Shipping Containers for Sale in Norfolk, VA

Container Delivery Specialists for Norfolk and the Hampton Roads harbor cities

Norfolk is an independent city of roughly 230,000 people at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, home to the largest naval base in the world and to the Port of Virginia's Norfolk International Terminals Deliveries reach Isle of Wight, Southampton, York, James City, Gloucester, Northampton counties, and the practical questions change from one part of the area to the next. Ghent, West Ghent, Freemason, Downtown, Larchmont, Edgewater, Colonial Place, Riverview, Park Place, Ocean View, East Ocean View, Willoughby Spit, Wards Corner, Norview, Lafayette-Winona, Berkley, Campostella, Ingleside, Chesterfield Heights, Talbot Park, Titustown, Meadowbrook, Broad Creek, Fairmount Park each bring their own access, placement, and ground-preparation considerations.

Norfolk is an independent city that administers its own zoning ordinance, adopted January 23, 2018, through the Department of City Planning, and unlike most jurisdictions it addresses shipping containers by name, in a dedicated accessory structure section that requires a zoning certificate before any container is placed on a lot and that lists exactly which zoning districts allow a permanent container, with moveable temporary storage containers of the PODs variety handled separately under the City Code rather than by zoning.

We have delivered containers throughout Norfolk and the Hampton Roads harbor cities and we know the local ground: Virginia hands you five physiographic provinces and expects you to know which one you are standing on. A container carries essentially its entire weight through four corner castings rather than spreading it along a continuous footing, so four concentrated point loads on ground that softens, settles or subsides is how a box ends up out of level, with doors that no longer close and a roof that ponds water. East of the fall line, through Norfolk, Virginia Beach, the Peninsula and the Eastern Shore, the soil is sandy with the water table close to the surface, and bearing capacity and settlement govern. West of it the Piedmont turns to deeply weathered residual soil and saprolite with high clay content and slow drainage, and Virginia has genuinely shrink and swell soils in that mix., along with the access and clearance realities of the streets here. Tell us your address and your situation, and you get an honest assessment and an accurate delivery quote.

Norfolk Delivery Considerations

A few things shape how a delivery goes in this area:

• The tunnels have posted limits and they matter here more than anywhere else in the network. VDOT prohibits trucks and other vehicles over 13 feet 6 inches high at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel westbound, and at the Midtown Tunnel on Route 58 and the Downtown Tunnel on Interstate 264 in both directions, and tractor-trailers wider than 8 feet are prohibited through the Downtown Tunnel westbound. A 40ft high cube stands 9 feet 6 inches on its own and the loaded height on a truck deck is what has to clear, so the route is planned, not assumed.
• Norfolk sits low. Streets in Ghent, Colonial Place, Larchmont and Ocean View take water on high tides and after heavy rain, and a yard that drains slowly will hold water under a container. Setting the box on gravel, blocks or timbers keeps the floor dry and the doors square, and timing a delivery away from a high tide is a fair thing to ask for.
• The soil here is sandy with a high water table, which is easy to drive on when dry and easy to rut when wet. A firm, level pad under the corner castings is the difference between doors that latch and doors that bind.
• Ghent and Freemason are narrow, with on-street parking on both sides, some brick and cobblestone, and alleys behind the houses that are frequently the only workable approach. Walk the route with the driver ahead of the appointment and clear the parked cars.
• Get the zoning certificate first. Norfolk requires one before a container is placed on a lot, which makes the paperwork a scheduling item rather than an afterthought. Sorting it out before the truck is booked saves a wasted trip.
• Deliveries onto Naval Station Norfolk or any other installation go through that command's own access process. Base access is arranged by the sponsoring command, not by the trucking company, so start that early.
• Salt air is hard on steel. A container near the water rewards a look at the roof seams and the door gaskets on arrival, and paint touch-up wherever the finish is thin.
• Late summer and fall bring both storm watches and port volume surges, and both compress trucking availability across Hampton Roads. Booking a week out beats booking a day out in September.

For permit questions on a specific address, contact City of Norfolk Department of City Planning, 810 Union Street, Suite 508, Norfolk VA 23510. Main phone (757) 664-4752, email planning@norfolk.gov. Zoning certificates and zoning questions go to the Development Services Center zoning line at (757) 664-6588 or zoningDSC@norfolk.gov. Building permits go to (757) 664-6565 or planreviewpermits@norfolk.gov, and are applied for through the city's online permit portal..

Container Types Available in Norfolk

• 20ft Standard, Most popular size, fits most residential driveways
• 40ft Standard, Contractors, farms, businesses and larger properties
• 40ft High Cube, Conversions, tall equipment, maximum interior volume
• Modified, Job site offices, custom builds
• Refrigerated, Food service, cold storage