Container Details

Color

It's not possible to pick the color of your used shipping container, you will get the next container off the stack at the intermodal depot that meets your order criteria. You should expect faded paint and surface rust on all used containers (One Trip containers will have fresh paint). If you're worried about how it looks, pressure washing and painting used containers goes a long way.

Used Shipping Containers

Intermodal shipping containers are made from corten steel and are designed to be stacked up to seven high while loaded. Shipping containers have 1.25” treated wood floors, with the exception of the rubber gaskets for the door seal everything else on a shipping container is steel (including the steel crossmembers the floor is fastened to). The containers are meant to be durable and will last for decades with minimal maintenance. Every container we sell is convered by a 3yr structural warranty (doors that seal properly, floors strong enough to drive a small forklift on, and roof free of any leaks).

Wind & Water Tight Containers

Wind and water tight (WWT) used shipping containers are no longer able to pass a CSC survey, or have a CSC survey that expired and the shipping line chose not to renew, and cannot be exported without a new survey and likely some minor repairs to ensure it can be safely stacked up to seven high while loaded. All WWT condition containers can be repaired to Cargo Worthy (CWO) condition, and often the repair is as simple as patching a dent deemed too large or fixing a bent cross-member under the floor.

Some WWT condition containers were graded CWO but their CSC Survey expired, and the unit's shipping company decided to take it out of service. The unit may still be in "cargo worthy" condition and simply need a new CSC Survey. Some are even used for domestic shipping.

Wind and Water Tight containers make great storage units. While WWT containers are on average the oldest units we sell, they are covered by our 1-Year Warranty.

Cargo Worthy Containers

Cargo Worthy (CWO) used shipping containers are containers that can pass a CSC survey and be safely stacked on a cargo ship while loaded. The bottom container could end up holding over 300,000 pounds of cargo and steel on top of it, so shipping containers with larger dents or other issues can be a safety risk while in transit (maybe you’ve seen photos of stacks of containers toppling over into the sea).

Cargo Worthy (CWO) containers aren’t necessarily any prettier than Wind and Water Tight (WWT) containers, and are sometimes even uglier. A moderate dent that wouldn’t be an issue at all in a storage container might need to be fully cut out and patched with a new steel panel section to bring a container up to Cargo Worthy status. Unless you’re using your container for shipping, we really don’t recommend paying more for a Cargo Worthy container.

One Trip Containers

"Like New" or "One Trip" containers are generally within a year or two of their date of manufacture and are in excellent condition inside and out (containers are often bumped into one another during stacking, so even One Trip units will still have a few dings and dents).

While most One Trip containers have only taken one trip across an ocean on a container ship, the term "one tripper" is more of a reference to a "like new" container. A brand new container in North America would need to be custom built (usually for about triple the cost of a One Trip).

One Trip container pricing is more of a function of manufacturing cost than used container pricing (which is more about supply). So, customers will see a much smaller price gap between 20' and 40' used containers than they will for 20' and 40' One Trip containers.