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Getting ready for spring – shipping container tips

With spring fast approaching, we’ve got a couple of tips on how to best prepare your shipping container for the weather change. This includes some tips on how to arrange your winter lease return and also how to convert your winter container for potential summer uses.

WINTER RETURNS

In order to return your winter rental, we ask that you reach out to us 2-3 business days before your intended return date. We need to ensure the correct trailer is available so that the container can be safely picked up. Once a date has been set, please make sure the container is empty and there are no obstacles for the driver. For safety reasons, our drivers will not transport loaded containers.

Additional time charges or dead-run fees will added to your bill if the driver has to wait for the container to be emptied or obstacles need to be moved once they arrive on site. Please further review our pickup and delivery guidelines.

If you are still facing wintery conditions at your location, please be mindful of the following few items. Once again, for safety reasons, our drivers cannot transport containers with snow or ice on the roof. We ask our clients to make sure the roof of their containers are clean prior to being picked up. We also recommend our customers to apply salt to all four corners of the container in order to make sure it is accessible by our drivers who will hook onto the corner posts and pull winch the unit onto their trailer.

SPRING PREPARATION

If you plan on keeping your container throughout the spring months, please be aware of the changing conditions. As the snow and ice melt, it will cause the ground to soak in moisture and become soft. If you’ve placed your container on a field, the ground underneath may shift, especially as weight is added into the container. If the container frame bends or twists, which is especially likely on the longer 40’ shipping containers, the over shape and structural integrity of that container may be affected.

WARM WEATHER USES

One of the most popular summer uses for shipping containers is storage for your winter equipment. Snowboards, skis, and snowmobiles can be safely tucked away inside your storage container for the summer months. Our best tip here is to try to spread the weight inside the container evenly across the floor and we also recommend using a high-quality locking system, such as the puck lockbox. It will give you peace of mind.

Our team at ATS Containers has been ramping up our inventory with new and used shipping container units. We have been stocking up on all sizes of containers, including the smaller 10’ units, standard 20’ and 40’ containers and also the highly specialized custom containers we offer (such as our mobile offices, dangerous goods containers and refrigerated storage container units). We welcome your inquiries and are excited to ship more containers across Canada.

For more information, you can contact us by telephone at 1-866-846-0270 or by email at info@atscontainers.com.