Can a container be moved once delivered?
Yes — a container you own can be picked up by a tilt-bed and set somewhere else on the property, at your next place or at a camp, and it is a normal truck job billed like one. What does not work is dragging it with a tractor or a truck, which racks the frame and ruins the doors; so pick the spot right the first time, and when it does have to move, hire the truck.
Yes, and it is a truck job billed like one
A tilt-bed picks a container up the way it set it down, in reverse: backs up to the doors end, winches the box up the tilted bed, drives it to the new spot and slides it off. It needs the same straight run and firm ground at both ends — about 110 feet for a 20ft, 100 for a 40 — and it costs a trip. Local haulers around Hattiesburg and Laurel do this routinely; it is the same service as a delivery.
Because you own the box, you can move it anywhere: across the yard, to the new house when you sell, to the hunting camp. That flexibility is one of the real advantages of owning over renting — see rent vs buy.
For a short move on a hard surface, the container mobility kit on the accessories page — castor wheels that bolt to the corner castings — lets a loaded box be rolled a few feet or turned, which is often all anyone actually needs.
Dragging it yourself is how containers get damaged
A container is strong at its corners and in compression; it is not built to be pulled sideways across the ground. Drag one with a chain and a tractor and the frame racks, the floor cross-members catch, and the doors — which only seal when the box is square — stop closing. We see used boxes with doors that have to be forced, and that is usually the story behind them.
If it must shift a few inches to get level, use a jack under a corner casting, not a pull. A 6-ton bottle jack and blocks is the right tool, and that is on the accessories page too.
Getting the placement right the first time
Think a few years ahead, not a month. Where will the shop, the fence, the new carport, the pool go? Will the doors still be reachable when the truck is parked? Will you want it screened from the street? Mark the corners, stand in the spot, and walk the truck's run before delivery day. See delivery access and getting ready for delivery.
Set it on blocks or a gravel pad from the start so it is level and can be re-levelled, and it will sit happily on that spot for twenty years. See containers for sale — delivered price by ZIP
Moving a 20ft container to the next job
Contractors move a tool crib from lot to lot on a tilt-bed. Plan it empty: a loaded 20ft is a different truck. That move is a separate job for a local container hauler; ask us and we will point you to one. The tool crib explains the setup.
Buying a container?
Longleaf sells used and one-trip 20ft and 40ft shipping containers, delivered by tilt-bed across the Pine Belt. Enter your ZIP for the delivered price — it comes straight from the supplier feed and already includes the haul. Locks, vents, shelving and lights are on the accessories page. We sell; we do not rent.
- 20ft Standard Cargo Worthy (used) — from $2,885 delivered
- 20ft Standard One Trip (new) — from $3,635 delivered
- 20ft Standard Wind & Watertight (used) — from $2,470 delivered
- 40ft High Cube Cargo Worthy (used) — from $3,525 delivered
- 40ft High Cube One Trip (new) — from $4,925 delivered
- 40ft High Cube Wind & Watertight (used) — from $3,210 delivered
- 40ft Standard Cargo Worthy (used) — from $3,525 delivered
- 40ft Standard One Trip (new) — from $6,355 delivered
- 40ft Standard Wind & Watertight (used) — from $3,160 delivered
Keep reading
- Are containers safe in a hurricane? — Is a shipping container safe in a hurricane: why steel and weight handle inland wind, why water and placement are the real risks, and how to anchor one.
- Renting vs buying a storage container in Laurel, MS — Storage container rental vs buying in Laurel, MS: when a monthly rental is the right call in Jones County, when owning wins, and what a Laurel lot needs.
- Does insurance cover a container and what is in it? — Does insurance cover a shipping container and contents: how a homeowner's policy sees a box you own, the gaps that bite in Mississippi, and what to ask.
- Shipping containers for sale in Hattiesburg, MS: what a delivered 20ft or 40ft really costs — Shipping containers for sale in Hattiesburg, MS: used and one-trip 20ft and 40ft boxes, what sets the delivered price, what it includes, what to check first.
- Used shipping container prices in Mississippi: what moves them and what is included — Used shipping container prices in Mississippi: how size, grade, high cube and depot distance set the delivered price, what it includes, and what it leaves out.
Across the Pine Belt
Hattiesburg · Petal · Laurel · Ellisville · Purvis · Sumrall · Columbia · Collins · Seminary · Wiggins