Container Grades Explained

Grade is the biggest driver of what a container costs and how long it will serve you. Two 20ft boxes in the same yard can differ enormously in price, and the difference is almost entirely condition: how much original steel and paint is left, whether the doors seal, and whether the unit still carries shipping certification. The Australian market uses four grades — New/One-Trip, Cargo Worthy, Wind & Water Tight and As-Is. Shipping Solutions PTY supplies all four Australia-wide.

New / One-Trip

A “new” container in Australia rarely means factory-fresh and untouched. Containers are built overseas, and the cheapest way to get one here is to load it with cargo for a single voyage; the cargo comes off and the unit is sold as one-trip. It is new in every way that matters.

Appearance: uniform factory paint in the manufacturer’s colour, clean corrugations, sharp corner castings, undamaged door gear, soft seals and a clean marine plywood floor. Minor transit scuffs are normal; structural damage is not.

Structural condition: effectively as-built — no repaired panels, no rust, doors that swing and lock without persuasion. Typical age: under two years.

Best use: anything customer-facing or long-term — site offices, cabins, retail conversions, studio projects, anything you will insulate, line, cut windows into or paint a corporate colour.

Price positioning: the most expensive grade, a substantial step above Cargo Worthy. The premium buys the container’s full service life rather than what remains of someone else’s.

Cargo Worthy (CW)

Cargo Worthy is a certification, not just a description. A qualified inspector has assessed the container against international structural criteria and confirmed it is fit to carry cargo at sea. That inspection backs the CSC plate on the door.

Appearance: visibly used — surface rust, patched and mismatched paint, dents, shipping line markings and previous owner decals. None of that affects performance, but a CW container will not look new.

Structural condition: sound — frame square, castings undamaged, no holes, no significant floor damage, doors that seal correctly, and any repairs properly welded. Typical age: generally eight to fifteen years, though a well-maintained older unit can still certify.

Best use: the default for most buyers — household and business storage, farm and rural storage, construction lock-up, and anything that might be shipped or exported.

Price positioning: mid-range, clearly below New/One-Trip and above Wind & Water Tight. The best value-per-year in the market for most uses.

Wind & Water Tight (WWT)

Wind & Water Tight is exactly what the name says and nothing more: the container will keep wind and rain out. It has come off the shipping circuit and is now a storage unit.

Appearance: tired — significant surface rust, faded patchy paint, dents and possibly repaired panels. Seals may be hardened and the floor will show wear and repairs.

Structural condition: the shell is intact and dry, but the unit may no longer meet cargo-carrying criteria. The frame may show corrosion, doors may need effort to close, and the underside is often where rust is worst. Typical age: commonly fifteen years and older.

Best use: static storage on your own property — farm sheds, tools, machinery, club gear. Not the right choice if you may ever need to ship it.

Price positioning: below Cargo Worthy. For a box that will never move again the saving is often the sensible choice, provided you accept it will need maintenance sooner.

As-Is

As-Is means the container is sold exactly as it stands, with no representation that it is watertight or structurally sound. It is the honest bottom of the market.

Appearance: heavy rust, holed or torn panels, damaged doors, bent rails, possible floor damage. Structural condition: unknown and unwarranted — what you see is what you get. Typical age: twenty years or more, or a younger unit that has been damaged.

Best use: donor units for modification, barriers, materials that do not mind weather, and buyers who intend to cut, weld or repair the unit themselves. Always inspect an As-Is unit, or accept the risk knowingly.

Price positioning: the cheapest grade by a clear margin — the only one where price reflects an absence of guarantees rather than remaining life.

Grade Comparison at a Glance

How to Inspect a Container

If you can inspect before purchase, take fifteen minutes over it. Look along the corrugations at a low angle — that raking view shows dents and distortion the front-on view hides. Check the corner castings and the top and bottom rails for cracks, bends and heavy corrosion, since those carry the structural load.

Open and close both doors fully. They should swing without lifting and the locking bars should seat with hand pressure; doors needing a crowbar usually mean the box is twisted or the frame corroded. Check the seals for hardening and splits.

Then get inside and close the doors. Any pinhole in the roof or walls shows as daylight — there is no faster leak test. Look for water staining down the walls, press the floor with your heel across the whole span (marine ply should feel solid, not spongy), and check for delamination and patch repairs. If the unit is on blocks, look underneath: cross members are where corrosion starts on older containers, and rot there is expensive to fix. Note any persistent chemical or mould odour, which is hard to remove and matters if you are storing soft goods.

The CSC Plate

The CSC plate — a small metal plate normally fixed to the left-hand door — records approval under the international Convention for Safe Containers. It carries the manufacturer’s details, date of manufacture, identification number, maximum gross weight, stacking and racking test values and the next examination date.

Its significance is simple: a container with a valid CSC plate is recognised as fit to carry cargo internationally and can be shipped by sea. That is what separates Cargo Worthy from Wind & Water Tight in practice. A New/One-Trip unit carries a current plate; a CW unit carries one valid under a continuous examination or periodic inspection scheme; a WWT or As-Is unit may have an expired plate, or none.

If the container will sit on your block full of tools, an expired plate is irrelevant. If there is any chance you will export goods in it, ship it, or resell to someone who will, insist on Cargo Worthy with a valid plate — certifying a container retrospectively costs far more than buying one already certified.

Not sure which grade fits your job or budget? Tell us what you are storing, where it will sit and how long you need it, and we will point you to the right grade rather than the dearest one. Call 1300 000 000 or email sales@shippingsolutionspty.com, Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM AEST.