Australia's most popular container, full stop. A 20ft general purpose container holds the contents of a typical 3-bedroom home and fits on a standard tilt-tray truck — which keeps delivery simple and affordable.
| Option | From |
|---|---|
| Used (cargo-worthy) | $2,200 |
| New (single-trip) | $3,300 |
| Hire | $27/week |
Price guide only — Brisbane-depot floor pricing; regional prices vary with local stock and freight. Call 1300 235 972 for today's exact price, delivered.
Grades, plainly: As-is units are sold as seen and are not sold watertight — watertight applies to cargo-worthy and new grades only. Your quote always names the grade, and photos of the actual unit are available on request before delivery.
| External | Internal | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 6.06m | 5.90m |
| Width | 2.44m | 2.35m |
| Height | 2.59m | 2.39m |
| Door opening | 2.34m wide × 2.28m high | |
| Capacity | 33.2m³ | |
| Tare weight | 2,200kg | |
Full comparison across all sizes on our dimensions page.
The 20ft general-purpose container is the size everything else is measured against. It is big enough to hold a household, a tradie's entire kit or a small farm's chemicals and spares, and small enough to travel on a standard tilt-tray and slide off into a driveway or beside a shed. That combination — useful volume and easy delivery — is why most of our enquiries end up as a 20ft, and why it is also the size we hire.
The inside is about 5.90m long, 2.35m wide and 2.39m high. That takes a packed three-bedroom household, or roughly nine or ten Australian standard pallets on the floor, or a small car with room to walk around one side. For a workshop or tool store, one wall of shelving and a bench still leaves a clear walkway down the middle. If you find yourself planning to stack right to the roof or bring in a 2.4m-tall item, remember the door opening is lower than the ceiling — 2.28m on a standard 20ft — and look at a high cube instead.
For storage, a used cargo-worthy 20ft is the smart buy: inspected, sold wind and watertight, and it does the same job as a new one with a few dents. A new single-trip 20ft is worth the extra when you will line it, paint it, put it where customers see it or want the longest possible life. As-is 20fts are the cheapest of all and are not sold watertight — they suit fencing gear, steel and outdoor equipment, not anything that must stay dry. Our price guide sets out the current ranges.
Put it on firm ground with a sleeper or concrete block under each corner casting, level end to end, with the doors where you can open them fully. A level container keeps its doors swinging freely for decades; one sitting out of level on soft ground will bind. Leave a small air gap underneath, fit a whirlybird or wall vents if you are storing furniture, paper or feed, and keep contents off the walls. Most 20ft containers have forklift pockets in the base, which makes them easy to shift around a farm or yard later.
Local access notes, common uses and how delivery is quoted for each area:
The honest breakdown of when a used container is the smart money — and the situations where new is worth every dollar.
The setups we see working on rural properties every week — and the honest word on what containers do badly on a farm, like round bales.
Hire runs $27–45/week; buying a used 20ft starts around $2,200. The crossover maths, plus the factors that shift it either way.
For a standard tilt-tray delivery you need about 3.5m width, 4m height clearance and roughly 15m of straight run for the truck to back in and tilt. Tight site? Send us photos and we'll figure it out — we do it every day.
New (single-trip) containers look sharp and carry the longest life expectancy; quality used (cargo-worthy) containers cost 30–40% less and are still wind and watertight. For pure storage, used is usually the smart money.
For temporary storage on residential land, usually not — but rules vary by council and how long it stays. Our team can point you to your council's current guidance.
About 2,200kg empty. That is why the ground under the truck matters as much as the ground under the container — soft lawn or wet dirt that looks fine can bog a loaded tilt-tray.
Most cars fit. The door opening is 2.34m wide, so the car goes in, but there is little room to open the car doors once it is inside. Measure the car's width with its mirrors folded before you decide.
Quotes within the hour*
Tell us what you need and we'll come back with a straight price — container plus delivery to your site, no surprises.
*During business hours. After hours, first thing next morning.