Before You Buy a Container

Twistlock Africa does not sell shipping containers. We have no stake in which one you buy, or from whom — almost every other guide on this subject is published by somebody selling the box, which is worth remembering when you read one.

Container fraud is not a South African problem, it is a global one: an attractive price, a professional-looking website, pressure to pay a deposit quickly, and then nothing. In South Africa, containerfraud.co.za is where these scams are reported and suppliers can be checked against a free database; outside South Africa, find the local equivalent and use the checks below, which work in any country.

• Check the seller before you check the container. Look the supplier up on containerfraud.co.za, confirm the company registration, and confirm the bank account name matches the company name exactly — a mismatch is the single most reliable warning sign there is.
• Insist on seeing the actual container, not one like it — that one, photographed today, with its container number legible.
• Check the container number, anywhere in the world. Every ISO container carries an owner code, serial number and check digit under ISO 6346. The owner prefix is registered with the BIC, appointed by ISO in 1972 as the global container prefix registry, and its register is free to search at bic-code.org.
• Verify locally, wherever you are. The company registry, the local shipping or freight-forwarding association, and the depot the container is supposed to be standing in will each confirm or contradict a seller in one call.

Condition grades are quoted loosely, so ask which scale you are being quoted on. IICL5 is the strictest criterion for a used container, the condition leasing fleets work to. Cargo worthy means fit to carry cargo internationally, and is where the CSC plate matters. Wind and water tight is a statement about holes, not structure. As is is sold with its faults. Grades A, B and C are retail shorthand defined by nobody, so one yard's B is another yard's C.

A container so corroded it can no longer be lifted by a spreader or sat on a chassis is a constructive total loss — scrap steel in the shape of a container. That is also where the corner castings stop being trustworthy: if it cannot be picked up, do not trust it to hold anything down.

Before you pay: check the CSC plate is present, legible and in date; look at all eight corner castings for cracks, dents or ovalisation; open and close both door leaves fully and check the cams, hinges and seals; walk the floor for delamination and soft spots; get on a ladder to check the roof, then close both doors and check for daylight through pinholes. Surface rust is cosmetic; pitting that has scaled or perforated is structural, and concentrates at the bottom rail and under the door sill. Confirm truck access, turning circle, overhead cables, gate width and ground bearing before you buy, and insist on a tax invoice in the seller's registered name, proof they are entitled to sell it, and a release note from the depot.

Buy from a reseller with a name, a yard you can drive to and a track record — the good ones would rather lose a sale than a reputation, and will let you inspect before you pay a cent. If you want a second opinion, phone Twistlock Africa. We take no commission from anyone who sells containers, so there is nothing in it for us either way — but we work alongside the people who do it properly and are happy to point you at sellers we would use ourselves.