What a container hire rate actually includes
Practical advice on what a container hire rate actually includes. Compare suitability, condition and the full delivered quote for your job.
Flexible storage · request a hire quote
Shipping container hire
Hire suits a job with an end date — a build, a renovation, a harvest, a move, a shutdown. Below roughly a year, hire is usually the cheaper answer. Past that the sums start favouring buying, and we will say so.
Choose your hire size
| Size | Capacity |
|---|---|
| 10ft | 16m³ |
| 20ft | 33m³ |
| 40ft | 67m³ |
| 40ft High Cube | 76m³ |
Each quote confirms the container, delivery and GST for your job. Availability, condition and site access are checked before booking.
Compare buying and hiring
Ask for a current quote for the size, condition and delivery location you need. We will confirm the container and transport charges together before booking.
Two truck movements, not one
The part people forget when comparing hire quotes is that a hired container has to come back. Delivery to site and collection at the end are separate movements and each carries its own freight. We quote both at the start.
| 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. |
Delivery out is quoted against your address, and collection is quoted on the same basis at the same time. We do not publish a single national delivery price, and you should be suspicious of anyone who does.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.
Hire questions
How much does it cost to hire a shipping container?
Ask for a current quote for the size, condition and delivery location you need. We will confirm the container and transport charges together before booking.
Is it cheaper to hire or to buy?
Compare the complete purchase quote with hire over the time you expect to need it. Include delivery, hire collection and any other fees. There is no single break-even point for every job.
What is the minimum hire period?
It varies with the location and the size, so it is quoted with the job rather than published as a single number. Ask when you enquire and it will be in the quote in writing.
What condition are the hire units in?
Cargo-worthy grade, checked wind and watertight before they go on the truck, with a lock box fitted. Condition is recorded at delivery and assessed against that record on return, so fair wear is fair wear and damage is damage.
What happens at the end of the hire?
We collect it. That collection is a second delivery in freight terms and it is quoted at the start rather than at the end — that is one of the more common places people get caught in this market.
Hire guides
What a shipping container costs after you have bought it
Practical advice on what a shipping container costs after you have bought it. Compare suitability, condition and the full delivered quote for your job.
What drives shipping container delivery costs
Why nobody can honestly publish a flat national delivery price, the six things that actually move the number, and how to get a delivered figure for your own address.
No-obligation quote
Hiring or buying — we will tell you which is cheaper for your job
Give us the size and roughly how long you need it, and the answer takes about a minute. Sometimes it is the one that earns us less.
Prefer a chat? Give our team a call.
Call 1300 639 282