Nothing standard is built bigger than a 40ft ISO box, and buying one second-hand is where the arithmetic works hardest. The stock is ex-shipping-line units released at the end of a sea-going career: worked hard, described honestly, and supplied only when the shell is structurally sound and certified wind and watertight. Once the storage problem is counted in lorry loads rather than pallets, no other structure gets close on cost per square metre.
Dimensions
- External: 12.19 × 2.44 × 2.59 m (40 ft 0 in × 8 ft 0 in × 8 ft 6 in)
- Internal: 12.00 × 2.35 × 2.39 m (39 ft 4 in × 7 ft 9 in × 7 ft 10 in)
- Door opening: 2.34 m wide × 2.28 m high (7 ft 8 in × 7 ft 6 in)
- Weight: 3,420 kg
- Floor: 28 mm marine plywood
Grade, steel and fittings
- Sourced direct from shipping-line fleets, never a resprayed trade-in
- Still CSC plated, so freight work stays open as well as static storage
- Cor-Ten weathering steel throughout
- Sound in structure, certified wind and watertight
- Two locking bars per door leaf
- Forklift pockets, two to a side
- Floor: 28 mm marine plywood over steel cross members
- Vents included as standard
- Cosmetically used: dents, scrapes and patched paint come with the grade
- Conversion and modification work available at extra cost
The usual starting point for a conversion
The 12 m internal length is why this size dominates conversion work. It gives enough run to divide the shell into distinct zones — an office and a store, a workshop and a mess area, plant rooms and access corridors — where a 20ft unit forces every function into one space. Lining and insulation, personnel door and window cut-ins, partition walls and a full respray to a RAL colour of your choice are all available at additional cost.
One consequence is worth understanding before you commit. Cutting into the shell for a door or window voids the CSC plate, and the container becomes a static structure from that point on. If you want the option of shipping it later, do the conversion knowing you are trading that away, or keep the cuts out of the primary structure.
Work out the delivery before you commit
Roughly 18 m of firm, level hard standing is what a 40ft container needs, plus a clear straight run for the lorry and room for the vehicle beyond it. This is the single most common reason a container delivery fails. Where access is tight, two 20ft units often solve the same storage problem with far less risk — tell us the site constraints and we will say which way to go.
Delivery, cost and cover
Delivery is free anywhere in the UK, and that includes Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey. The price shown is the total payable — no VAT is added at checkout. Where the approach will not take a tilt-bed, a HIAB or crane lift can be arranged and is agreed in writing before delivery. Mainland England and Wales typically runs 3 to 7 working days, the Scottish Central Belt 5 to 10, and the Highlands and remote areas 7 to 14.
As a used unit sold wind and watertight, it is covered for three months from delivery against water ingress and for correct door operation, with cosmetic condition excluded. Your statutory rights are separate: 14 days to change your mind under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, and a distinct 30-day right to reject the goods if they are faulty.
Related 40ft stock
For a cleaner shell to convert, look at the 40ft x 8ft used standard storage container. Where the box still has sea time ahead of it, the used 40ft cargo worthy containers carry the certification that permits it. Run through the inspection points in our buyer’s guide before committing, and the rest is listed under shipping containers.
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