Shipping containers for Hemmant

Hemmant is not a typical suburb. It sits in the middle of Brisbane's bayside industrial belt, between the Gateway Motorway, Bulimba Creek and the approaches to the Port of Brisbane, and a lot of the addresses here are yards, depots and workshops rather than houses. That shapes almost every container job we quote in the area.

The businesses behind most Hemmant enquiries

The port and its supply chain drive this part of Brisbane. Freight forwarders, customs brokers, transport companies, container parks, fabrication shops and marine businesses are spread through Hemmant, Lytton, Murarrie, Tingalpa and out along Port of Brisbane Road. Many of them already handle containers every day, but handling someone else's shipping container and owning a unit for your own storage are different things.

Typical requests from the area include a 40ft as a parts and consumables store beside a workshop, a 20ft as a secure lockup for tools on a yard that is otherwise open, a high cube for racking pallets of slow-moving stock, and dangerous goods units for oils, coolants, paints and cleaning chemicals that should not be sitting loose on a workshop floor.

There are homes here too. Hemmant has residential streets on its southern side, and the neighbouring suburbs of Wynnum, Manly, Lota and Tingalpa are mostly residential. Those customers are usually renovating, moving or clearing a shed, and their jobs look like any other Brisbane household delivery.

Yard access, hardstand and sidelifters

Industrial sites are often the easiest places to deliver a container. Wide gates, sealed or compacted hardstand and plenty of turning room mean a sidelifter can place a 40ft exactly where you want it, and a tilt-tray has no trouble with a 20ft. The things that catch industrial deliveries out are different: overhead gantries and power feeds, forklifts and trucks working in the same space, and set-down spots that look flat but are cambered to shed water.

Tell us what else moves through your yard and when. If there is a site induction, a traffic management plan or a preferred gate, we need to know before the truck is booked rather than when it arrives. If your forklift can move a container once it is on the ground, say so, because that can open up options on placement.

Stacking and laying out several units

A lot of yards around the port want more than one container, and the question of stacking comes up often. Containers are designed to stack through their corner castings, but a stack is only as good as the ground under it and the way it is locked together. Two high on a proper hardstand with twist-locks or bridge clamps is a common arrangement; stacking on soft ground, on uneven pavers or without locking is how containers end up leaning.

Side-by-side layouts with a roof between them are another popular setup for workshops. Our stacking guide goes through the loads involved, what the ground has to take, and when it is time to get an engineer involved.

Salt air and bayside conditions

Hemmant is only a few kilometres from Moreton Bay, and the air carries salt, particularly closer to the port and the river mouth. Steel containers cope with salt air well if they are looked after. Wash the roof and door gear down every so often, keep the door hinges and locking bars greased, and deal with scratches and chips before they turn into rust. A container that sits in a puddle will rust from the bottom rails up, so keep it on blocks or sleepers and let water drain away underneath.

Condensation is the other bayside issue. Humid air trapped in a closed container will condense on the underside of the roof when the temperature drops. Vents, a bit of airflow and not storing anything wet are the usual fixes.

Sizes that suit bayside jobs

• 20ft general purpose — tool store, secure lockup on an open yard, household renovation storage
• 40ft general purpose — parts, consumables and overflow stock for workshops and transport depots
• High cube — pallet racking, workshop space and anything that needs headroom
• Dangerous goods — oils, fuels, paints and chemicals kept bunded and ventilated
• Side-opening — forklift loading along the full length, handy for pallet stock that turns over often

Around Hemmant: places we deliver

Lytton · Murarrie · Tingalpa · Wynnum West · Wynnum · Manly · Lota · Cannon Hill · Morningside · Belmont · Gumdale · Port of Brisbane · Pinkenba · Eagle Farm · Carindale. Not on the list? Ring and ask — it's likely covered.