The transport of large heavy steel shipping containers into metropolitan Melbourne requires a special set of logistics, machinery and precise safety requirements in order to be carried out. General freight or palletized shipments have a moderate, diffuse unladen weight and standard dimensions, but shipping containers have a high, concentrated unladen weight and specific dimensions that vary significantly, when they have inventory, vehicles, or site equipment.
Our commercial transport division is fitted with top quality hydraulic tilt-bed trailers and specialist Landoll equipment designed to load, transport and unload 10ft, 20ft, 40ft or high cube containers with no crane required on site. We save your business the hundreds of dollars in operational layout costs of hiring an expensive auxiliary mobile crane operator.
Our 2026 pricing and operations guide gives you complete and transparent financial transparency for commercial container haulage throughout Victoria, based on your specific asset details.
This provides an overview of shipping container transport pricing.This is a shipping container transport pricing matrix.
Rates for our container transport are directly based on the physical classification of the steel unit and the weight distribution of the steel unit. Our pricing categories scale gradually to maintain a predictable logistical plan for larger models, special highway route clearing and higher fuel consumption.
Use the shipping container transport pricing matrix to prioritize your needs and identify the best solution.
The steel unit's size classification and the distribution of weight determines the service cost for our container transport. Larger models require more complex multi-axle deployments, special highway route clearing requirements and more fuel usage, so our pricing categories are incremental to ensure cost certainty in your planning.
Container Service Rates
10ft Container ($350 – $600)
Designed for smaller, mobile storage boxes, pop-up kiosks and site office pods. Fitted with the usual tilt-and-slide mechanism.
Standard intermodal container cargo moves 20ft container ($450 – $750)
Integrated heavy duty chassis pulling with a strong twist-lock corner casting hook.
40ft & High-Cube Container ($700 – $1,300)
Designed for full length industrial cargo containers and high cube. Requires multi-axle hydraulic tilt-bed / Landoll trailers for commercial applications.
Loaded Container
Custom Quote, designed for containers loaded using heavy equipment, vehicles or bulk commercial stock. Uses customized weight distribution information.
The advanced Technical Aspects Of Our Shipping Fleet
If you hire Southern Towing and Car Removals to handle your container logistics, you are about to use a technologically well advanced fleet that's specifically designed to remove friction from your site logistics:
No Crane Needed Mechanics
A traditional flatbed transport requires an additional mobile crane crew to be booked separately and at a high cost to pick up the container from above and drop it onto the flatbed. Our specialized hydraulic tilt-bed and Landoll trailers are backed straight up to the container, connect to the corner castings and using industrial winches we move the steel frame completely onto our truck bed thus eliminating huge crane hire overhead.
Legally, intermodal shipping containers are not allowed to be secured to a moving truck in a simple transport chain or with nylon ratchet straps.In the legal sense, you cannot secure an intermodal shipping container to a moving truck with a simple transport chain or nylon ratchet strap. The commercial flatbeds are equipped with twist-lock corner casting pins integrated into the container corners that lock in place firmly with the container structure and provide the asset with a perfect ground clearance from wind resistance on highways.
High-Cube Clearance Routing
High-cube containers are a shipping container with an additional foot of vertical clearance than the standard shipping container. They can also easily be a nuisance when being loaded onto a heavy transport deck, as they sit too high off the ground to clear low overheads like metropolitan bridges, overpasses and low electrical power wires. Every route is pre-charted in our dispatch team giving the crew safe passage across Melbourne through specialised commercial channels.
The Key Factors That Define Site Logistics For Containers
Our tiered matrix will help you determine your base transport price, but there is a need to carefully evaluate the site for a successful drop without damage. By knowing what these environmental factors are, you can keep your move going smoothly:
Clearances for Straight-Line Truck Approaches
Since our hydraulic tilt beds move the container directly off the back of the delivery truck, the truck will have to travel a long way forward as the container comes to the ground. The site should provide a completely straight and unobstructed run of at least 20 metres to carry out a standard 20ft container drop. A 40ft long container will require at least 40 metres of space for a full length placement. There should be no structural obstructions, narrow gates or loose materials blocking the entrance.
Plan The Orientation Of Containers
A tilt tray system does mean that if the container doors are loaded traditionally the doors will be facing the exact opposite direction to the truck's travel. Please make sure to notify our dispatch coordinators if your business location needs a door to open towards a specific warehouse dock, have a secure perimeter fence line or have a narrow driveway opening. The drivers need to have to be extremely exact about which end of the container to hook onto to avoid the need for a complicated and time-consuming multi-turn load and re-load on the road.
Why Choose Southern Towing for Car Towing & Removal
24/7 Rapid Dispatch (20-45 Min ETA)
We have a fully equipped fleet strategically placed close to Melbourne's main freeway arteries to give you an elite 20 to 45 minute estimated arrival time to get to you quickly.
You should never use the hook-and-chain trucks that were built for gas-powered cars to tow an all-wheel drive (AWD) or an electric vehicle (EV) as these trucks will not be able to provide adequate support for these two types of cars. Our flatbeds are top of the line hydraulic flatbeds, which are used to raise your vehicle completely off the pavement.
Not all car issues require you to drop at the mechanic's shop. We bring all the latest diagnostic equipment, low amp jump packs and commercial air compressors to provide immediate jump starts, tire changes and car lockout service.
Full Commercial Cargo Insurance
We fully insure your private or company asset using high level On-Hook Cargo Liability Protection, ensuring that you are kept covered from the moment we hook the winch to your vehicle until its safe unhooking.