Moving a Shipping Container (without a forklift or crane)

Picking up a shipping container at the depot or similar location is easy. Pull in, the forklift or crane picks up the container and drops is on the trailer, and you're off and running. The other week we talked about unloading a shipping container without a forklift, and now we'll go through when you need to move a shipping or storage container and don't have the luxury of having a forklift or crane available on site. If you find yourself in this situation you'll need a tilt bed truck, strong chain, and a piece of 4x4 wood or something similar.

There are a few tilt bed truck manufacturers that specifically design trailers for moving containers, and they include custom winches and chains to pull the container onto the truck. These all work great, however they tend to be a little slow and can overheat in hot dry climates. Our transporter in Denver, CO ran into this situation and came up with a clever work around; and the total loading process takes around 15 minutes. We've increased the speed of the video to keep it shorter and focused on the important parts.

1. Back the trailer up to the container with the bed fully tilted.
2. Connect the corner castings to the trailer with a heavy chain.
3. Lower the bed of the trailer and raise the container high enough to put a piece of 4x4 wood block or something similar under each corner
4. Tilt the bed back up to loosen and remove the chains.
5. Back the trailer under the container and remove the wood blocks.
6. Apply some gas and gradually back under the container, while levelling off the trailer.
7. Congratulations, your container is now loaded. Fasten it down and you're ready to drive!

If you need to move a shipping or storage container it's best to contact a local hauling company, or a local company that sells shipping containers. If you have any questions about shipping containers for sale on ContainerAuction.com please contact the seller directly through the site. If you have questions about our company in general, or how to buy and sell shipping containers online you can contact us directly.