Frequently Asked Questions

Containers arrive on a tilt-bed truck, which slides the container off the back. That means the truck needs a straight, level run at the drop point:

• 20ft container: 110 feet of straight clearance from the drop point
• 40ft container: 130 feet of straight clearance from the drop point

The truck needs at least 15 ft of height to drive, at least 22 ft of height along the entire unloading path, and at least 10 ft of width. Low utility lines, tree limbs and roof overhangs can stop a delivery. If you are unsure, describe the approach when you ask for a quote so it can be reviewed before anything is scheduled.

Watch a delivery: container delivery video.

Price depends on the size, grade and condition you choose, on what is in stock, and on the distance and access to your address, so there is no single statewide number. The starting prices on this site name the grade and the city they apply to. For your address, the quote form or a phone call gets you a written quote with delivery details.

Warranty runs by grade: one-trip units carry a 10 year structural and 10 year no-leak warranty, cargo worthy and wind and water tight units carry a 5 year structural and 5 year no-leak warranty, and economy units carry a 1 year roof leak warranty. The warranty travels with the grade you buy, so if warranty length matters to you it is worth comparing grades before you compare prices.

We sell containers. We do not rent them. Rent-to-own runs through a third-party partner, My Container Rental, and spreads the payments until you own the container. Our rent vs buy guide walks through when each path makes sense.

Alabama pricing starts at $2,279 for a 20ft Wind and Water Tight container delivered in Mobile. The same 20ft Wind and Water Tight unit is $2,669 delivered in Huntsville and $2,836 delivered in Birmingham. Price moves with size, grade, what is in stock and how far the truck runs, so the number that matters is the one quoted to your ZIP code. The quote includes delivery details for the address.

Mobile sits 149 miles from the New Orleans depot, Birmingham 147 miles from the Atlanta depot and Huntsville 115 miles from the Tennessee depot, so the three hauls are close together while the delivered prices are not: a 20ft Wind and Water Tight container is $2,279 delivered in Mobile against $2,669 in Huntsville and $2,836 in Birmingham. Prices differ by grade: on a 40ft standard One-Trip, Birmingham prices lowest of the three Alabama cities as of 6 August 2026. Delivered prices are quoted for a specific grade and ZIP code, so send both with your quote request.

There is no statewide answer, because Alabama leaves land use entirely to local government. Inside a city limit the city's ordinance decides. Outside it, the county decides, and some Alabama counties have no zoning at all. All three cities priced on this site name containers in their own code and each sets different limits: Birmingham's temporary storage provision caps at 150 square feet and 90 days, Huntsville's portable storage structure permit caps at 160 square feet and 10 feet of height, runs 30 days and is limited to three permits per lot per year, and Mobile allows up to 400 square feet on a residential lot but only 60 days in a calendar year across two occasions. A 20ft container is about 160 square feet and a 40ft is about 320. Call your zoning office with your parcel address, ask what is allowed and for how long, and get the answer in writing before you schedule delivery.

Delivery timing depends on location, payment, weather, container availability and site access. Container One's Delivery/Dispatch department schedules the date after payment is received and the site is reviewed.

Three things, and all three are worth checking a week early rather than on delivery day. First, a straight, level run: a tilt bed truck needs 130 feet to slide a 40ft container off, and 110 feet for a 20ft. Second, overhead clearance: the truck needs at least 15 feet of height to drive and at least 22 feet of height along the entire unloading path, so low branches over a driveway can stop a delivery. Third, firm ground and something solid under the four corner castings. Gravel, crushed stone, treated timbers or blocks keep the box level and the doors square. If the last quarter mile is soft sand, gumbo or fresh subdivision backfill, tell us when you book so the approach can be planned around it.

Five, and the warranty depends on the grade. One-Trip containers have made a single loaded voyage and carry a 10 year structural and no-leak warranty. Cargo Worthy containers still meet the standard for international shipping and carry a 5 year warranty. Wind and Water Tight containers are retired from shipping service but are dry and lockable, and carry a 5 year warranty. Economy containers carry a 1 year warranty against roof leaks only, and suit a box going behind a barn rather than in front of a house. Refrigerated units are inspected and tested before delivery. Ask about their warranty terms before you buy. Multi-trip units are also sold, so ask the Container One sales representative preparing your quote about them.

A shipping container is built for ocean service, where it spends its working life in salt spray, and the Corten steel it is made from forms a stable surface layer that slows corrosion. Condensation on the inside is the issue to plan for, because the entire state sits in a moist climate regime and a steel roof that radiates heat to a clear night sky can fall below the dew point of the air under it. To manage it, set the container level and off the ground so air moves underneath, add passive vents, keep the roof clear of leaves and limbs, and touch up the paint wherever the finish gets thin. On the coast add a yearly rinse.

Take the delivered purchase price for the size and grade you want at your address. Take a monthly rental quote for the same size from a rental company. Divide the first by the second. That month count is the crossover: below it renting costs less and above it buying costs less, and the delivery and pickup charges on a rental move the real crossover a little earlier than the division alone shows. Rent-to-own sits between the two, where the monthly payment builds toward ownership instead of ending when you hand the box back.

