
Container Rentals: The Ultimate Guide To Renting Shipping and Storage Containers
While the needs of businesses vary dramatically from industry to industry, the one thing they all have in common is a need for storage. Purchasing and owning that storage can be costly and some companies don’t have the margin or operational structure to buy and maintain their own storage containers. Those that find themselves with a temporary need for storage or those that want to avoid the costs of acquiring and maintaining their own containers often opt for container rentals or leasing. Container rental comes with its own set of questions and processes that can sometimes feel overwhelming. If you are looking to rent a shipping container, we have everything you need to know right here. Rent-A-Container has a team of professionals who work tirelessly to make this process easy for businesses and individuals alike. Our daily goal is to make renting intermodal containers as easy as possible. To learn more about container rentals, read on or contact Rent-A-Container today. Why Rent a Shipping Container? Whether you are considering shipping containers for your business or for personal use, the reasons to rent a container stack up quickly. Let’s take a look at renting vs. buying containers and how you might be able to use your unit. Renting vs. Buying Storage Containers If you plan to use a shipping container often, you might wonder why you should rent instead of buy. For year-round use, buying a shipping container may be your best bet. Most businesses, however, do not use shipping containers on a daily basis. Instead, there are selling seasons or specific use cases. Once a shipment is complete or storage is no longer needed, then what? Where does a purchased unit go? You have to move the shipping container and/or find a place to store it. Both of these tasks cost money. There is a significantly higher cost to buying a shipping container outright compared to a container rental. For example, an 8-foot by 40-foot high cube container with a standard door can easily cost as much as $4,000 to purchase. But a rental container with the same specifications can cost as little as $115 per month. In this case, you would have to use your purchased container for more than 40 months to outweigh the cost benefit of renting the same container. And that does not take into account the fees tied to taxes, storage, transportation and maintenance. Common Uses for Rented Shipping and Storage Containers A couple of obvious uses come to mind when you think about storage or shipping containers: storage and shipping. But the versatility of rental containers goes far beyond what’s in the name. Because rentals are shorter-term and lower-cost, rented containers offer an agile solution to all kinds of business and logistics scenarios. The following are some common uses for rented containers: Construction jobsite storage Tool and supply storage in agriculture Overflow educational storage space Additional storage for personal use Small-scale, warehouse-style storage for retail businesses Are you in construction and looking for more cases where shipping containers can come in handy? Check out these 15 reasons to rent or buy construction storage containers. Choose Your Rental Container Size When you start to understand how it works to rent a storage container, one of the first considerations is how large you want the container to be. Let’s take a look at some of the most common container sizes. 10 ft. Shipping Container Rentals At 8 feet wide and 10 feet long, a 10-foot shipping container is a great option for anyone who needs to fit a lot into a small space. While 10-foot container rental prices can vary widely and depend on availability, these smaller containers can sometimes be more expensive than larger options. That’s because this is not a standard size for overseas freight, meaning the container has to be modified for storage use. 20 ft. Shipping Container Rentals The 20-foot shipping container is one of the most popular options for renting and buying. These tend to be the most affordable and convenient option. They are the same width as the 10-foot containers (8 feet), meaning they can still pack a lot of storage space into a small spot. Recommended Reading: How Much Can a 20 Foot Shipping Container Hold? 40 ft. Shipping Container Rentals If you have the space for a 40-foot storage container, this can be your best option for high-volume or large item storage. While they offer double the space of the 20-foot containers, they are not double the price. And they are often the best value per cubic foot of storage space. Recommended Reading: How Much Can a 40 Foot Shipping Container Hold? 45 ft. Shipping Container Rentals The 45-foot shipping container tends to be the largest option available. Often called sea crates or railcar containers, these large containers are a common sight on huge sea freighters, trains, or cranes at port. That, of course, is not the only use for these containers, which offer the most storage per unit of any common container rental option. Select a Shipping Container Style Size is the first step, but then you have to make several decisions about the style of the container you plan to rent. Height A standard shipping container is 8 feet, 6 inches tall. If you need a little extra height, you can opt for a high cube container. These containers offer an additional foot of height (at 9 feet, 6 inches). While that may not sound like much, the additional foot of headroom multiplied by the total floor space of the container adds up quickly. High cube containers are available in almost all of the same sizes as standard storage containers. However, the 10-foot container is often only available in standard height. Keep in mind that more space is not always better. Carefully calculate the total amount of space you have or will need to understand whether a high cube or standard container best