Portable Storage in Southern California

Why rent a storage unit somewhere offsite when you can own a storage container and keep it on your property?

If you’re looking for a short term place to store your valuable posessions with minimal investment, an off-site storage location is a good idea.  They’ll give you 24 hour protection and access (within reasonable hours) to your stuff.  These places are all over Los Angeles and San Diego, and you can see them lining up and down the highway.

However, if you’re going to be keeping your things there more than nine months, the cost/benefit starts to shift from “makes sense” to “this is getting expensive”.  If you think you’ll fall into the latter scenario, you may want to check out buying a used shipping container.

Upfront Storage Costs vs Long Term Smaller Costs

If you’re able to swallow the upfront cost, there’s really no additional charge for owing a shipping container.  It’s not property, so there’s no property tax; it’s not a car, so there’s no auto tax.  Really, all you need to do is have a place to put it and you’re set.

Depending on how much stuff you have to store and the space that you have available to you, a 40′ container almost always makes more financial sense in a “cost per square foot” calculation.  However, they require a little extra ground space – and if you’ve got that you’re set.  If ground space is limited you’ll want to check out a 20′ shipping container.  A 20′ will give you half the enjoyment of a 40′, but all of the security at half the footprint.

Buying a Storage Container in Los Angeles or San Diego

There are several places to find used shipping containers for sale in Southern California.  The obvious places to start are eBay.com, Craiglist, and ContainerAuction.com.  Note: there are countless other generic lead generating websites that will recycle your information and sell it to potential suppliers, but there’s less security for your personal information.

eBay will probably show you every shipping container that it has for sale in North America, which is good for getting a price idea, but bad for sifting out what’s local and what’s not.

Craigslist usually has an interesting selection of shipping containers.  Some are for sale by individuals, and you’ll have to move it yourself (and air out that decomposing animal smell); but you’ll find some really cheap units (both in cost and quality).

ContainerAuction.com is aimed at both the residential and commercial buyers.  If you’re a serious buyer looking for a quick transaction, this is the place to go.  The pricing is upfront and visible, and the sellers are indistry professionals.

20′ and 40′ Containers in Los Angeles

Shipping containers are great building blocks for housing, storage solutions, construction and oil site offices, and ranch storage.  Los Angeles, California is a great place to find cargo containers for sale.  There’s a large supply of new and used containers available, and plenty of companies that can have them delivered to you for a reasonable cost.

 

Portable Storage

20′ and 40′ containers are portable in the sense that they can be moved from one place to another without a lot of planning and effort.  Depending on the equipment moving the container, the container may or may not need to be unloaded before it’s moved.  Unlike the lightweight, less durable POD or similar containers, they’re strong and more secure, but the trade off is that they’re a little harder to move from place to place.

Inexpensive Building Component

If you’re planning on building a house or similar structure, using a cargo container as a core unit means that you’re build time and labor costs could be a fraction of what they would be for a frame or block structure.  The unit is dropped off on-site, windows or doors are cut out and installed, and you’ve got the basics of a storage unit or portable office.

Quick Delivery and Installation

Depending on the schedule of the trucking or towing company a container can be delivered on-site within a couple of days.  You’ll want to prepare the site first with a foundation or stone bed, and once that’s in place you’re ready to go.  Most containers are sourced locally so you don’t have to wait weeks or months for the unit to be delivered.

20′ and 40′ containers are unloaded in the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach every day, and while many move on to inland destinations the ones that hang around are often put up for sale or auction.  If you’re looking for a used cargo container in Los Angeles check out ContainerAuction.com for a list of container dealers and containers for sale in the area.  The sellers on the auction website provide some of the cheapest containers and best deals in Southern California.

Tour of the Port of Los Angeles

The Port of Los Angeles, also called Los Angeles Harbor and WORLDPORT L.A, is a port complex that occupies 7,500 acres (3,000 ha) of land and water along 43 mi (69 km) of waterfront. The port is located on San Pedro Bay in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, approximately 20 mi (32 km) south of downtown. The Port of Los Angeles adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach, employs over 16,000 people,^[3][4][5] and is the busiest container port in the United States.^[3][4][5] For public safety, the Port of Los Angeles utilizes the Los Angeles Port Police to fight crime and terrorism, and the Los Angeles City Lifeguards to provide lifeguarding services for inner Cabrillo Beach.

