A shipping container is one of the few things you can buy online that arrives on a lorry weighing more than most cars, needs a clear run to the spot it will live in, and cannot simply be left by the front door if something goes wrong. Delivery is the part of the purchase most people think about last and the part that causes almost all of the problems. This guide covers what actually happens on delivery day in the UK, how containers are offloaded, and the ground and access preparation that makes the difference between a fifteen-minute drop and an aborted delivery charge.
How containers are delivered in the UK
There are three common ways a container reaches its final position, and which one you need depends entirely on your site.
Tilt-bed or side-loader delivery
A tilt-bed (sometimes called a slide-bed or beavertail) lorry tips its bed and slides the container off backwards, guided by a winch. It is the cheapest and most common method for a 20ft container. It needs the driver to reverse to the exact spot and requires a long, straight, reasonably level run — roughly the length of the container plus the length of the lorry, so about 18 to 20 metres of clear space for a 20ft unit. The container ends up where the back of the lorry was, not where the cab was.
HIAB or crane offload
A HIAB is the lorry-mounted crane you have probably seen lifting building materials over garden walls. It lifts the container off the bed and places it, which means the container can go somewhere the lorry cannot: behind a wall, over a hedge, on the far side of a narrow yard, or onto a prepared plinth. It has its own requirements, and it is not always the right answer. The crane needs to get within reach of the drop point — typically a few metres, and the further out the boom extends the less it can safely lift. It needs firm ground for the stabiliser legs, and critically it needs clear airspace: no overhead power lines, no telephone cables, no overhanging trees, no low guttering.
Flat-bed delivery with your own lifting equipment
If you have a telehandler, a large forklift or site crane, a plain flat-bed delivery is usually the cheapest option. You are responsible for the lift and for having a competent operator and correct lifting equipment. Containers are lifted from the four corner castings, never by slinging under the base.
Access: the questions to answer before you order
The single most useful thing you can do is walk the route a 44-tonne artic or an 18-tonne rigid would have to take, from the public highway to the drop point, and look for the pinch points.
- Road width and turning. Can a long vehicle physically make the turn into your entrance? Tight right-angle entrances off narrow lanes defeat more deliveries than anything else. A rigid lorry needs roughly 3.5m of width and a wide sweep; an artic carrying a 40ft container needs considerably more.
- Height restrictions. Low bridges, archways, barrier heights on car parks, and overhanging branches. A loaded 40ft high cube on a trailer is close to 4.5m tall.
- Gate and entrance width. A container is 2.44m wide, but the lorry carrying it is wider, and a HIAB with legs deployed is wider still.
- Parked cars and street furniture. If the road outside is normally lined with parked cars, plan to have them moved. The driver cannot.
- Weight limits. Weak bridges, private bridges over ditches, cellars under pavements, and septic tanks or soakaways under driveways all matter. A 20ft container weighs roughly 2.2 tonnes empty; a 40ft high cube around 3.9 tonnes. The vehicle carrying it weighs far more.
- Slope. Steep driveways make tilt-bed offloads unsafe and can make a HIAB lift impossible.
If any of these are marginal, say so when you order. It is always cheaper to book the right vehicle first time than to pay an abortive delivery charge and rebook. Our Delivery Information page sets out what we need to know and the lead times to expect.
Preparing the ground
Containers do not need foundations, but they do need to sit level and stay level. They are designed to carry their load through the four corner castings, so the ground under those four points is what matters — not the ground in the middle.
What good looks like: firm, level, free-draining ground with something solid under each corner. Concrete slabs, paving slabs on a compacted base, railway sleepers, or a poured concrete strip all work well. Even four 600mm x 600mm slabs bedded properly will do the job for a standard unit.
Why it matters: a container placed on soft or uneven ground will twist. A twisted container has doors that will not close, and doors that will not close are the single most common complaint about containers that have been sited badly. Raising the unit 100–150mm also keeps the steel underside out of standing water, which slows corrosion considerably and lets air circulate underneath.
Ground to be wary of: freshly laid tarmac in summer (the corner castings will sink into it), soft lawn or newly made-up ground, and anything above a drain run, inspection chamber or soakaway.
Think about drainage and door swing too. Position the doors on the downhill side if you can, leave at least a metre of clear space in front of the doors so they can open through 270 degrees, and avoid placing the unit tight against a fence or wall on the door end.
On the day
Deliveries are usually given a date rather than a precise time, and drivers normally call ahead when they are close. Have someone on site who can direct placement and sign for the container — once it is down, moving it again means paying for a second lift.
Check the unit before the lorry leaves. Open and close the doors, look along the roof for standing water or dents, and check the floor. A used container will show surface rust, dents and mismatched paint; that is normal for the grade and is explained in our Condition Guide. What is not normal is a hole, a bowed door frame that will not seal, or damage that was not there when the unit was described to you. Note anything of that sort on the paperwork and photograph it.
Getting it right first time
Most delivery problems are access problems, and almost all of them are visible on a site walk-around before you order. Measure your access, look up at the cables, decide where the doors will face, and get something solid under the four corners. If you are unsure which offload method your site needs, describe it to us — including a photograph of the entrance if you can — and we will tell you honestly what will work.
If access is the constraint, our guide to what size shipping container you need explains when two 20ft units beat one 40ft. Regional notes — ferry sailings, London restrictions, rural lanes — are under delivery areas, and planning permission is worth checking before the lorry is booked.
Browse storage containers and shipping containers in stock, read the Buyer’s Guide before you commit, or get a price for your container, delivered free.