40 Foot Storage Container Rental in Philadelphia

A 40 is long. It needs about 40 feet of flat, firm ground plus room for the delivery truck to back in, tilt its bed and slide it off, which on most sites means a lot, a yard, a parking area or the inside of a fenced construction site. On a typical rowhome block, a 40 doesn't fit; a 20 foot container or two is the answer there.

On the street, Philadelphia's Code (Chapter 11-800) requires a Streets Department permit to place a portable storage unit, and the Streets Department can refuse one that would interfere with traffic. A 40 belongs on private property. Tell us the site, the ground and the gate width, and we'll confirm the spot before delivery.

A 40 foot container is long enough that what goes in first can disappear behind everything that follows. Keep an aisle down the middle, put the things needed last at the back and the things needed first at the doors, and label the pallets. Shelving down one wall holds the small parts and boxed fixtures, and lighting inside makes the back of the container usable on a dark morning.

If two crews pull from the same container, or one end will be blocked part of the job, a double-door container with doors at both ends means nothing is ever 40 feet away from a door.

A container full of a building's appliances and fixtures is worth a lot, and it's a target. Your own padlock, with a lock box welded over the locking bars so bolt cutters can't reach the shackle, is the baseline. On a site with a fence, the container goes inside it, ideally where the site's lighting and cameras can see the doors.

Write down what goes in as it arrives. On a big job, the container's contents are part of the building's materials list, and knowing what's inside saves a reorder when something seems to be missing.

Containers rent by the 28-day period and keep going until you call for pickup, so a one-year building project pays month by month with no long lease. Delivery and pickup are on the quote, and renewals bill every 28 days by card or bank autopay. Add dumpsters, porta potties and a holding tank for the site trailer, and the whole site is on one quote and one invoice.

Two 20 foot containers hold about the same as one 40, and sometimes they're the better choice. They fit on sites where a 40 won't, they can sit in two places on a big lot, close to the two areas where the work happens, and two crews can each have their own. On a narrow site or one with two separate work areas, two 20s beat one 40.

A single 40 is simpler where it fits: one delivery, one spot, one set of doors to lock, and room to keep an aisle down the middle. On a fenced commercial site or a big lot, it's usually the cleaner choice. Tell us the site and how the crews work, and we'll recommend one or the other.

A long rental through a Philadelphia summer means humid days and cool nights, and steel can sweat on the inside when the temperature swings. For a building's worth of cabinets, flooring and fixtures, that matters: keep everything on pallets or shelving, off the floor and away from the walls, and air the container out on dry days.

In winter, adhesives, paint and caulk can freeze in an unheated container, so they go in a heated space instead. Everything else, like doors, trim, tile, fixtures and tools, rides out a Philadelphia winter in a container without trouble.