Quick Answer: Safe container loading in Ontario comes down to three things: keep the centre of gravity low and central (no more than 60 percent of cargo weight in either half), stay under the CSC plate payload rating, and clear the site for tilt-deck access. Get those right and your 20ft or 40ft container rides clean from our Brantford yard to your property. The LeBlanc family has run Van Blanc Ent. Inc. since 1995. 124+ verified Google reviews at 4.9 stars, 1-3 day delivery.
In This Guide
- What Does the CSC Plate Tell You About Payload?
- What Is the 60/40 Rule for Weight Distribution?
- Can a Forklift or Heavy Machine Load Inside the Bin?
- How Do You Build a Stowage Plan Before Loading?
- How Do You Secure Cargo With Dunnage and Straps?
- What Are Ontario Road Weight Limits for a Loaded Container?
- How Do You Prep a Site for Tilt-Deck Delivery?
- What Turning Radius Does a Container Truck Need on Rural Roads?
- Does Container Grade Change How You Load It?
- How Do You Load a Reefer Container Correctly?
- What Loading Mistakes Do Our Drivers See Most?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Reading time: about 16 minutes.
What Does the CSC Plate Tell You About Payload?
The CSC plate is the steel data plate riveted to the left-hand door of every container that has crossed an ocean. It carries three numbers that decide how heavy you can load the box: the tare weight (the empty container), the maximum gross weight (the box plus everything inside it), and the payload, which is gross minus tare. Read those three numbers first and the whole load plan follows from them. The plate gets its name from the 1972 International Convention for Safe Containers.
In short: Container payload is the maximum gross weight stamped on the CSC plate minus the tare weight of the empty box. A standard 20ft dry container shows a tare near 2,300 kg and a gross of 30,480 kg, leaving roughly 28,180 kg of payload on paper. Ontario road limits lower the practical figure, so the plate is a ceiling, never a target.
Christian LeBlanc, second-generation operator: “First thing I tell a buyer is to read the door plate, not guess. I grew up around these boxes, traveling to Asia with my dad from the time I was fifteen, and the same mistake comes up every season: somebody loads to the number they remember instead of the number stamped on the steel. We walk the plate with you in the yard so you leave knowing exactly what your box can carry.”
Reading the plate is also where a careful inspection starts, which is why we go over it with every buyer in the same way we check a box over before anyone pays for it. The numbers tell you the structural ceiling. The grade and condition tell you how close to that ceiling you should ever load.
On a standard 20ft ISO dry container, you usually see a tare around 2,300 kg and a maximum gross of 30,480 kg, which leaves roughly 28,180 kg of payload on paper. On a 40ft standard you see tare around 3,800 kg, same gross of 30,480 kg, payload around 26,680 kg. A 40ft high cube weighs a bit more empty (closer to 4,000 kg tare) because of the extra panel height.
Those are the international ratings. Canadian road limits cut the practical payload below those numbers, and we will get to MTO in a few minutes. For now, the rule is simple: the CSC plate is the ceiling, never the target. Load to about 80 percent of payload and you have buffer for measurement error, wet cargo (water adds weight), and the inspector at the scale.
Reading a CSC Plate in 30 Seconds
The left-hand door of every CSC-plated container shows the maximum gross weight in kilograms (MAX. GROSS WT) and the tare in kilograms (TARE WT). Subtract tare from gross to get payload. Most plates also show “ALLOWABLE STACKING WEIGHT” which matters if you stack containers, plus a periodic re-examination expiry date. WWT-grade containers may have an expired CSC date. That is fine for storage. It only matters if you plan to ship the bin back across an ocean.
What Is the 60/40 Rule for Weight Distribution?
Weight distribution inside a shipping container follows the CTU Code (the IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units, 2014 edition), the document the rest of the world points to when somebody asks how to load one of these boxes. Two principles from that code govern almost every Ontario load we see.
First, the centre of gravity stays near the geometric centre of the container. If you draw a line down the middle of the floor and weigh each half, neither side should hold more than 60 percent of the total cargo mass. The same rule applies front-to-back. Mining engineers in Sudbury call this the 60/40 rule. Long-haul freight planners call it the half-load test. The math is the same.
Second, the centre of gravity stays low. Heavy items go on the floor. Lighter items stack on top. A pallet of steel sitting at chest height creates a tipping moment that no strap pattern will fully cancel when the trailer brakes hard on a Highway 403 off-ramp.
The Weight Distribution Hierarchy We Teach
- Floor first: heaviest, densest items go on the container floor, centred lengthwise.
- Centre balance: aim for 50/50 split left-right and 50/50 front-back, never beyond 60/40 either axis.
- Stack lighter as you rise: medium-density goods on top of heavy, light goods on top of medium.
