I've been told....

... it's cheaper to make a new container in China than to ship an empty one back there... so with the imbalance of trade, yeah, they're going to accumulate someplace.... Once the goods going back have been put in containers, what's left over is "surplus".

I wonder if we couldn't fill the containers with wheat or soybeans and ship it that way, in container ships. Tip the containers on end and fill them, then close the doors and ship. I'd think it would be easier to unload on the other end...

i do not know about cost.

i do not know about cost. just seeing a much larger than “normal” amout of them sitting idle.

a area that was built for trucks, is now storing a huge stack of them.

I wonder the U.S. trade war with China is to blame.

The U.S. tariffs and resulting trade war with China resulting in a surplus of containers being stored here.  Also with the Corona Virus and resulting shut down and quarantine in China that undoubtedly shut down factories, I would be surprised if the railroads didn't have excess containers without loads.  In addition with Europe now pretty much shut down as well due to the Corona Virus, it would be surprising if there aren't additional surplus containers.  When the railroads have surplus well cars they park the "bare tables" on sidings to keep from overcrowding railyards.  I suspect until this virus emergency passes, we can expect to see a lower demand for containers until foreign trade picks up again.

that is what i was thinking.

that is what i was thinking. just asking if others see lots of them sitting idle in there areas.

even as i type this i am sick with a upper respotary, lung thing. but not the latest chinese made bug. just asthmatic problems.

This has been going on...

This has been going on for years, especially on the east coast. Yes, it's cheaper to build new ones. The port in Newark, NJ / Elizabeth, NJ resembles as I like to refer to it as 'The Great Container Wall of China'. They stack them quite high, not sure how they do it since I've never seen a crane to lift them. I've seen them 5-6 high. 

There is a dealer on Craigslist selling containers for $2000

Free delivery. Of course you need property zoned for it or enough land that your neighbors can’t see it. 

There is a small institutional food service company that I used

to work for part time between my early retirement and full retirement. They used 8 forty foot containers.  They had four on each side stacked 2 high with the doors facing out.  The continer corner posts were welded togetherwith "I" beams spanning the the space between the 2 sets of containers thaat were suporting a corugated metal roof.  That was the truck shop where all truck maintenance was done.  The bottom containers were used as parts room, and tool storage where the tools could be under lock and key when the mechanics were off.  At least one of the top containers was used for tire storage.  They put in a wall at one end and a second wall about 10-15 feet in with a wide door way where the service manager had his office.  For less than $20,000 they had a 2 bay truck shop with secure tool and parts storage, complete with plumbing, electrical, and even had an air compressor in one container with air lines running down both sides!  

There is a fairly thriving business selling used containers in So Cal to be used usually in industrial areas for all sorts of things.  Some of the trailer leasing companies buy used refrigerated containers and chassis and lease them out to grocery stores between the end of October and Jan. 1 for turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I worked out of a service truck, and was kept busy every year from November through December doing repairs on older refrigerated containers parked in the back of Ralph's (Kroger), Vons (Safeway), and Albertson stores.

if that many are just

if that many are just surplus. then time to gave a “fire sale”  delivered to 100 miles out for only $500.usd.

i do not know code here. but one 20 footer in my back yard would make a very secure lawn garden shead.

can even put a cheap tin roof on it ( rain thing). paint it to blend in better.

I forgot they used to send waste plastic for recycling back.

Then China stopped taking the low grade stuff. Supposedly China’s first billionaire was a woman who started their cardboard recycling industry by backhauling used cardboard. The containers were sent over empty at first and the shipping companies were happy to make a small profit on the back haul. Now only the easier to recycle material goes back. 

Cardboard Bales.

Take a trip around any big box store in youre car...circle the entire property.  Those stacked up cardboard bales that weigh 1000 pounds...if you live in Jersey or NYC...all Boroughs...get sent to a warehouse/internal crushing...sorting site.  I hauled cardboard bales from Staten Island all the way North and West...Long Island..around NYC.

After they are sorted...reloaded on overseas cans....NOT railroad cans. (cans in this biz..containers.)

Those stores send tons of used cardboard back to China.

Got a good freind who works here in a paper mill....told him what I saw/did...he was not happy...he is losing money over this.

Empty Cans

My son and my wife both work for an auto maker.  Both high end postions.  I have heard and listened to several confrence calls at the house since the Stay at Home orders.

Im not going to give any details....but you MAY be seeing overseas shut downs of auto suppliers.

I would guess...if you knew the routing...say as an example..BMOU

If this can was used for auto parts....yep...they are not going to be loaded now.  Gotta be stored.

Loading and tipping loose-loads in Containers

Dear MRHers,

Why am I flashing back to Grain-hauling boxcars...

or Trucks?

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Max height ISO cntainer stacking...

Dear MRHers,

Liebeherr, amongst others, has you covered...
(8:30 shows a clean 6-container stack...)

Grain in containers

Yes, it actually is a thing. One of the industries I used to spot as a engineer was a grain exporter. They would take the reject grain cars from the unit grain trains (110 unit trains always have a few cars that get rejected by the grain elevator). I'm not sure what was wrong with the grain that caused it to be rejected, but we would send the grain cars from the grain elevator to this transload place. At the very beginning, all they did was open the grain door on the concrete and then use a front end loader to load a 20 or 40' container. As the business 'grew' they got fancy and installed a converyor belt that moved the grain from the car into the containers. I think they only filled the containers about 1/2 full. Then the containers got moved across the harbor to be loaded on a ship. It wasn't common, but I think they lasted almost a year or two.

Craig