Ex-depot prices with vague delivery is the oldest trick in this market, and it is why so many people end up paying well over the number that got them to pick up the phone. We publish the container price separately from the delivery price because they are genuinely separate things — but we quote them together, before anything is booked, so there is one figure to say yes or no to.
| Where it is going | What that means for the cartage |
|---|---|
| Metro, close to the depot holding your unit | The shortest run we do. A standard tilt-tray where the access allows one. |
| Regional, a few hours out from the depot | Still a day run, but the truck is on the road longer and the quote reflects it. |
| Long haul, interstate or well inland | Often a shared or backloaded run. Flexibility on the date genuinely helps here. |
| Remote, or anywhere with awkward access | Quoted per run against the address, because nothing about it is standard. |
One call gets you the actual delivered number. A 40ft costs meaningfully more than a 20ft over the same distance, and tight access needing a crane truck costs more again. We do not publish a single national delivery price, and you should be suspicious of anyone who does. Delivering a 40ft into a laneway in inner Melbourne and delivering a 20ft onto a hardstand outside Rockhampton are not the same job and cannot honestly carry the same number.
Not distance from a head office. The container comes off the nearest depot that has your size in your grade, and that is sometimes not the nearest depot to you.
A standard tilt-tray is the cheapest way to put a container on the ground. A crane truck (HIAB) costs more per job and gets into places a tilt-tray never will. Tight access is the single biggest swing in the whole delivery price.
A 40ft is a bigger vehicle, a longer run-in and often a different licence class. Expect meaningfully more than a 20ft over the same distance.
Gate width, length of straight run, overhead wires and branches, and whether the ground carries a loaded truck after rain. Photographs settle all of it faster than measurements.
A container going out on a truck that is already heading your way costs less than one that is not. Flexibility on the date is worth real money, especially on long runs.
For hire, collection is a second delivery. We quote both up front rather than surprising anyone at the end of the term.
Three things decide nearly every delivery: whether the ground carries the weight, whether there is a straight run to line up on, and whether anything hangs over the spot. Photographs answer all three faster than measurements do.
Where any of that is marginal the answer is usually a crane truck rather than a refusal. It costs more and it works.
1 of 3. How wide is the tightest point the truck has to get through?
2 of 3. How much straight run is there at the placement spot?
3 of 3. Anything above the spot — wires, branches, an awning?
A guide, not a quote. Photographs of the gate, the approach and the spot settle it properly.
Delivery is one of two numbers. The other one is published in full and dated.
| Size | Used from* | New from* |
|---|---|---|
| 10ft | $4,350 | $6,400 |
| 20ft | $2,200 | $3,300 |
| 40ft | $2,600 | $5,500 |
| 40ft High Cube | $3,400 | $5,500 |
* What "from" means. Every figure on this site is a "from" price: the starting point for that size in that grade, in Australian dollars, ex GST, ex depot. It is not a quote. Condition, availability at your nearest depot and the grade you actually need all move it, and delivery is quoted separately because it depends entirely on where the container is going.
It depends on how far your address is from the depot holding your unit, which truck the site needs and what the access is like at the drop point. We do not publish a delivery figure, because any number we published would be wrong for most addresses. Ring 1300 639 282 with your postcode and the size you want and you will get the delivered number, quoted with the container rather than added afterwards.
Because a 20ft onto a level hardstand twenty minutes from a depot and a 40ft lifted over a fence into an inner-city laneway are not the same job. One national figure would mean overcharging the first customer or under-quoting the second and adding to it later. Neither is honest.
A tilt-tray reverses in, tips its bed and slides the container off. It is the cheapest way to put a container on the ground and it needs roughly 20 metres of straight run to do it. A crane truck (HIAB) lifts the container over an obstacle instead — it costs more per job and it gets in where a tilt-tray never will.
Rough rule for a 20ft on a tilt-tray: about 20 metres of straight run to line up and slide off, around 3.5 metres of width at the tightest pinch point, and at least 4.5 metres of clear air above the placement spot. A 40ft wants considerably more of all three.
That is the outcome everybody wants to avoid, and it is why we ask for photographs rather than descriptions. Send a photo of the entry, one down the approach and one of the spot with your enquiry and we will confirm the vehicle before quoting. It costs nothing and it removes the single biggest cause of a bad delivery day.
If you have the equipment and the depot allows it, ask when you enquire. Most people do not — a 20ft is around 2.2 tonnes empty and needs the right gear at both ends — but for those set up for it, it removes the freight from the total entirely.
Not an estimate — the number for your postcode, your access and your size, quoted with the container.
Or skip the form and ring — you will get the same two numbers faster.
Call 1300 639 282