How Much Does It Cost to Rent a Shipping Container in Denver?

Box Yard

Apr 18

3 min read

Updated: Aug 27

A 20 foot shipping container in the Denver metro runs $180 to $200 a month. A 40 foot runs $325 to $350 a month. If you also need ground around the container to park trucks and trailers, that starts at $525 a month.

Most places make you fill out a form before they tell you a price. Here are the numbers up front.

What each size gets you

A 20 foot container gives you about 19

feet of interior and 160 square feet, for $180 to $200 a month.

A 40 foot container gives you just under 39 feet and 320 square feet, for $325 to $350 a month.

Space plus a container gives you 800 to 1,600 square feet of yard with the box on it, starting at $525 a month.

Every price is month to month. You pay first month plus a one month deposit to move in. No annual contract. No utilities. No build out.

See what is open right now before you call.

What drives the price

Three things. Size, whether you need yard space around the box, and where the yard sits. A container by itself is the cheapest way in. Add ground and the price goes up, but so does what you can do with it.

If all you need is a locked steel box for tools and material, take the 20 foot. If you carry 10 foot pipe or conduit, take the 40 foot. Ten foot stock lies flat inside a 40 with room left over. There is a full breakdown in what size storage container a contractor needs.

Should you just buy one instead?

You can buy a 40 foot container for $3,700 to $5,000 before delivery. Then you need somewhere to put it.

That is where most people stop. Residential zoning across the Denver metro generally does not allow a shipping container sitting on a lot. Commercial land that does allow it costs more than the container did. By the time you have bought the box, paid to move it, and found legal ground, you are past two years of rent.

Renting on a yard skips all of it. The zoning, the fence, the gravel and the gate are already handled.

If you are weighing this against a building instead, read contractor storage yard vs industrial lease. If you are weighing it against a storage unit, read container storage yard vs self storage.

What you get at Box Yard

Your container sits at ground level. Double doors at one end. You back a truck up and load. No ramp, no dock, no lift.

You get in through a coded gate, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No office to call. No hours to wait for.

The yards have no height restrictions. Bucket trucks fit. Dump trailers with the bed up fit. Self storage with a covered drive aisle cannot say that.

You put your own lock on your own container.

If you need room to park alongside the box, that is space plus a container rather than a container on its own. Most plumbers and electricians end up there once the vans are part of it.

What you should know before you call

The yards are not supervised. Cameras may be up but nobody is watching them around the clock, and the lease does not make Box Yard liable if something walks off. Carry coverage on anything expensive. There is more on judging a yard in what to look for in a secure contractor storage yard.

What a gated yard does buy you is that anything heavy needs a vehicle to move it, and the gate stops the vehicle.

A few rules. Vehicles stored on site have to be insured and running. You can do minor repairs and maintenance on your own equipment, but no fluid changes, because a gravel yard has nowhere to catch oil or coolant. And you cannot paint, drill, weld or cut a Box Yard container. The full list is on the rules page.