Shipping Container Woes

I’ve been looking for a shipping container to buy in which to store items that don’t as yet fit into this house.  This search has been harder than you might imagine.

Every day last week I called one particular company trying to get one ordered.  On a few days nobody answered my call, and the other days it was answered by a different person each time.   Those people didn’t know if they had any containers available nor did they know exactly how much they’d cost if they found one.

Aggravating to say the least.

So this week I expanded and started calling other companies in the area.  One of the men I talked to highly suggested that I check with the city to make sure that a shipping container was “allowed.”

GOV’T INVOLVEMENT

Of course, no personal decision is complete around Utah without a little government involvement.

I don’t want to get into the politics of it (I’ve steadfastly not posted anything political on here before), but the absurdity of needing to ask for government’s permission to purchase, with private money, an object meant for private use,  and kept on private property, is Orwellian.

So today I called Bluffdale and they said that it is a “firm NO” on a shipping container.   He said that people typically get around that however by putting a roof on it.   It is disallowed apparently because it is “open storage”, but if I put a roof on the container it isn’t “open” anymore.    I’m buying a container to avoid building a roofed structure, why build a roof over a water tight, already roofed, container?

LOCATION

I think I may have located a container in the mean time.  It might be pointless now that I know I might not be “allowed” to have it however.   I say I think I might have found one, because apparently they are in short supply.  I called 4 other companies today, and only 1 said they might have one available soon.   Guy said he’d send me an invoice and set it aside for me.

This lack of containers baffles me, why is there a dearth?  I thought SLC was a fairly major train depot in the region.   Shouldn’t there be a lot of these available?  I know that a few years ago I heard there was a troublesome surplus because more were used to bring goods in than were needed to take goods out.  Where did that surplus go? I guess they fixed the problem.

I’m going to go in and talk to the city guy and hopefully find a work around for the legality of having one.  But once I do that, can I even find a shipping container available?

ALTERNATIVES

As an alternative I looked into prefabricated sheds/barns.  Those are obviously more aesthetically pleasing for the neighbors.  However, they don’t hold nearly as much storage and cost significantly more.   I’d rather not pay more money for something less useful.  I suppose all of us know that is what happens when gov’t gets involved though.

I’ll go that route if it is all that is allowed by the city, but I’ll be doing it grudgingly.  But even as a shed is delivered I’ll be silently cursing the government intrusion.  And I will forever laugh mockingly at those who still sing/talk about this being the “land of the free.”