Shipping containers Sydney
Sydney has the deepest container stock in Australia and the hardest delivery conditions of any city we service. The unit is rarely the problem. Getting a truck to stop long enough to put it down is.
- Postcode2000
- Comes fromPort Botany, with yards through Chullora, Yennora and Erskine Park
- Typical lead timeUsually 3–5 business days, and book earlier for a fixed date
- Usual vehicleTilt-tray where access allows; crane truck is far more common here than anywhere else
- Used 20ft from$2,200 ex GST
The jobs a container does in Sydney
The pattern in Sydney is site storage on the endless residential building work from the inner west out to the north-west growth corridor, lockable trade storage on the industrial estates at Smithfield, Wetherill Park, Marsden Park and Ingleburn, equipment and archive storage for businesses priced out of warehouse space, gym and studio conversions on suburban blocks, and household storage during renovations that cannot use a garage because there is not one. The specification follows the job rather than the other way round, which is why we ask what is going in the box before quoting anything.
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10ft$4,350used, from
$6,400new, from -
20ft$2,200used, from
$3,300new, from -
40ft$2,600used, from
$5,500new, from
All figures ex GST and quoted as a guide. Condition and availability set the final number. What you are quoted for a Sydney address already has the delivery in it.
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.
Ground and access conditions in Sydney
Sydney access breaks down by era rather than by suburb. Anything built after about 1990 — the western and north-western growth corridors, the industrial estates, the newer estates south and out along the M7 — is generally straightforward: wide entries, level pads and room to work. Anything older is a genuine problem. Newtown, Marrickville, Balmain, Annandale, Paddington, the North Shore and most of the eastern suburbs have terrace frontages, rear lanes that were built for a horse, parked cars on both sides for the entire street and, on the North Shore particularly, driveways that drop away steeply from the kerb. In those areas a crane truck is not the expensive option, it is the only option, and we quote it as the base case rather than as a surprise. Two more things bite in Sydney and nowhere else as hard: truck curfews and access windows in some council areas and on strata sites, and the sheer difficulty of finding a legal place for a truck to stand still. Where a site has a loading dock, a building manager or a body corporate, tell us at the enquiry — the paperwork usually takes longer than the delivery.
Crane truck is the Sydney default, and here is why
In most of the country a crane truck — a HIAB — is what you use when a tilt-tray cannot manage. In the older half of Sydney it is the first vehicle we consider, because the specific thing a tilt-tray needs is the specific thing inner Sydney has least of: about twenty metres of straight, level run behind the truck with nothing parked in it.
A crane truck needs a fraction of that. It stops beside the site, puts its legs down, and lifts the container over a fence, a garden, a parked car or a side return. It costs more per job than a tilt-tray and it turns a large number of impossible Sydney addresses into ordinary deliveries. When we quote a crane truck for a Sydney address it is not an upsell — it is the difference between a container arriving and a truck going home loaded.
Strata, building managers and the paperwork nobody mentions
If the container is going to a commercial site, a strata property or anywhere with a building manager, the constraint is usually administrative rather than physical. Loading dock bookings, insurance certificates for the lifting contractor, permitted hours, and in some council areas a permit if any part of the operation occupies the road or footpath.
None of it is difficult and all of it takes time. Tell us at the enquiry that the site has a building manager and we will work to that timeline instead of quoting you a two-day delivery that then sits waiting a fortnight for a dock booking.
Sydney stock, and what it actually gets you
The upside of Port Botany is choice. On a normal week there is real selection in used cargo-worthy 20ft and 40ft, high cubes are readily available rather than special-order, and there is enough new single-trip stock that a colour preference is often possible.
That depth is worth using. If you have a specific requirement — a particular grade, a side-opening unit, a container with a genuinely clean floor because food-grade goods are going in it — Sydney is the market most likely to have it standing on the ground rather than three weeks away.
Sydney — common questions
Can a container be delivered to a narrow Sydney street?
Yes, in almost all cases, with a crane truck instead of a tilt-tray. A tilt-tray wants about twenty metres of clear straight run to slide a 20ft off; most inner Sydney streets cannot offer that with cars parked. A crane truck stops beside the site, extends its legs and lifts the unit over whatever is in the way. Send photos of the street, the frontage and the placement spot and we will confirm the vehicle before quoting.
How far in advance should I book a Sydney delivery?
Three to five business days for a straightforward address, and longer if you need a specific date. Sydney has more variables than anywhere else we deliver — crane truck availability, access windows, dock bookings, road permits — and the ones that slow a job down are almost never the container. If your job has a fixed date, tell us at the enquiry rather than at the order.
Do I need a permit to put a container on my property in Sydney?
For a container used as storage on private property, most Sydney councils do not require approval, but the rules genuinely differ council to council and there are conditions about setbacks, time limits and use as habitable space. A permit is more likely to be needed for the delivery itself where a crane truck has to occupy the road or footpath. We will tell you when a job looks like it needs one; confirm the property side with your council before you order.
Which container size suits a Sydney back yard?
A 20ft if there is a way to get one in, because it is far better value per cubic metre. On a terrace or a narrow block, a 10ft is often the only unit that physically fits, and a crane truck can put one into a courtyard that has no vehicle access at all. The honest test is width at the tightest pinch point and what is directly above the placement spot.
Elsewhere in the country
One number, cartage included
No separate delivery bill afterwards. Ask what a container to Sydney actually costs.
Or skip the form — 1300 263 976