CABIN & CONTAINER DELIVERY AND INSTALLATION

Working closely with the Hire, Sales divisions and Partners, our Transport team specialists oversee-wide delivery and installation of our comprehensive range of cabins and containers on site, for business and private individuals.

The fleet comprises ten vehicles, eight of which are six or eight wheel self-loading lorries, well-equipped to deliver cabins and containers in most locations.

SPECIAL CRANES

Two of the lorries are fitted with special state-of-the-art cranes which have extended reach, the ability to operate 360 degrees and larger lift. These are specifically designed for delivering to restricted access sites which saves a great deal of time when setting up large site compounds and modular buildings.

The crane vehicle fleet is supported by two articulated lorries without cranes to move containers from the ports to our headquarters for inspection and grading before storage, a quality control step not many companies offer.

SHIPPING AND GROUND LEVEL DELIVERY

Shipping and Delivery takes 10-14 days once payment has been confirmed for all USA orders and 7-14 days for all Australia orders.

All USA orders are shipped from our port in Mexico(Port of Lázaro Cárdenas). Australia and European orders are shipped from the nearest port to the client’s location.

Once the Delivery Team get to client’s location, it should only take about 15-120 minutes for ground delivery (as long as your site is ready).

SITE REQUIREMENTS

As a general rule we will send a lorry capable of offloading whatever we are delivering to the side and at 90 degrees to the lorry (just clear of the stabiliser leg) as depicted in the drawing below. If your delivery location requires anything significantly different please let us know, we have larger cranes for specialist purposes and can accommodate a lot of challenging deliveries with the right vehicle including offloading in front of the cab.

Clearly it’s not economically viable or practical to send these larger vehicles on every delivery and sometimes they create other issues too so it’s essential that you are as clear as possible about your site and the proposed delivery location to make sure your delivery goes as smoothly as possible. Please also bear in mind the size of the lorry, including remembering to look at heights and overhead obstructions too.

We will work with your people to deliver accommodation or storage in a safe manner, placing it where you want it and working around inevitable site restrictions and parameters. If you have any concerns about delivery, please discuss these with us at an early stage to avoid incurring costs for abortive delivery attempts and wasted time for all those involved.

Fully-trained Ebonkie Portables drivers are equipped with PDAs linked to our office systems which contain all pre-delivery information as advised by you, record all signatures and take photographs of the unit once delivered.

ON DELIVERY DAY

On arrival our drivers will report to your Site Manager to agree a lifting plan before starting work and will level the container as required. Please note that if any corner needs levelling more than 200mm you will need to let us know in advance. The drivers will ensure that all doors and apertures open correctly before leaving site.

Our delivery team is trained to to carry out all necessary assessments for safe installation, using standard generic risk assessment for unloading and loading of cabins and containers by lorry mounted crane. Please refer to Health and Safety for more information about our commitment to safety or discuss with your contact in Hire or Sales who will refer to the Transport team as required.

SPECIALIST SUPPORT

For more complex installations, which may involve multiple cabins, the Transport team can draw on additional support from our specialist in-house resources.

Our Appointed Person (AP) will attend site and produce specific lift plans, together with method and risk assessments covering the whole installation as required.

For Linked Buildings and Modular Building installations and removals, the Installation team will assist the Transport team with erection of gantries, complex staircases and fitting between cabin links correctly, safely and efficiently. The installation team will then complete, snag and hand over the building quickly and efficiently so you can get on with your project work.

MAKE SURE YOUR SITE IS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY:

SPACE TO MANEUVER

Please make sure there is enough space for the truck to make wide turns, get between gates or other obstructions, and safely set up for delivery. Remember, trucks make wide turns.

HARD SURFACE

The delivery truck can weigh as much as 45,000-lbs., so soft surfaces such as mud or wet grass can cause the truck to sink and get stuck… If there is a risk of sinking in, the driver may refuse delivery at the site.

SPACE TO DELIVER

The truck will be almost 10′ wide, and will need at least 12″ on each side (12′ total width), as well as space to maneuver after the box is dropped (60′ for 20′ containers and 120′ for 40’s + space to turn and drive away).

