Standard Trailer
The most cost-effective way to move a full container load when your site has the equipment to unload. Terminal to door on a skeletal trailer.
- Max gross
- 43.5 t
- Sizes
- 20' · 40'
- Site crane
- Required
Service
Side loader container delivery
A side loader carries its own hydraulic cranes, lifts the container off its own deck and sets it on the ground beside the truck. Your site needs no forklift, no crane and no dock.
When this is the right choice
- Your site has no unloading equipment at all.
- Access is too tight for a forklift or crane to work safely.
- You want the container on the ground and unpacked in your own time.
- Delivery is to a farm, a build site, a yard or anywhere without a dock.
What we need from you
- Firm, level ground with roughly 3.5 m of width beside the truck for the container to land.
- Overhead clearance — no low branches, awnings or power lines above the drop point.
- Someone on site who can confirm exactly where the container goes.
- Container weight, because the side loader limit is 22.5 t for the container itself.
The honest version
Side loaders are the most flexible tool in container transport and the one most operators cannot offer. The trade-off is weight: because the trailer carries its own lifting gear, the container itself is limited to 22.5 t rather than the 43.5 t gross a standard combination can run. If your container is heavier than that, a standard trailer with lifting equipment at your end is the correct choice — and we will tell you so before you book, not after the truck arrives.
Best for: Tight access, sites with no unloading equipment, ground-level drops.
Not sure whether your container is within the side loader limit? The weight calculator will tell you in a few seconds.
Side Loader
Self-loading delivery that places the container directly on the ground — no crane, no forklift, no yard equipment needed at your site.
- Max weight
- 22.5 t container
- Sizes
- 20' · 40'
- Site crane
- Not required
- Terminals
- All four
- Availability
- 24/7
Talk it through
0470 277 402
If we miss you we call straight back — or send the form and we will come to you.
On site
How a ground drop actually works
Four stages, drawn to scale — the truck and the space beside it are the same 45 pixels to the metre, so the clearance figures below are the real ones rather than an illustration of them.
Rear view, 45 px to the metre. The drawing follows the steps as you scroll.
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The truck arrives and sets up
A side loader is a 19 m combination. It needs a straight, firm approach and room to stop alongside the drop point — the same access any delivery truck wants, but considerably longer.
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Stabiliser legs come down
The legs take the weight off the suspension, and from here the truck cannot move. This is the moment the space beside it matters: roughly 3.5 m of firm, level ground for the container to land on.
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The cranes lift it clear
Both cranes take the container off the deck together and swing it out over the kerb. It travels above the trailer on the way across, which is why overhead clearance gets checked before anything is lifted — no branches, no awnings, no power lines.
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Down on the ground, and away
The container is set down, the cranes stow, and the truck leaves. Nothing at your end lifted anything, and you unpack in your own time rather than inside a booked window.
How it works
From enquiry to container on the ground
STEP 01
Send the details
Container size, pickup terminal, delivery suburb and how you want it unloaded. Two minutes on the form, or one call.
Same day responseSTEP 02
We quote and book the slot
Rate confirmed and your VBS timeslot secured directly through our own 1-Stop access — not through a third party.
Slot within 2 daysSTEP 03
Clear DO received
Once your delivery order is clear we lock the schedule and confirm the delivery window with you.
On DO releaseSTEP 04
Delivered
Container on the ground at your site, with the driver contactable throughout.
2 days from clear DOOther configurations
If this is not quite the right fit
Retractable Trailer
Extendable trailers built for long and oversize cargo that will not sit on a standard deck. Fewer trips, and permits handled where the load calls for them.
- Max gross
- 43.5 t
- Sizes
- 20' · 40' · 45'
- Oversize
- Yes
Drop Trailer
We leave the loaded trailer at your site and collect it later, so unpacking happens on your schedule instead of ours.
- Max gross
- 43.5 t
- Sizes
- 20' · 40'
- Unpack time
- Yours
Ready to book side loader?
Send the details and you will have a quote the same day. If it is urgent, call — we run to terminal windows, not office hours.