- Lock the bottom: blocking and bracing at the floor stops the rest of the stack from walking.
- Walk-the-floor test: before closing the doors, walk down the centre aisle. If you feel the bin list, the load is off-balance.
For a 20ft container, the typical mistake we see is loading the front (door end) too heavy because that is where the loader started. The truck then sits front-heavy on the trailer, which lifts weight off the drive axles and makes the rig sketchy on wet pavement. For a 40ft, the typical mistake is loading two pallets of dense cargo at the very front, then filling the rest with light goods. That puts 70 percent of the weight in the first 40 percent of the box, and you fail the 60/40 test immediately.
Can a Forklift or Heavy Machine Load Inside the Bin?
Floor loading is where buyers get into trouble, because ISO container floors are rated for about 1,500 kg per square metre of contact area. That is plenty for pallets, drums, and most cased cargo. It is not plenty for a 4,000 kg machine sitting on four 4-inch feet, and it is not plenty for a forklift unless you prepare the floor first.
The math: a machine resting on four feet of 4 inches by 4 inches each has roughly 0.041 square metres of total floor contact. A 4,000 kg machine on that footprint puts 97,500 kg per square metre of point load on the plywood. The floor will dish before you have the second machine in.
The fix is dunnage. Lay 2-by-12 hardwood planks across the floor under the machine feet to spread the load. A pair of 2.4 metre planks under each foot increases the contact area to about 1.2 square metres total, which drops the point load to roughly 3,300 kg per square metre. Still over the 1,500 kg/m² rating in raw arithmetic, but spread across the steel cross-members under the plywood. That is the configuration we see for skidded equipment, generators, and HVAC packages.
The Forklift-Inside-the-Bin Problem
Some buyers want to drive a forklift inside a 40ft container to load and unload pallets. Most warehouse forklifts weigh 2,500 to 5,000 kg empty, plus a load. The dynamic load when the forks hit a bump is roughly 1.5 to 2 times the static weight. Get an 8,000 kg dynamic load on small wheels and you are well past the plywood rating. The solutions: use a pallet jack instead (much lighter, smaller contact patch), use a smaller electric stacker, or lay 3/4-inch steel plate or heavy-duty rig mats across the floor before driving the forklift in. We have customers running daily forklift traffic into 40 HC bins on our yard with no floor damage, but every one of them prepped the floor first.
How Do You Build a Stowage Plan Before Loading?
A stowage plan is the loading order you work out before the first pallet moves. The container industry calls it stowage planning. A contractor moving a job site to a new build calls it sketching the load on a napkin in the truck. Either way, loading without a plan is loading twice, so the thinking happens up front.
A good stowage plan for an Ontario buyer covers four things: what goes in (every pallet, machine, drum, and box on a list with weight and cubic dimension), in what order (heaviest first, into the floor, central), with what dunnage (where the airbags go, where the planks go, where the bracing locks the stack), and through what door. Some loads only fit through the front double-door, while others pop through a side-cut access door if the box was cut and fitted at our yard for that purpose.
Stowage Plan for a Construction Trailer Move
A typical Brantford-area construction contractor moving to a new build will load a 20ft like this: floor row from back wall forward holds two pallets of tools (heaviest), one pallet of fasteners, one pallet of fittings. Second row from doors back holds two pallets of insulation (medium density, fills the cube). Top row is light: PPE bags, signage, the breakroom coffee setup. Total bill is about 7,200 kg, well under the 20ft payload, but the 60/40 balance only works if the heavy tool pallets sit at positions 1 and 4 from the back, not at positions 1 and 2.
How Do You Secure Cargo With Dunnage and Straps?
Securing cargo starts with void space, and the CTU Code is specific about it: cumulative gaps in any horizontal direction should not exceed 15 centimetres. A 20cm gap between a pallet and the side wall is enough for the load to walk during transit, which means abraded packaging at best and a collapsed stack at worst. Fill every gap of 15cm or more. If you want the lashing patterns and Transport Canada Standard 10 broken down on their own, we have a step-by-step look at tying down a load that goes deeper than this overview.
The materials you fill those gaps with come from three categories. Wood is the workhorse: 2-by-4 lumber, plywood sheets, hardwood blocks, all cut to size on site. Dunnage airbags inflate into voids and absorb shock; we see them used most often by manufacturers moving finished goods. Fabric strapping (one-inch or two-inch polyester webbing with cam buckles or ratchets) is the connector that ties everything to the lashing rings.
Lashing Rings on Standard ISO Containers
Every standard ISO container has lashing rings welded to the corners and along the side rails. A 20ft has eight rings, a 40ft has typically twelve to fourteen. Each ring is rated for around 1,000 kg of lashing capacity. You can run polyester webbing through them to tie down pallets, machinery, or stacked loads. For higher-rated lashing, some containers come fitted with reinforced D-rings as a modification. We weld D-rings into custom-modified containers on request, especially for repeat freight customers moving the same cargo every week.
