" will get you way more results than you want but it will get all of the ones available. If you apply a filter on their site it eliminates many candidates that you might actually want to consider. One thing to note on that site is if you sort by "price-lowest to highest" they break it into "Premium listings" and "Standard listings" The premium listings are shown first and they get expensive quick but the prices start over very low as soon as you get to the standard listings. The only difference between them is the premium listings cost more to get first showing on the site.

Again, I hope this helps...

 

[rchalmers3]

Oldman99 you have been most helpful, thanks.

rick