North Yorkshire is the largest county in England, and delivering into it is genuinely a different job depending on which part you are in. The A1(M) corridor down the middle is fast and easy. Either side of it the county rises into two National Parks, and the practical questions become gradient, width and whether a particular road is legally open to an articulated lorry at all. This is the county where checking the route in advance matters most, and where a specific named hill has caught out more drivers than anywhere else we deliver.
Delivery to North Yorkshire 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 North Yorkshire
- Teesport (adjacent Teesside)
- Hull
- Immingham
- Whitby
North Yorkshire has no major container terminal of its own — Whitby is a small harbour, not a container port. The capacity that serves the county sits just outside it: Teesport immediately to the north handles substantial container volume, and the Humber ports of Hull and Immingham serve the south and east. This is one of the better-placed inland counties for container supply, with real deep-water capacity within an hour or so of much of it.
Roads into North Yorkshire
The A1(M) runs the length of the county and the A19 shadows it to the east; between them they carry almost everything. The A64 runs from York to Malton and Scarborough, the A59 crosses west through Harrogate to Skipton, and the A66 crosses the Pennines to Cumbria — a route regularly closed by wind and snow at Stainmore. The one road fact worth stating plainly: the A170 climbs Sutton Bank west of Helmsley at a gradient of around one in four with hairpin bends, and it is closed to HGVs and to caravans. It is signed, but satnav routing does not always respect it. Anything heading for Helmsley or the western Moors has to be routed around it.
Areas we deliver to in North Yorkshire
- Harrogate and Knaresborough
- Scarborough
- Skipton and Craven
- Northallerton and Hambleton
- Ryedale and Malton
- Richmondshire and Catterick
- Selby
- Whitby
- Thirsk
- Ripon
- Filey and Bridlington fringe
- Settle and the western Dales
Site access in North Yorkshire
The Dales and the North York Moors both present the same core problem in different terrain: single-track roads with drystone walls or steep banks either side, passing places sized for farm traffic rather than for a 16.5-metre artic, and farm tracks that are perfectly serviceable for a tractor and not for a loaded lorry. Gradients are severe in places — Rosedale Chimney Bank on the Moors is among the steepest public roads in England and is not a delivery route. In the vales and along the A1(M) corridor, access is generally unremarkable. The honest position is that a 40ft container into an upland site frequently needs a different approach from the obvious one on a map.
Check the approach against our guide to delivery access, craning and ground preparation before you order.
Planning permission in North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is one of the most heavily designated counties in England. The Yorkshire Dales National Park and the North York Moors National Park both lie substantially within it, and each is its own planning authority with tighter control than the surrounding districts. The Nidderdale and Howardian Hills National Landscapes cover further large areas. Between them these designations affect a very large share of the county, and permitted development rights are more restricted inside them. If your site is within a National Park boundary, apply to the National Park Authority rather than to the council. Do not assume — the boundaries are not intuitive.
See also our guide to planning permission for a shipping container in the UK.
Delivery timing
For the A1(M) and A19 corridors this is a routine delivery. For the Dales and the Moors the timetable depends on getting a suitable vehicle to the site, and in winter on the weather at height; upland roads here close. Tell us the postcode and what the approach looks like and we will be straight with you about what is workable.
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 North Yorkshire delivery is despatched from wherever the right unit is. Viewings are by appointment — see our contact page.
Containers available for delivery to North Yorkshire
See what size you need and the condition guide.
Delivery across Yorkshire and the Humber
North Yorkshire sits within our Yorkshire and the Humber delivery region; all delivery areas covers the rest of the UK.
Request a quote with your postcode and a note on the final approach.