Container One delivers to rural properties when the truck has the access and clearance it needs. A field, a pond levee, a pack shed or an equipment yard has room to work, and the question is what the last quarter mile is made of. Chert and gravel carry a loaded truck. Wiregrass sugar sand can bog a loaded truck that a pickup crosses without noticing, and Black Belt gumbo sticks when wet and cracks open in August. Tell us which one it is and whether a tractor is nearby when you request your quote.

There is no statewide ban and no statewide permission either. A container home in Alabama is judged as a house. The residential code your jurisdiction enforces applies, the foundation and the anchoring are engineering work for an Alabama licensed engineer, and the zoning question is separate and local. Ground matters: Black Belt prairie clay moves with moisture and has to be designed for movement, limestone country calls for a question about sinkhole history, and the coast carries a higher design wind speed. The guide linked below covers the sequence. Container One sells the container and the delivery, not the build.

• One-trip: made one loaded ocean crossing. Clean floors, intact paint, close to new.
• Cargo worthy: certified fit to carry cargo at sea. Structurally sound, cosmetically used.
• Wind and water tight (WWT): inspected to confirm the doors seal, there are no holes, and the interior stays dry. Surface rust, paint wear and minor dents are normal.
• Economy: the lowest grade we sell. Weathered, and priced accordingly.

For a grade-by-grade walkthrough, see the container condition guide.

It depends on what the container is for. If it is going to be seen, lived in, or converted, the clean interior and intact paint save real work later and the 10 year structural and 10 year no-leak warranty is the longest available. If it is going behind a shed to hold equipment, a wind and water tight unit does the same job for less.

We offer 20ft standard, 40ft standard and 40ft high cube containers, plus modified containers and refrigerated units in 20ft and 40ft.

Personnel doors, roll-up doors, windows, vents, skylights, electrical wiring and a panel, LED lighting, insulation, spray foam, HVAC, shelving, workbenches and exterior paint. Insulation and HVAC choices depend on the climate the box will sit in: Alabama is a cooling led state from the Tennessee line to the beach. Mobile and Baldwin counties sit in climate zone 2, hot and humid. Every other county in Alabama sits in climate zone 3, with a warm humid band across the southern tier that the state tables mark with an asterisk. What does not change anywhere is the moisture regime: the entire state is designated moist, with no dry corner and no marine corner. That is why insulation guidance written for a dry or a mixed climate does not transfer here, and why the plan for an Alabama container is a moisture plan before it is an R-value plan.

A reefer has a refrigeration unit built into one end. It runs on a 460V 3-phase supply, or a compatible generator where 3-phase power is not available, and holds anywhere from -25 degrees F to +70 degrees F. The walls are insulated as part of the original build, not retrofitted.

Alabama's ground problems change from north to south, and the first change comes roughly at the Fall Line. North and central Alabama is red clay over carbonate bedrock, so the questions are grade, karst and clay that is firm when dry and slick when wet. The Geological Survey of Alabama documents sinkhole and subsidence activity in that karst terrain across Jefferson, Shelby, Madison and the limestone valley counties. Below the Fall Line the Black Belt is different again: Alabama Cooperative Extension describes the Wilcox, Mayhew and Vaiden soils of that belt as clays that shrink and crack when dry and swell when wet, so the concern there is ground movement rather than bearing strength. South of that, the coastal plain and the coast turn to sand over a high water table and the question becomes drainage and settlement. All of it matters more for a container than for a house, because a container puts essentially its whole weight through four corner castings rather than spreading it along a footing.

For temporary placement: Set the container on solid bearing at the four corner castings rather than straight onto turf. Gravel, crushed stone, pressure treated timbers or solid blocks under each corner keep the box level, keep the doors square and keep the wood floor out of standing water. Grade so surface water runs away from the corners rather than under them.

For permanent placement or a conversion: A compacted gravel pad, or poured piers or footings under each corner casting bearing on undisturbed soil, with drainage that carries water away. IRC Section R403.1.4 requires exterior footings at least 12 inches below the undisturbed ground surface, and below the frost line where one applies. On Black Belt prairie clay the foundation has to be designed for movement rather than only for bearing, which is engineering work for an Alabama licensed engineer rather than a rule of thumb.

Frost depth: Shallow throughout Alabama. The IRC minimum of 12 inches below undisturbed grade is the practical floor. There is no single statewide figure to look up, because IRC Table R301.2 is filled in locally, so ask your building department for their number.

Frost depths in Alabama are shallow, so slab on grade and shallow crawl space construction both work and the frost line is not the main design question. Water and movement govern: where the water goes, how fast the soil sheds it, and whether the ground under the four corners stays put through a wet week and an August drought.

At a minimum, make the placement area level and firm, and clear debris, rocks and brush out of the way. Confirm the straight run the truck needs, and look up for lines and limbs. Soft ground can delay a delivery: a loaded truck can sink, so the driver may wait for the ground to dry. Describe the site in your quote request so it can be reviewed before delivery is scheduled.

The box itself is corrugated Corten steel. The lock is the weak point, so use a hidden shackle lock, sometimes called a puck lock, inside a lockbox welded over the handle. Ask whether the selected unit has a lockbox fitted.

The recurring signs are a price far under the market, a seller who will not let the container be seen or photographed, payment demanded by wire transfer or crypto, no verifiable business identity or contact route, and pressure to decide today. A real dealer will give you a phone number, answer questions before payment, and put the quote in writing.