FREE FROM OBSTRUCTIONS

The truck is 13’6″ before it tilts, and can be up to 16′ tall at it’s peak during delivery, make sure there are no power lines, tree branches, or other obstructions.

DELIVERY DETAILS

For deliveries in South East England (east of a line from Bournemouth, through Oxford up to Lincoln) typical lead-times, assuming the products are in stock, are five to ten working days. If an exact delivery date is crucial, please give as much notice as possible as the longer the lead-time, the more likely we can help meet your target day. Please note that many sites ask for deliveries at the beginning of the week so if you need a Monday or Tuesday, you will probably need to give more notice.

The compact and stackable nature of flat pack cabins, small single and double toilets means that we normally make up combined loads and deliver these extremely cost-effectively all over mainland UK. We have two very regular ‘Milk round’ routes: one through North Wales, North and West England and Scotland and another one taking in South Wales and the South West through to Cornwall.

In addition we can deliver to the Scottish and other islands, but these need to be separately quoted prices. We also have some regular deliveries to Northern Ireland so please do get in touch especially if you need a large number of flat pack or toilet units.

CHALLENGING LOCATIONS

With container deliveries, we are ideally placed to install in a range of unusual locations, using our larger cranes operated by our skilled and trained team.

If access is severely restricted, we can assist with mobile cranes and towable or flat pack accommodation to ensure you can provide suitable welfare accommodation wherever you need it.

As a company we are able to maintain high standards for prompt and reliable delivery by operating our own managed vehicles which makes the process much simpler. From time to time, we do work with other small sub-contractors which share our values and commitment to providing a first class service.

We do offer a limited external hire service, with lorries occasionally available to hire by the hour or by the day. If this is of interest, please send any enquires to us together with collection and delivery address postcodes for a quotation and availability.

THE DELIVERY TRUCK NEEDS SOME SPACE

In order to ensure everyone’s safety, please ensure there is adequate space for delivery and you have a safe environment for the driver. All of our haulers put safety first, and if we can’t safely deliver at your site we won’t, but you’ll still be on the hook for trucking charges. Nobody wants that, so please make safety a priority and ensure you have adequate space for delivery. The Tilt-Bed will need 55′ of additional space to deliver (75′ total for 20′ containers) and the Roll-Off truck will need 80′ of additional space (120′ total for 40′ containers).

KEEP YOUR CONTAINER OUT OF STANDING WATER

In order to support heavy loads while in transit, intermodal shipping containers have steel cross-members underneath the wood floors. The cross-members are strong enough to withstand some rust, but if you set your container directly on top of an area where water will pool after a storm that steel underneath the floor with eventually fail. Leaving you with a softening floor after only a few years on the ground. Please make sure to keep your cross-members out of water by having wood blocks, railroad ties, etc. ready for the driver at delivery.

MAKE SURE THE TRUCK CAN ACCESS YOUR DELIVERY SITE

In addition to straight away backing space, the truck also needs to be able to maneuver into position at your delivery site. Because 40ft shipping containers are delivered on a tractor-trailer combination, we’ll need extra space to make the turn off the road into your delivery site.

Unfortunately, in many cases this means we cannot deliver 40ft containers to residential locations. However, because 20ft containers are delivered on a shorter roll-back style straight truck, we have a lot more flexibility with delivery options for that size.

THE TRUCKS ARE HEAVY…

The combined weight of the truck, trailer and container can combine to be over 45,000-pounds. It’s important that your delivery surface be firm. If there is a risk of sinking into ground not firm enough to support the truck, the driver has the right to make the decision not to deliver. If your site is questionable, make sure you talk to us before ordering… or have a back-up spot in mind where there won’t be any issues.

MAKE SURE THE DOORS ARE LEVEL

The most common issue after delivery is that the doors don’t open and close easily. Even though containers are all steel, if they are on uneven surfaces or loaded heavy to one side, they can twist just slightly enough for the doors not to line up properly and be very difficult to open and close. The best solution is to place wood blocks under the door frame (and ideally the length of the container). This will ensure your doors line up properly and open/close smoothly.

Most major hardware stores or lumber yards will have 8′ long 4 x 4’s, or railroad ties available for purchase. We recommend 2-3 pieces for 20′ containers, and 4-6 pieces for 40’s…. but remember that the most important spot is under the cargo doors.