Essex is unusual among English counties in that it has genuinely major container capacity of its own. London Gateway and Tilbury both sit on the north bank of the Thames, and between them they handle a very large share of the containers entering the United Kingdom. For an Essex buyer that means the road leg is often short and the county is one of the easier ones to serve. The variation is between the dense south-west of the county, which is effectively London, and the north and east, which is farmland and estuary.
Delivery to Essex is free: the price shown against a container is the total payable, with nothing added at checkout. Offload by HIAB or crane is agreed in writing before delivery.
Ports serving Essex
- London Gateway (DP World, Stanford-le-Hope)
- Tilbury
- Harwich
- Purfleet
London Gateway is one of the largest deep-sea container terminals in the country and has been expanding steadily; Tilbury alongside it is a long-established multi-purpose port. Harwich handles container and ferry traffic on the Stour. This concentration means Essex is one of the few counties where a container plausibly has not travelled far by road before it reaches you — though which depot a particular unit despatches from still depends on where the right container is, not on which port is nearest.
Roads into Essex
The A12 is the county’s spine, running from the M25 through Chelmsford and Colchester towards Ipswich, and the A120 crosses it to reach Harwich and Stansted. The A13 serves the Thames corridor, London Gateway and Southend. The M11 runs north through Harlow and Stansted, and the M25 and the Dartford Crossing bound the county to the south-west — the Dart Charge applies to HGVs. Worth knowing for west Essex: London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone stops at the Greater London boundary, but the Low Emission Zone and the Direct Vision Standard both bear on HGVs operating into London, which affects hauliers routing through rather than deliveries within Essex itself.
Areas we deliver to in Essex
- Chelmsford
- Colchester
- Basildon
- Southend-on-Sea
- Thurrock and Grays
- Braintree
- Harlow
- Epping Forest
- Brentwood
- Maldon
- Tendring (Clacton, Harwich)
- Uttlesford (Saffron Walden)
- Rochford and Castle Point
Site access in Essex
The Essex coast and the estuary marshes are the part of the county where ground conditions genuinely decide what is possible. Land around the Blackwater, the Crouch and the Dengie is low, and a hard-standing that looks adequate in August may not be in February. In the north and west — Uttlesford and rural Braintree — the constraint is the lane network rather than the ground: narrow, hedged and with the occasional weight limit. South-west Essex is urban and generally straightforward, with the usual caveat that a 40ft artic needs somewhere legal to stand.
Check the approach against our guide to delivery access, craning and ground preparation before you order.
Planning permission in Essex
Essex has no National Park. The Dedham Vale National Landscape straddles the Suffolk border in the north-east, and Epping Forest in the south-west is protected under its own legislation with the City of London Corporation as conservator. Metropolitan Green Belt covers a wide band across the west and south-west of the county, which is precisely where the pressure for garden and yard storage is highest and where a container in an open front garden is most likely to attract attention. Coastal Essex carries extensive environmental designations along the estuaries. Check with your district or borough council.
See also our guide to planning permission for a shipping container in the UK.
Delivery timing
Essex is close to us, well served by trunk roads and close to the largest container terminals in the country, so this is among the more predictable counties to deliver into. Estuary and marshland sites in winter are the exception, and there the constraint is the ground rather than the road.
Our general estimate is 7 to 10 days from cleared payment — an estimate given in good faith, not a guarantee.
Stock is held at third-party depots around the country, so a Essex delivery is despatched from wherever the right unit is. Viewings are by appointment — see our contact page.
Containers available for delivery to Essex
See what size you need and the condition guide.
Delivery across East of England
Essex sits within our East of England delivery region; all delivery areas covers the rest of the UK.
Request a quote with your postcode and a note on the final approach.