A 20ft storage container gives you roughly 160 square feet of lockable space, running about 20 feet long, 8 feet wide and 8.5 feet tall on the outside, and it shows up on job sites right alongside a temporary fence rental or a light tower rental when a site needs more than just a box. Mobile Porta Pros keeps them in rotation for job sites and moves across Mobile, and pricing sits inside the storage container rental cost range most renters see locally.
An empty 20ft steel container typically weighs somewhere in the 4,000 to 5,000 pound range once you account for the frame, corrugated walls and floor decking. That number matters for two reasons: it tells your delivery driver what kind of truck and chassis to bring, and it tells you what the ground underneath needs to hold once the box is loaded. If you're stacking pallets, tools, or renovation debris inside, the combined weight climbs fast, so a lot of customers pair a container with a 10 yard dumpster rental instead of overloading the box with construction scrap, and crews working through the dumpster sizes and dimensions page often land on a matching container size at the same time. Ground prep matters here too. Soft or sloped ground in parts of Mobile near the bay can settle under a loaded container, so a gravel pad or timber blocking is worth doing before delivery day. If you're not sure which unit fits the job, the general storage container rental page breaks down sizes side by side, including how the 20ft compares to a 40ft storage container for bigger crews, and how it fits alongside a broader construction site services order.
Standard external dimensions run about 20 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 8.5 feet tall, with interior space slightly smaller once you account for wall thickness. That gives most renters enough room for a small crew's tools, seasonal inventory, or the contents of a two to three bedroom home during a move. Door openings on most units run wide enough for pallet jacks and hand trucks, though exact clearance varies by container. If your project needs a working space rather than just storage, some renters upgrade to a 20ft mobile office container with trailer setup, which adds a desk, lighting and sometimes AC on top of the storage footprint. That's a different product than a bare steel box, closer to what you'd get from a mobile office trailer rental, so it's worth deciding early which one the job actually needs, especially if the crew also needs an 8 stall restroom trailer parked nearby.
Refrigerated units exist and some suppliers stock them, but availability is limited compared to standard dry containers, and Mobile Porta Pros recommends confirming stock and temperature range before committing a delivery date. Cold storage containers cost more to rent than a standard 20ft box because of the refrigeration unit and the power draw involved, so budget accordingly if your event or job needs it. If you're running a festival, farm operation, or catering setup and just need general dry storage rather than refrigeration, a standard container or a 20ft storage container at typical pricing usually covers it. For sites also running restrooms and handwashing alongside storage, pairing with a handwashing station rental or portable sink rental covers the sanitation side without adding another refrigerated unit to the order, and a festival restroom rental order often gets quoted at the same time.
| duration | typical range |
|---|---|
| month | $100 to $250 |
Pricing depends on delivery distance, ground access and rental length, so a container going out near Tillmans Corner, about 10.4 miles southwest of central Mobile, may carry a different delivery line than one staying closer to downtown. Longer rentals generally bring the effective monthly rate down. Delivery itself needs roughly 60 feet of straight clearance behind the truck to place the box, similar to what's needed for a roll-off dumpster rental, so tight urban lots or narrow driveways should get checked ahead of time, the same way a dumpster permit requirements check gets done before a roll-off drops.
Most renters keep containers for a month or longer, since pricing favors longer terms over short-term use. Short rentals are possible for moves or quick cleanouts, but a full home renovation, detailed on the home renovation porta potty page for the sanitation side, usually runs weeks to months, and the container rental typically matches that timeline, much like a monthly porta potty rental tends to run longer than a weekend booking.
Placement in the public right of way, like a street or sidewalk, needs confirming with the City of Mobile before delivery. Most residential driveway or private lot placements don't trigger the same review, but check with the city if the container will sit anywhere near a curb or public easement, similar to how porta potty permit requirements get checked before a unit goes curbside.
A 20ft unit offers about half the floor space of a 40ft storage container, roughly 160 square feet versus 320. Weight capacity and delivery clearance needs scale up too. Most single-crew job sites or small household moves fit fine in the 20ft size, while bigger builds tend to add a 30 yard dumpster rental alongside the container for debris.
Yes, but the ground needs to be level and compacted first. Soft or sloped ground risks the container settling unevenly over a multi-month rental, which can jam the doors. A gravel pad a few inches deep solves most of this for Mobile's clay-heavy soil.
Yes. Delivery reaches surrounding communities including Prichard, about 11.3 miles north, and Daphne, about 16.8 miles east. Distance affects the delivery fee, so ask for a quote through the request a quote page with your exact address, or check the service areas page to see the full delivery footprint.
Yes. Mobile Porta Pros delivers 20ft storage container across Mobile and the surrounding metro, with same-day and next-day drop-off available on most orders.
Pricing depends on the unit and how long you need it. See our cost breakdown and request a free quote for an exact figure.
Standard rentals include scheduled service — a pump-out, a clean, a restock and fresh deodorizer. Busy or hot-weather sites can be serviced more often.
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