Shipping Containers for Sale in Birmingham, AL

Container Delivery Specialists for The Birmingham metro area

Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County and the center of Alabama's largest metropolitan area, a seven county region built in a valley between two long ridges Deliveries reach Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, Walker, Bibb, Chilton, Tuscaloosa, Talladega, Cullman counties, and the practical questions change from one part of the area to the next. Avondale, Forest Park, Highland Park, Five Points South, Southside, Crestwood North, Crestwood South, Woodlawn, Norwood, Ensley, West End, East Lake, Bush Hills, Titusville, Smithfield, North Birmingham, Pratt City, Wylam, Fountain Heights, Glen Iris, Redmont Park, Roebuck, Huffman each bring their own access, placement, and ground-preparation considerations.

Birmingham runs its own zoning ordinance through the Department of Planning, Engineering and Permits, so a container placed on a Birmingham lot is a land use question answered by the Zoning Division rather than a vehicle parked in a driveway, and the ordinance addresses temporary storage containers by name with its own conditions and its own permit.

We have delivered containers throughout the Birmingham metro area and we know the local ground: Alabama hands you two different ground problems in one state, and the line between them is roughly the Fall Line. North and central Alabama is red clay over carbonate bedrock, so the questions are grade, karst and clay that is firm when dry and slick when wet. The Geological Survey of Alabama documents sinkhole and subsidence activity in that karst terrain across Jefferson, Shelby, Madison and the limestone valley counties. Through the middle of the state the Black Belt is different again: Alabama Cooperative Extension describes the clayey Wilcox, Mayhew and Vaiden soils of that belt as high in smectitic clays that shrink and crack when dry and swell when wet, which is movement rather than simple bearing. South of that, the coastal plain and the coast turn to sand over a high water table and the question becomes drainage and settlement. All of it matters more for a container than for a house, because a container puts essentially its whole weight through four corner castings rather than spreading it along a footing., along with the access and clearance realities of the streets here. Tell us your address and your situation, and you get an honest assessment and an accurate delivery quote.

Birmingham Delivery Considerations

A few things shape how a delivery goes in this area:

• Birmingham is a ridge-and-valley city, so grade is the normal condition rather than the exception. Driveways in Homewood, Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook and Redmont Park climb hard, and a container set on a slope needs blocking under the downhill corners so the doors swing true.
• Much of Jefferson and Shelby county sits on carbonate bedrock, and the Geological Survey of Alabama documents sinkhole and subsidence activity in this karst terrain. If any part of the property has ever slumped, cracked or held a soft spot that reappears after rain, say so when you book. We would rather move the drop spot twenty feet than set several tons over a void.
• Alabama red clay is firm when dry and slick when wet. A yard that carried a truck in July can rut in a March week of rain. Gravel, crushed stone, timbers or blocks under the four corner castings keep the container level and the floor out of standing water.
• Intown streets in Forest Park, Highland Park, Norwood and Avondale are narrow, lined with parked cars and shaded by mature canopy. A tilt-bed truck needs the bed to rise, so low limbs over the driveway matter more than the width of the gate. Walk the route from the street to the drop spot and look up.
• Traffic shapes the window. The interchange where Interstate 20, Interstate 59 and Interstate 65 meet, known locally as Malfunction Junction, and the US 280 corridor through Mountain Brook and Hoover both back up hard at peak. Most metro deliveries are scheduled outside those hours. Ask for the window when you book.
• Newer subdivisions in Hoover, Chelsea, Trussville and Helena often sit inside an HOA with its own rules on what may be stored in view of the street. Read the covenant before the truck rolls.
• Birmingham runs 147 miles off the Atlanta depot on Interstate 20. That is a straight, fast road, but it is a full run rather than a cross-town hop, so booking a few days out gets you a better window and a better shot at the morning you wanted.

For permit questions on a specific address, contact City of Birmingham Department of Planning, Engineering and Permits, 710 North 20th Street, Room 207 City Hall, Birmingham AL 35203, main line (205) 254-2211. Zoning Division (205) 254-2478. Permitting Division, City Hall Room 210, (205) 254-2904. For an address in unincorporated Jefferson County, contact Jefferson County Development Services, Jefferson County Courthouse Suite B200, 716 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. North, Birmingham AL 35203, (205) 325-5321..

Container Types Available in Birmingham

• 20ft Standard, Most popular size, fits most residential driveways
• 40ft Standard, Contractors, farms, businesses and larger properties
• 40ft High Cube, Conversions, tall equipment, maximum interior volume
• Modified, Job site offices, custom builds
• Refrigerated, Food service, cold storage