Containers and flood risk on the Clarence — what steel can and cannot do
How a shipping container really behaves when water comes up: what watertight means, why an empty container floats, and what steel genuinely gives you on low ground.
We are not a phone number pointed at somebody else's depot. There is a yard at 1a Reid St, South Grafton, with our sign on it and stock inside it, and you are welcome to come and look at the actual container before it goes on a truck to Yamba, Woolgoolga or anywhere between.
Sales and hire, the Clarence Valley and the Coffs Coast. Freight quoted with the container, ex GST.
Sizes and guide prices in one table so you can compare them without clicking through six pages. Everything here is either standing in the yard or a phone call from being sourced.
| Size | Internal L×W×H | Capacity | Used from | New from | Hire from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10ft Containers | 2.83m × 2.35m × 2.39m | 16m³ | $4,350 | $6,400 | Ask |
| 20ft Containers | 5.90m × 2.35m × 2.39m | 33.2m³ | $2,200 | $3,300 | $27/wk |
| 40ft Containers | 12.03m × 2.35m × 2.39m | 67.7m³ | $2,600 | $5,500 | Ask |
Grades matter. Cargo-worthy is the grade we check wind and watertight before it leaves the yard. As-is units are cheaper again and are not sold watertight — they may have a patched repair, a soft floor patch or a door seal that no longer seats, and we will point out exactly what is wrong with one before you buy it. New single-trip units are sealed and unmarked. If a container has to keep rain off what is inside it, buy cargo-worthy or better.
Guide pricing only, ex GST — what you pay delivered depends on where you are and what is in the yard that week. Ring (02) 5616 9099 and we will give you a real number rather than a range.
What is going inside, how long it needs to last and where it has to sit. That is enough for us to say which grade suits — and to say so honestly when the cheaper one will do.
One figure. The cartage to your address is inside it, whether that address is five minutes over the bridge or an hour up the highway at Woolgoolga.
Doors worked, floor sounded, seals looked at. Ask and we will send photographs of your specific container, serial number visible, before delivery.
Tilt-tray for most 10s and 20s, sidelifter for 40s, crane where the access says so. Or bring a truck to South Grafton and take it yourself.
Everyone here remembers 2022. We are not going to sell you steel on the back of it, so here is the plain version.
A cargo-worthy container is sealed against rain from above. Floodwater does not come from above. It comes up to the door seals and it gets in, and once it is in, the box holds it — which is worse, not better. An empty container is also buoyant. Given enough water it will lift off its blocks and go somewhere you did not put it.
What a container genuinely gives you is height, mobility and a dry lockable space. Blocked up on the highest firm ground you have, it keeps gear clear of the sort of water that fills a shed floor. Because it is a box on legs rather than a building, it can be lifted and moved to higher ground ahead of a rise — provided you have left a truck a way in, which is the part people forget. And after a rise, when the shed is a write-off, it is somewhere dry and lockable to keep tools and salvage while you rebuild.
That is the honest case, and it is a good one. Anyone telling you a container will keep floodwater out is telling you something else. There is more in containers and flood risk on the Clarence.
Cargo-worthy used 20ft from $2,200, new single-trip from $3,300. You own an asset that still has real resale value in ten years, and there is no clock running.
Guide prices, ex GST. Grade and freight confirmed on the phone.
How buying works20ft hire from $27 a week. Right for a build, a fit-out, a season on the farm or a job with an end date — no capital tied up and no disposal problem at the end.
Hire units are supplied cargo-worthy. Rates ex GST, delivery quoted separately.
How hire worksFrom the yard at South Grafton we run down the river to Maclean, Yamba and Iluka, up the highway to Woolgoolga, Coffs Harbour, Sawtell and south to Nambucca, and inland to Glenreagh, Coutts Crossing and the hinterland behind Bellingen. Pick your town for local detail.
Size, grade, cartage and a realistic date, in one conversation. No range, no freight surprise afterwards.
Or skip the form entirely.
Call (02) 5616 9099How a shipping container really behaves when water comes up: what watertight means, why an empty container floats, and what steel genuinely gives you on low ground.
What a tilt-tray, a sidelifter and a crane truck each need, how river silt and coastal sand behave under a loaded vehicle, and the three photos that settle it.
Grades, sizes, salt air, council questions and delivery access on the Coffs Coast — written for people buying their first shipping container.