Heavy single items get strapped four ways: two diagonal lashings forward, two diagonal lashings aft, each anchored at the floor lashing ring nearest the corner. Pallet stacks get a top-strap (one ratchet over the top of the stack to compress it) plus side blocking. Drums get banded together in groups of four or six, then blocked against the side wall with wood.
Two things we see Ontario buyers skip that they shouldn’t. First, ratchet straps left loose because the loader was in a hurry. A strap that is not under tension is decoration. Crank it until you hear the webbing creak, then crank it one more notch. Second, blocking material that is too soft. A piece of pink foam insulation will compress under load and let the cargo move. Use hardwood, dense lumber, or load-rated airbags.
What Are Ontario Road Weight Limits for a Loaded Container?
Ontario road weight limits are the part most online container guides skip. The CSC plate says you can put 28,000 kg of cargo in a 20ft. The Ontario Highway Traffic Act and MTO axle-weight rules say something different, and the road rules are the ones the inspector at the scale enforces.
A loaded 20ft container on a standard truck-and-trailer combination has to satisfy two limits simultaneously: gross combined weight (truck plus trailer plus container plus cargo) and individual axle group weights. The gross limit for a five-axle tractor-trailer in Ontario is 41,500 kg on a Class A highway, with seasonal reductions on some county roads during spring thaw.
Subtract the truck (tractor empty around 7,500 kg), the trailer (empty around 7,500 kg for a chassis or 4,500 kg for a tilt-deck), and the container (tare 2,300 kg for a 20ft, 3,800 kg for a 40ft), and the practical cargo limit lands closer to 22,000 to 24,000 kg for a 20ft, 21,000 to 23,000 kg for a 40ft. Less than the CSC plate, more than enough for most loads, and the gap is exactly why we ask buyers their cargo weight before we quote a delivery.
Spring Thaw and the Half-Load Season
From early March through late April most years, secondary roads across Ontario fall under half-load restrictions. The county or township posts the limits and tickets get expensive fast. If you are taking a loaded 20ft up a sideroad in Norfolk, Brant, or Haldimand during half-load season, the practical payload drops to about 60 percent of summer numbers. Our dispatch tracks the half-load notices for the routes we run, and we will tell you up front if your delivery window collides with thaw season. Most buyers move their delivery date a week or two and save the freight surcharge that comes with split loads.
How Do You Prep a Site for Tilt-Deck Delivery?
Site prep for tilt-deck delivery is what turns a clean load into a clean placement. Most Ontario container deliveries happen on a tilt-deck trailer: the hydraulics raise the front of the deck, the back of the container slides down onto your prepared surface, and the truck rolls forward to leave the container in place. No crane required, no lift fees, and the operator does not have to leave the cab for the actual placement. It is worth understanding how your container actually reaches your site before you order, because the load plan and the placement plan are the same conversation.
For that to work, the site needs four things ready before the truck arrives.
Site Prep Checklist for Tilt-Deck Delivery
- Firm, level ground: gravel pad, concrete slab, compacted soil, or paved surface. Soft lawn, mud, or fresh fill will sink under the trailer wheels and pin the truck.
- Approach clearance: 70 feet of straight backing room for a 20ft, 110 feet for a 40ft. The trailer needs that runway to angle the deck and clear the container as the truck rolls forward.
- Overhead clearance: 16 feet minimum (5 metres) for the tilt action. Power lines, tree branches, eaves, and pergolas all kill the drop.
- Surface protection: for asphalt driveways or interlock, lay 4-by-6 hardwood timbers or steel plate where the container will land. The corner castings concentrate weight on four small footprints and can crack pavement otherwise.
Snow, ice, and frozen ruts add a fifth concern in winter. A tilt-deck trailer on glare ice cannot hold the truck in place while the deck angles. We will reschedule a delivery if the site is unsafe; nobody wants a 28,000 kg trailer skating into a foundation wall.
Paul LeBlanc, owner: “After 19 years specifically in containers and 40 in Asian trade, I have watched more deliveries go sideways from bad site prep than from bad containers. The bin is what it is, but if the ground sinks under the trailer or the wires are too low, we are calling you to reschedule. Three minutes on the phone before the truck leaves the yard saves the whole day.”
What Turning Radius Does a Container Truck Need on Rural Roads?
Turning radius is the rural delivery constraint that surprises buyers, because most of Ontario is not city street. A standard tractor pulling a 40ft tilt-deck trailer has a turning radius of about 17 metres. A 20ft chassis runs about 14 metres. Those numbers assume reasonable lane width. On a rural two-lane sideroad in Norfolk County, the corner from a county road onto a private laneway is often tighter than the trailer can swing without using both lanes plus the ditch.
