A container delivery either takes twenty minutes or it does not happen. The difference is almost always the site: ground that holds the weight, a level place to land, and a clear path for a truck that is longer, wider, heavier and taller than anything that normally comes up your driveway. This guide covers what to prepare, what to measure, and what to have ready before the truck arrives.
Know how it will be delivered
Two truck types do most container deliveries in Australia, and they need different things from your site.
A tilt-tray hydraulically tilts its deck and slides the container off the back onto the ground, then drives forward out from under it. It is the common, economical option. It needs a straight approach with clear space behind the truck at least the length of the container plus several metres, and it places the container in line with the truck — it cannot set a box sideways or reach over a fence.
A side-loader (swing lift) carries its own pair of cranes and lifts the container off the side of the trailer, setting it down parallel to the truck. It can place a container into far tighter positions, over a low obstacle, or onto footings with precision. It needs firm ground under the stabiliser legs on the lifting side and generous clear width alongside the truck, and it is a more expensive machine.
Tell us which one your site suits, or describe the access and we will tell you. Getting this wrong is the most common cause of a failed delivery and a return fee.
Ground bearing
An empty 20ft weighs about 2.2 tonnes and a 40ft about 3.8 tonnes, but a container does not spread that load. It sits entirely on its four corner castings, so every corner carries several hundred kilograms to a few tonnes concentrated on a footprint the size of a house brick. Add contents and the point loads climb quickly.
That is why containers sink into lawns, gravel driveways and freshly disturbed fill while a much heavier vehicle drives over the same ground without a mark. Assess the ground honestly:
- Reactive clay — common across much of Australia — moves seasonally and softens dramatically when wet.
- Fill that has not been compacted and allowed to settle will consolidate under point loads.
- Sand drains well but offers poor bearing at the surface.
- Turf and topsoil are never a bearing surface, however firm they feel in a dry week.
Also think about the truck, not just the container. A loaded tilt-tray is a heavy rigid vehicle. If it cannot get onto and off your ground without bogging or cracking a domestic driveway, the container placement is irrelevant.
Levelling, bearers and footings
Containers must sit level. A twisted container is a container whose doors will not close — the frame racks, the door posts move out of alignment, and the locking bars bind. Aim to have the four corners within roughly 25 mm of each other, and prioritise the door end being true.
Support options, from simple to permanent:
- Hardwood sleepers or timber bearers under each corner. Cheap, quick, and adequate for firm ground and non-permanent placement. Use durable hardwood, not softwood, and bed them properly rather than propping with packers.
- Concrete pads or besser blocks at each corner, sized to spread the load into competent soil. The usual choice for a container that will stay a few years.
- Engineered piers, screw piles or footings designed for the soil class. Required where the container is a permanent structure, where it is fixed down, on reactive or poor soil, or in cyclone regions where tie-downs must transfer uplift into the ground.
- A concrete slab. Effective, but it makes the container a fixed structure in most councils’ eyes and removes your ability to relocate it easily.
On a 40ft, consider intermediate supports as well as the corners, particularly if you will store heavy point loads mid-span. And leave the container off the ground — 100–150 mm of clear air underneath keeps the floor dry and lets you inspect the underside.
Drainage
A container is 15 to 30 square metres of impervious roof with no gutters. All of that water sheets off the sides and lands in a line along the container’s flanks. If the ground falls towards the container or holds water, you will get a permanently damp perimeter, a rusting bottom rail and a wet floor.
- Set the pad so ground falls away from all four sides.
- Never place a container in a natural drainage line or the low point of a paddock.
- Consider guttering and a downpipe, particularly if you want to harvest the runoff or if the container sits close to a building or path.
- Keep the door end well drained — that is where you will be standing, and mud in front of the doors is a daily nuisance.
Access: the measurements that matter
Measure before you order, not on delivery day. Figures below are indicative guidance — confirm requirements for your specific delivery when you book.
| What to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Gate and driveway width | A truck carrying a 2.44 m container needs meaningfully more than 2.44 m to pass — allow for mirrors, the trailer body and steering swing. Around 3.5 m clear is a sensible minimum, more on a bend. |
| Overhead clearance | Branches, verandah eaves, carports, awnings and pergolas. A tilt-tray raises its deck high during unloading, so clearance directly above the placement point matters as much as along the route. |
| Powerlines and service wires | Never plan a delivery under or near overhead lines. Minimum approach distances for plant near live conductors are regulated in every state, and a tilting deck or a side-loader crane brings steel close to them. If lines cross the route, contact your electricity distributor about the clearance or a temporary isolation. |
| Turning circle and swing space | Long rigid trucks need a wide arc. Corners in a driveway, tight cul-de-sacs, and roundabouts on the approach road are all points of failure. |
| Straight run for a tilt-tray | Allow the container length plus roughly 8–10 m of straight, firm ground behind the truck for the unload and the drive-out. |
| Clear width for a side-loader | Room for stabiliser legs on the lift side and clearance for the container to swing across. |
| Kerbs, culverts and grates | Loaded trucks crack domestic crossovers and collapse light culverts. |
| Driveway gradient | Steep or crested driveways cause grounding and make a controlled tilt-tray unload unsafe. |
| Surface type | Loose gravel, sand and wet clay are the classic bogging surfaces. Soft ground after rain is the most common reason deliveries are postponed. |
On the day
Have someone on site who can make decisions and who knows exactly where the container goes and which way the doors should face. Mark the four corner positions with pegs or paint. Move vehicles, trailers, bins and anything else the truck might need to swing past. Keep children, pets and bystanders well clear — the exclusion zone during an unload is larger than people expect. And be realistic: if the driver says the ground will not hold, they are protecting your driveway as much as their truck.
Pre-delivery checklist
- Confirm the container size, and confirm whether a tilt-tray or side-loader is coming.
- Confirm council or landlord permission if your placement needs it.
- Choose the exact position and mark all four corners.
- Decide which way the doors face — allow clear space to swing them open fully and to stand in front of them.
- Check ground bearing at that spot, and remedy soft ground or uncompacted fill.
- Install bearers, pads or footings, levelled to within about 25 mm across the corners.
- Grade the ground so water drains away from the container on all sides.
- Measure gate and driveway width, and overhead clearance along the entire route.
- Identify every powerline and service wire near the route and the placement point.
- Confirm turning circles and the straight run or swing space the truck needs.
- Check the crossover, culverts and driveway gradient will take a loaded truck.
- Clear the route and the placement area of vehicles, materials, low branches and obstructions.
- Arrange a competent person on site for the delivery window, with a phone that works.
- Have a plan if it rains — soft ground is the usual reason to reschedule.
- Check the container on arrival: doors open and close, floor is sound, seals are intact, no unexpected damage.
Grades, door configurations and pre-fitted options are covered in our buyer’s guide, and current stock is listed in the shop, with delivery a flat $350 to any address in Australia and 7 to 10 days from order confirmation. If you are unsure whether your access will work, email photos of the gate, driveway and placement area to sales@shippingsolutionspty.com or call 1300 000 000 before you order.