40ft Shipping Containers

40ft Shipping Containers for Sale

The 40ft container is the best value per square foot on the market, and it is not close. You get roughly 302 sq ft of secured, weathertight floor for typically 30–50% more than a 20ft — meaning your cost per square foot lands well below half. If your site can take one, buy one.

That "if" is the whole story on this page. A 40ft box is not simply a bigger 20ft. It changes what truck can deliver it, how much room you need to unload, how it has to be blocked, and whether you will ever be able to move it again. We stock new one-trip and used wind & watertight 40ft units in both standard and high cube, and quote flat-rate freight anywhere in the lower 48.

Standard vs High Cube: the Headroom Decision

Both are 40ft long and 8ft wide. The high cube adds one foot of external height, and every bit of it goes to interior clearance and door opening.

Nominal figures for dry cargo units; the CSC plate governs any individual box. The high cube's 8'5" door opening is the number that matters most in practice — it is what lets a standard forklift mast, a lifted truck, or a small tractor drive straight in. It is also why high cubes dominate conversion work: after 4in of floor build-up and a framed ceiling you still have usable headroom, which you do not in a standard. Full measurements across every size are in our container dimensions guide.

The 100-Foot Rule: Getting a 40ft Delivered

This is where 40ft deliveries fail. A tilt-bed truck sets the container by raising its bed, sliding the box off the back on rollers, and driving forward out from under it. The truck and trailer alone are about 65–70ft. Add the container's own travel and you need roughly 100ft of straight, level, obstruction-free run behind the drop point, and about 150ft of total working length for the rig.

• No mid-course turns. The truck must approach in a straight line and leave in a straight line. A 40ft box cannot be swung into place. If your drop spot is around a corner, past a gate post, or up a switchback drive, a tilt-bed is out.
• Overhead clearance of 15ft. The bed tilts high. Power drops, tree canopy, and eaves are the three things that most often turn a truck around.
• 12ft of clear width minimum, more on the approach turn.
• Firm surface. A loaded 40ft rig runs well over 30,000 lb on the rear axles. Soft fill, wet clay, and new turf will sink it, and the recovery bill is yours.
• Six blocking points, not four. A 40ft frame will sag and rack if you only support the corners on uneven ground. Block the four corner castings plus the midpoints, and check that the doors still latch cleanly after it is set — that is your level indicator.

Where a tilt-bed cannot get in, the alternative is a flatbed plus a crane or a container-rated forklift, arranged before the truck leaves. Tell us at quote time and we will price it correctly rather than sending a truck that has to leave loaded.

Condition and What It Buys You

New one-trip 40ft units come with factory paint, clean marine-ply floors, and door seals that have not been baked for fifteen years — worth the premium if the box will be visible, converted, or expected to outlive you. Used wind & watertight 40ft boxes are the pragmatic buy for yard and job-site storage: cosmetically weathered, structurally sound, sealed against rain. Cargo worthy sits between the two and is what you want only if the box will actually be shipped again. Details on what each survey certifies are in our grades explained guide.

When a 40ft Is the Wrong Call

Two situations. First, access — covered above; a box that cannot be delivered is worth nothing regardless of price per square foot. Second, if you may need to relocate it. A 40ft is effectively permanent once set; moving it means a second delivery-grade truck and the same 100ft of clearance all over again. Buyers who reposition boxes regularly are better off with a 20ft, which most heavy forklifts and many tow operators can shift, or with a dedicated container chassis.

Related Categories

• 20ft shipping containers — half the length, far easier to site
• 45ft shipping containers — five more feet if you need the reach
• All shipping containers — every size we stock
• Container chassis and trailers — road-legal hauling for a 40ft box (what is a container chassis?)
• Flatbed trailers — for crane-set deliveries and long material
• Shop all inventory