Shipping containers Brisbane
Brisbane is the easiest city in the country to buy a container in and one of the harder ones to deliver into. Stock sits at Lytton and out along the Wacol corridor, so supply and choice of grade are as good as they get — and then the truck has to get up a 1-in-5 driveway in Bardon.
- Postcode4000
- Comes fromPort of Brisbane and the Wacol–Richlands industrial corridor
- Typical lead timeUsually 2–4 business days from order to on the ground
- Usual vehicleTilt-tray for 10ft and 20ft; side loader or crane truck for 40ft
- Used 20ft from$2,200 ex GST
What Brisbane actually uses them for
The recurring Brisbane jobs are site storage on the infill blocks going up through Keperra, Wynnum and Carina, lockable trade storage on the industrial land at Wacol, Rocklea, Geebung and Northgate, household storage while a renovation runs three months over, gym and workshop conversions in the outer suburbs, and equipment storage for the acreage out through Samford, Karana Downs and the Redlands. Each is a slightly different specification and it sorts out faster by voice than off a price list. One call covers grade, availability and cartage to Brisbane.
-
10ft$4,350used, from
$6,400new, from -
20ft$2,200used, from
$3,300new, from -
40ft$2,600used, from
$5,500new, from
Starting prices, ex GST. The grade the job actually needs is the bigger variable. Cartage to Brisbane is quoted with the container, so the number you are given is the number you pay.
Grade changes the price more than size does, and it is what decides whether a unit is sold watertight — the full rundown is on the grades page.
What the truck needs at a Brisbane address
Brisbane splits into three delivery problems. The flat industrial belt — Wacol, Rocklea, Archerfield, Northgate, Hemmant — is as straightforward as delivery gets: wide entries, hardstand, room to line up. The inner and western suburbs are the opposite. Paddington, Bardon, Red Hill, The Gap, Ashgrove and most of the Kenmore side have steep, short driveways with a crest at the street, high-set houses with the only usable space underneath or behind, and mature figs and poincianas hanging over the road. A tilt-tray needs a run-in that is straight and reasonably level; a driveway that pitches down hard off the kerb will ground the bed before the container is halfway off. The third case is ground. The low country through Rocklea, Oxley, Fairfield and along Breakfast Creek is river silt, and after a wet week it looks firm and gives way under four corner castings carrying two tonne each. Send a photo of the entry, one looking down the approach and one of the spot, and we will tell you which truck it is before anyone quotes.
Where a Brisbane container actually comes from
Almost everything that lands in a Brisbane backyard has come off a ship at Fisherman Islands and been trucked to a depot at Lytton, Hemmant or out along the Ipswich Motorway through Wacol and Richlands. That short haul is why Brisbane pricing is competitive and why the choice of grade is real rather than notional — on any given week there is genuine selection in cargo-worthy 20ft, which is not true in every city we deliver to.
It also means the cartage component of your price is mostly a function of which side of town you are on. A drop at Cleveland or Wynnum is coming from twenty minutes away. A drop at Ipswich or out past Samford is a different run and a different number. We quote the container and the truck together so you see one figure rather than discovering the freight on the invoice.
The driveway problem, honestly
More Brisbane deliveries get re-scoped for access than in any other city we service, and it is nearly always the same thing: a steep short driveway on a hill suburb, or a high-set house where the only sensible spot is behind the house with a two-metre side gate in front of it.
There are three real answers and we will tell you which one applies rather than turning up and finding out. Sometimes the tilt-tray can still do it from the street with the container placed parallel to the kerb. Sometimes it is a crane truck, which costs more per job and reaches over a fence and a garden bed without touching either. And sometimes the honest answer is that a 20ft will not fit where you want it and a 10ft will, which is a cheaper delivery and a smaller invoice for us. We would rather say that on the phone than send a truck.
Getting one before Christmas, and other timing realities
Two to four business days is the normal Brisbane turnaround for a standard cargo-worthy 20ft going to a straightforward address. New single-trip stock and anything unusual — a high cube in a particular colour, a 10ft, a side-opening unit — can add a week because it may be coming from another depot.
The two periods that genuinely stretch are the fortnight before Christmas and the run-up to the end of the financial year, when every business in south-east Queensland is trying to get an asset on the ground before a date. If your job has a date on it, tell us the date up front. It changes what we recommend, not just when we book the truck.
Brisbane — common questions
How much is a shipping container delivered in Brisbane?
A cargo-worthy used 20ft starts from $2,200 and a new single-trip 20ft from $3,300, both ex GST and both before cartage. Delivery in the Brisbane metro is generally the cheapest cartage in the country because the depots are close, but it still varies with which side of town you are on and which truck the site needs. We quote the container and the delivery as one number.
Can you deliver a container to a steep Brisbane driveway?
Often, but not always with a tilt-tray. A tilt-tray needs a run-in that is straight and not pitching away hard off the kerb. Where the driveway crests or drops sharply, the usual answer is a crane truck, which lifts the container over the obstacle rather than sliding it down a slope. Send us photos of the kerb, the driveway and the spot and we will confirm the vehicle before we quote it rather than after.
Do I need council approval for a container in Brisbane?
For a container used as storage on a residential property, most Brisbane City Council situations do not require approval provided it is not being used as a dwelling, is not in a setback or easement, and is not creating a nuisance. Rules differ for a container that is being converted, connected to services, or placed on a site subject to a specific overlay. We are not your certifier — check with council before you order if there is any doubt, because moving one afterwards costs more than the approval.
How long does delivery take in Brisbane?
Two to four business days is normal for standard stock going to an address the truck can reach easily. Unusual sizes, particular colours and anything coming from an interstate depot take longer. Tell us the date you actually need it by when you enquire — it changes what we recommend from stock, not just how we book the truck.
More delivery areas
Get a delivered price for Brisbane
Tell us what is going in it and where it is going — you get one number, not a range.
Or skip the form — 1300 263 976