Shipping Container Questions, Answered

Current pricing for every container we sell is published on our containers page, with delivery and sales tax listed separately.

We update those prices every Monday. Container prices genuinely move week to week with supply and demand, steel costs, ocean freight rates and wider global economic conditions, so a figure quoted a month ago is often out of date.

Checking on a Monday gets you the freshest number. Anything you see on the containers page is what we are charging that week, and your written quote locks it in.

One Trip containers have made a single voyage from the factory. Factory paint, clean floors, intact door seals. They are the closest thing to new you can buy, with lashing scuffs at most, and you choose the color.

Cargo Worthy is a certified used grade. The container has been in service for years and passed a survey confirming it is structurally sound and fit to carry cargo internationally. Expect surface rust, dents and patched paint. Expect a sound roof, working door gear and no holes. Color varies and cannot be chosen.

Both are certified grades. The practical difference is appearance and lifespan, not integrity.

A 20 FT container holds roughly the contents of a one bedroom apartment or a full crew’s tools and materials, about 1,170 cubic feet. A 40 FT holds about double that, around 2,690 cubic feet.

For most buyers the deciding factor is not the contents, it is the site. A 40 FT needs about 130 FT of total space to deliver, against 80 FT for a 20 FT container. Plenty of people who wanted a 40 FT end up with two 20 FTs because of the approach.

If you are unsure, tell us what you are storing and where it is going and we will tell you which one actually fits.

A 20 FT container needs 60 FT of clear straight space in front of the placement spot, about 80 FT total including the truck. A 40 FT needs 90 FT in front, about 130 FT total.

Both sizes also need 12 FT of width along the entire path in and 16 FT of overhead clearance. The surface has to be hard packed and level.

These figures come off our own invoices, not an estimate. A tilt bed truck slides the container off the back while pulling forward, and that motion is why the numbers are what they are. If you have a tight turn to get in, add more room.

7 to 10 business days from purchase.

Here is why it is not faster: depots release containers on their own schedule and they operate Monday through Friday only. Nobody in this market can reliably beat that, whatever their website says.

We would rather give you a date we can hold than one that sounds better and slips.

Every container we sell is wind and water tight. Rain stays out and wind stays out, on our Cargo Worthy units and our One Trip units without exception.

What we do not sell is the sales grade the industry labels “WWT.” That label is not a certification. There is no inspection standard behind it, no survey and no authority defining it, so any seller can apply it to any container.

In practice, a container that would not pass a Cargo Worthy survey gets relabelled WWT and sold to somebody who assumes it is a cosmetic downgrade rather than a structural one. We sold exactly one and that was the last.

Not in person. We are not a retail yard, so there is no lot to walk on a Saturday.

Here is what happens instead. Once your order is in, your specific container is inspected and photographed at the depot before it leaves. Those photos come straight to you, of the actual unit going on your property, not a stock image. You get about 15 minutes to approve while the driver is still on site.

If something is not right, we swap it out. It does not leave the yard until it is a container we are comfortable putting our name behind. Most sellers load a truck and you find out what you got when it hits the ground.

Fair question, and you should be asking it. Container fraud is a real and well documented problem, usually run through fake listings with prices well below market and a demand for wire transfer or gift cards.

Protect yourself with four questions any legitimate seller can answer in writing: what grade is it, can I see photos of the actual unit before it ships, can I have the CSC plate details, and can I have a written itemized quote.

Ours are on Google under Matafied Containers, from real customers with real names, every one answered. We are a registered California LLC and our W-9 is downloadable from this site. Anyone who will not answer those questions in writing is telling you something.

It depends entirely on your city. California has over 500 separate building departments and they all read the rules a little differently.

The general pattern: temporary placement tied to an active permitted construction project is often allowed for a limited window without a separate permit. Permanent placement usually requires a zoning or building permit. Many cities also have rules about setbacks and visibility from the street, and HOAs are typically stricter than the city.

Call your local planning department before you buy. We will tell you what we have run into in your area, but they are the ones who decide.

Very secure, which is why job sites use them. Corten steel walls, no windows, and doors that lock from the outside with heavy cam gear.

The weak point is the padlock itself, which can be cut. The fix is a lockbox, a steel shroud welded over the lock area so bolt cutters cannot reach the shackle. It is inexpensive and it is the single best security upgrade you can make.

Tell us what you are storing and we will tell you what to add.

25 years or more on a decent surface, and often far longer. Containers are built from Corten weathering steel, designed to survive decades of salt air at sea.

Two things shorten that life, and both are avoidable: sitting in standing water, and sitting on dirt that stays wet. Set it on gravel, concrete or blocks so air moves underneath and water drains away.

The surface rust you see on older containers is the steel doing its job. Corten forms a protective patina instead of corroding through.

Flat and firm. Gravel, asphalt or concrete is ideal. Compacted dirt works if it drains well.

Most people set containers on railroad ties, concrete blocks or a gravel pad, enough to keep the unit level and let air move underneath. You do not need a poured foundation for storage use.

What you want to avoid is soft or soggy ground. A loaded truck will sink into it on delivery day, and a container sitting in standing water is the one thing that genuinely shortens its life.

A sound container does not leak. Every unit we sell is weathertight when it ships, and the doors seal with replaceable rubber gaskets.

Condensation is a different issue and it is real. It is called container rain: warm humid air meets cold steel overnight and condenses on the ceiling. It is manageable with roof vents, desiccant moisture absorbers, and keeping contents off the floor on pallets.

If you are storing anything moisture sensitive, tell us before you buy and we will tell you what to add.

One foot of height. A standard container is 8′6″ tall on the outside. A High Cube is 9′6″.

That foot matters more than it sounds. It is the difference between standing equipment upright or laying it down, and it changes everything if anyone is going to work inside or frame out an interior.

Every 40 FT container we sell is a High Cube, because the extra height costs very little and uses the same footprint on your lot.

A CSC Safety Approval plate is a steel plate bolted near the doors of every container built for international shipping, required under the Convention for Safe Containers. It records the manufacturer, build date, maximum gross weight, stacking load and the next examination date. It is the container's identity document.

We add a current marine survey for $150 if you need one. A licensed surveyor inspects the unit and certifies it Cargo Worthy, which is what a shipping line, customs broker, lender or insurer will ask for. You can add it when you configure your container or on your quote.

You need one if you are shipping internationally. You do not need one for storage, though some buyers want the paperwork for their own records or to get a purchase approved internally.

Every container we sell carries a CSC plate, and we can photograph it before the unit ships. If a seller cannot show you the plate on the exact container they are selling, ask why.

Yes, and it is a large part of what we do. Contractors, school districts, municipalities, farms and developers order multiple units regularly, sometimes staged to different sites on different dates.

We accept purchase orders and invoice against them. Our W-9 is downloadable right now from our vendor documents page, and a certificate of insurance naming your entity with your required additional insured language is usually same day.

Delivery on multi unit orders is charged per trip rather than per container, so two 20 FTs to one address often ride together. Tell us the quantity and the delivery window and you will get a written, dated quote you can put in front of an approver without editing it.