Tampa Bay Storage Containers: Rent or Buy

Hurricane season sets the terms

From June through November, every Tampa container is a possible projectile. An empty 20 foot box weighs a couple of tons, but a surge or a high wind can still shift it, and a loaded one sitting on bare sand is not a safe bet in a flood zone. Providers here know this, and many will talk about tie-downs and anchor points before you do.

Ask whether the unit can be anchored to a pad, how the provider handles a storm warning and who moves the box if an evacuation is ordered. Some rental contracts put the responsibility on the renter. Read that part. Check your site against the flood maps too, because the low ground along Hillsborough Bay and in older parts of Saint Petersburg floods in ways that surprise people.

Insurance trips people up. Your policy may not cover a rented container or what is inside it, and a landlord's policy often does not either. Call your agent before you stock the box, not after the storm.

Humidity is the daily enemy

Tampa gets hot, wet air most of the year, and a steel box turns it into water on the ceiling. Cardboard sags, paper curls, tools rust and mold shows up inside a month. The fix is air movement and dry goods. Vents at both ends and a few inches of gap under the stock make a real difference, and a dehumidifier does more if there is power. Shelving beats stacking on the floor.

Insulation helps too, because it keeps the steel from swinging between hot afternoons and cooler nights. A wind and watertight or one-trip container with tight seals is worth the step up. As-is boxes with rust and pinholes are a bad idea here, since the salt air near the Gulf shortens their lives.

For records or electronics, a container with a sealed vapor barrier and an air handler is a different animal from a plain box. It costs more and is worth it if what is inside would be ruined by a wet summer.

Port Tampa Bay and the supply of boxes

Port Tampa Bay moves a lot of bulk cargo like phosphate and fuel, and containers are a smaller part of its business. Container supply is decent but not as deep as Jacksonville or Miami. Many used boxes move in by truck from other Florida ports. Prices sit in a middle range, and availability tightens after a major storm, when everyone needs storage at once.

That is the best argument for ordering ahead. If you are a contractor with a major job coming, book the box early rather than waiting for the week of the pour.

After a bad storm season, demand for boxes spikes and a few providers run dry for weeks. A longer rental commitment with a guaranteed unit costs a bit more but gets you through a rough year.

Local fabrication shops add roll-up doors and electric to used boxes, and many Tampa buyers turn them into a small office or a shop. A modified container usually still needs a permit for the electrical work, so ask who handles it.

Where the work is

Construction is steady across the Tampa Bay area. Downtown and the Channel District, where Water Street is still being built out, lean on containers as lockups. So do South Tampa remodels. Across the bay, Saint Petersburg and Pinellas Park have light industrial parks and older commercial strips. Zephyrhills, northeast of the city, is more rural, with horse properties and new subdivisions.

Temple Terrace, near the University of South Florida, has offices and apartments, and the university and its hospitals sometimes need temporary space. MacDill Air Force Base drives a lot of contractor activity in South Tampa. Retailers along Dale Mabry and in the Westshore business district rent holiday space.

Restaurants on Saint Pete Beach and in Ybor City use containers during remodels, and contractors working on seawalls and docks keep a box on site.

Delivery, rules and the quote

Tampa Bay sand is easier on trucks than clay, but it shifts. The truck needs the usual straight run of roughly twice the box length, and the base should be firm and level. Sandy lots can bog down a heavy truck, so say so when you book. Gravel or timber blocking under the corners keeps the box level and the floor dry in a summer downpour.

Check with your city or county about containers on residential lots, and with your HOA if you have one. HOAs in Florida can be strict. A storage container in a driveway tends to draw a complaint within a day or two.

Ask whether delivery and pickup are both in the quote and what grade the box is. Then ask what the plan is if a hurricane warning is posted. A provider who answers that last one clearly is probably the right one.

Zephyrhills and the east end of the county have more room and fewer rules, and a rural lot can fit a 40 footer without trouble. Pinellas Park and Saint Petersburg are more built up. Tight lots and overhead lines are the usual problem, so measure both before you pick a size.

Looking for a different city? Here are some nearby.

Other Tampa business topics.