Shipping container question

So...
1) I've seen all the cool stuff people build with shipping containers.
2) Those "pods" things for moving are kind of like shipping containers.

You can have a shipping delivered, but is it possible to have it picked up again once full and moved to a new place?  Or is that not doable?

K Eilander wrote:You can have a shipping delivered, but is it possible to have it picked up again once full and moved to a new place?  Or is that not doable?

Yes, absolutely. The companies that do this won't blink an eye. They have the gear, and do it every day.

Shipping containers are designed to be filled and moved around the globe. As Douglas says, there are many, many companies for whom this is 'bread and butter'.

Containers will have a maximum gross (loaded) weight that you should bear in mind and not exceed if you want to move it. It's often painted on the doors alongside the tare (empty) weight. Google suggests that it is almost 25,000 lbs for a 10ft container and 67,200 for a 40ft one.

Access for a large vehicle with a crane is also a consideration. An empty container will be much lighter, to state the obvious, and you will be able to deliver it over softer ground or with the crane extended much further from the vehicle.

I don't know about pods though shipping containers require machinery to remove off the delivery vehicle and would require machinery to pick back up.

A shipping container is a lot bigger than a pod so it would be really heavy filled.

This might be dependent on where a person wants the container delivered to.

I wanted a shipping container delivered to my location.  The company I talked to asked me if I had the equipment to unload the container off their vehicle.  I have no equipment.

There are special lorries with hiab/cranes for delivering and retrieving shipping containers of all sizes. The bigger the container, the bigger the lorry and the bigger the crane!

Google images will bring up quite a few examples: here

"once full"....    

If you are thinking that you have a portable home via a shipping container then you have to plan on repacking it all so the laod does not shift, glass break etc.      

Yes it can be done, but you need to find out the weight limits, and how to secure what you have inside at the time of the move...

40 foot containers are heavy. usually at least 8000 pounds empty. if having one delivered have delivery people put it where you want it when delivered unless you have big enough equipment to move it yourself. it takes at least a big tractor to move one of these things. I mean like 85 hp 4 wheel drive in good shape. or a dozer. to move one it helps to put round logs or something under it to reduce friction. I have one and just to get it dropped on a relatively flat spot on my property was quite an ordeal and took hours to pull the delivery truck and trailer around a corner with a big tractor just so delivery driver could get back on the road. it was delivered with a 1 ton pickup pulling a flat tilt back trailer. my container I would like to move to a different spot but I lack the big enough equipment to move it even 200 or 300 feet now that I put stuff into it.
they are handy for quick dry secure ready made building but they can sweat in changes of the weather.
PODS are much different. they are usually sided with plywood and empty weight is much less, and if you rent one you cannot put heavy stuff in it. read the fine print of the contract they are great for storing or moving furniture and stuff like that.

I've had plenty of containers taken too and from my property. Here in Australia at least they are usually moved with a tilt tray truck. The truck can winch the container on or off the tray to put them in a fairly accurate position.

The biggest snag is needing the space for the truck in front of where you put it down as it not only needs the whole length of the container truck but also the length with the tilt tray extended. If you're getting a 40' container you'll want way more than 40' of space in front to put the container down. Make sure you ask it to be loaded at the pickup end with the doors on the correct end as well.

There are trucks that can lift them off to the side which I've seen plenty in the city when I worked with a logistics team but in a more rural area the flat bed tilt tray is more common.