 

Shipping Containers in San Diego

San Diego has some great shipping container projects going on, and it’s not hard to find new and used shipping containers at really affordable prices.  There are some really creative people in San Diego, and they’re doing some awesome things with containers.

San Diego Periscope

The Periscope is a creative office complex that acts as a cooperative office, exhibition and studio space, and educational area.  The focus of the project is around the arts. It’s “committed to the nexus of art, architecture, and regional urban issues.”   Why do we like it so much (outside of the great work they do)?  It’s made in part from used shipping containers!

Surf Board Shaper / Container Home Resident

Groups aren’t the only organizations involved in container projects, Tim Bessell got involved in the container housing game after 10 years of thinking about it.  Read more about him in this article from UT San Diego.

Container Home Collage

Container homes are becoming that popular that even NBC San Diego did a story on them!  Check out their story here.

Storage Containers

Shipping containers make great storage units.  You don’t need to modify them at all, except maybe add a bolt on lock box, and they’re ready to go from the time you drop it on the ground.   They’re relatively inexpensive, and they’re really strong.  More important than anything, they’re wind and water tight; so everything that you stuff inside of one will stay dry and out of the elements.

Where to buy Shipping Containers in San Diego

Given the close proximity to Los Angeles, shipping containers can be moved to San Diego for a decent rate, and coming out of LA they’re likely to be pretty cheap in terms of price.  There are a lot of container dealers in Southern California to choose from.  Wholesalers, retailers, shipping lines, and leasing companies all sell to different parts of the market, and many of them list their containers for sale on ContainerAuction.com.  If you need a new or used container, that’s a good place to start.

California Preppers – A Few Tips Before you Build a Shipping Container Shelter

Northern and Southern California have hundreds, if not thousands of shipping containers pouring through their ports on a daily basis.  California also plays host to some of the most severe wild files and natural disasters in all of the 50 States – which is why there are so many preppers in California.

Preppers aren’t the lunatic fringe that you see on television shows (granted, there are exceptions).  Preppers are considerate, forward thinking people that plan and train for potential disasters, both naturally occuring and man made.  One idea from our industry, the container industry, that preppers have taken a shine to is the repurposing of used shipping containers.  Lots of people from San Diego to San Francisco convert used containers into storage units, tool sheds, and modular housing.  Preppers have been buying them and taking the creativity up a notch by using them for storm shelters, “bug out cabins”, and fall out shelters.

One commonn link between preppers and those using containers for more pedestrian uses are the initial questions that they ask.  Almost all initial questions have to deal with

1. Delivering the container, stuffing it, and relocationing it,
2. Burying some or all of the container,
3. Retrofitting it with doors and windows.

Rather than rewrite their full article, I’ll direct you to read more about converting used shipping containers into shelters on the ContainerAuction.com site.

Los Angeles Shipping Containers for Sale

Los Angeles is a great place to buy cheap shipping containers.  The volume of cargo containers that pass through the area and the shipping and trucking lines that operate there — all make Long Beach one of the premier landing points for shipping containers on the West Coast.

The busiest container port is the Port of Long Beach, and it occupies a massive 3,200 acres!  Not impressed by that number?  It brings in roughly $100 billion dollars in trade annualy, and provides more than 316,000 jobs in Southern California alone!

What kind of shipping containers come through Long Beach?

Just about every type of shipping container that you can imagine passes through Long Beach.

• 20′ standard containers
• 20′ high cubes
• 40′ standard containers
• 40′ high cubes
• Open tops, referigerated containers… the list goes on, I think you get the idea.

Where Can I Buy a Shipping Container in Southern California?

Many shipping lines and container leasing companies aren’t geared to resell containers to the general population, so they deal with brokers and container traders.  In Southern California there are countless companies that offer containers for sale, and a few operate online.  One popular company that sells new and used shipping containers on the internet is ContainerAuction.com.  ContainerAuction.com offers cheap, wholesale pricing on shipping containers.

If you’re looking for a shipping container in Los Angeles, check ContainerAuction.com for current pricing and inventory – you won’t regret it.  Many of Southern California’s most respected container companies sell their containers through the website!

Shipping containers for sale in California are also available.  Competitive pricing, great information, and respected container industry professionals!