Our drivers know the routes for the Brant-Norfolk-Haldimand-Oxford ag belt. They will plan the approach so the truck enters the laneway on a long sweep, sometimes from the wrong direction relative to the eventual placement, then walks the trailer back in straight. For a delivery further out (Bruce County, Northumberland, Frontenac), we will ask the buyer for a photo of the driveway entrance from the road. That five-minute request avoids a 200 km return trip with the container still on board.
Why a Forty-Foot Sometimes Costs More to Deliver to a Farm
A 40ft container loaded onto a tilt-deck makes a rig roughly 23 metres long including the tractor. A typical Ontario farm laneway turning off a county road is 4 metres wide with a 6-metre apron at the road. The geometry works, but only if the road allows the rig to swing through the oncoming lane during the turn. On a busy stretch of Highway 6 or 24, that means timing the swing for a gap in traffic, or sometimes pulling onto the shoulder and waiting. That extra time is built into the delivery quote. A 20ft on the same farm laneway is a 90-second turn. The price difference between 20ft and 40ft delivery on a rural site is partly cargo, partly steel, and partly traffic management.
Does Container Grade Change How You Load It?
Container grade changes how close to the rating you should load, because not every container behaves the same under load. The four grades we sell each have a slightly different practical loading profile, and you should know which one you have before you stack pallets to the ceiling.
One-Trip (premium): essentially new condition, original factory paint, full structural integrity. A box that still carries its full as-built load rating, with full CSC payload, full lashing-ring capacity, and full floor rating. This is the grade for valuable cargo, frequent loading and unloading, or any conversion to an office or retail space, and it is why most heavy-use buyers start by pricing a box on its first inland trip rather than a worn used unit.
Cargo Worthy (CW): used but re-inspected for international shipping. Structural frame and floor are inspected for heavy-duty load capacity. Surface rust and paint variance are cosmetic. Loads to full payload, full lashing capacity. Right grade for export, industrial storage, and high-density loads where you will not see the rust.
Wind & Watertight (WWT): used, weather-resistant, rodent-proof, but no longer certified for further international shipping. Frame is sound, floor is sound, doors seal. The CSC plate may have an expired date. Loads to full payload in practice, but if you are stacking the box on top of another container, drop the stacking weight to about 75 percent of one-trip rating to be safe. Right grade for farm storage, household goods, equipment shelter, and the cottage country off-season pile.
As-Is: the fourth grade, and the steepest discount we carry because the condition is the most variable. Floor damage, frame issues, or door problems. Do not stack-load to capacity. Do not store anything you would mind getting wet. Right grade for scrap metal value, cladding donor, or a creative reuse where you know exactly what you are building. We carry As-Is units because honest buyers occasionally want one, but we will tell you straight when an As-Is is the wrong call.
| Grade | Floor load rating | Stacking limit | Best loading use |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-Trip (new) | Full as-built rating | Full | Heavy or valuable cargo, frequent load/unload, office or retail conversion |
| Cargo Worthy (CW) | Inspected, full payload | Full | Export and high-density industrial storage where rust does not matter |
| Wind & Watertight (WWT) | Sound floor, full payload in practice | About 75 percent of one-trip | Farm storage, household goods, equipment shelter, off-season cottage piles |
| As-Is | Variable, inspect first | Do not stack-load | Scrap value, cladding donor, known creative reuse |
Why We Teach All Four Grades
Most national franchises only quote you on one-trip and CW because the margin is better and the conversation is shorter. We teach all four grades, including As-Is, because customers research before they call. Skipping As-Is on a buying guide makes the rest of the page look like we are hiding the cheap option. Honesty includes telling you the cheap option exists, when it is right, and when it is not.
How Do You Load a Reefer Container Correctly?
A reefer container loads differently from a dry box, and the difference is all about airflow. The refrigeration unit blows cold air across the floor of the container, up through the cargo, and back to the unit through a return air plenum at the back. Block that air path and the unit cannot hold temperature, no matter how new the compressor is. If you are weighing one for cold storage, our rundown of what a cold-chain box actually costs to run covers the power side that loading does not.
Two loading rules govern reefer cargo. First, leave the floor channel open. Standard reefer floors have T-bar grooves running lengthwise. Pallets sit on the T-bars and air circulates through the grooves under the cargo. Loose cargo dropped directly onto the floor blocks the air channel and produces hot spots. Second, leave the red line clear. Most reefers have a painted red line at the rear ceiling that marks the maximum load height. Cargo above that line blocks the return air plenum and the unit short-cycles.
Reefer Loading for Craft Food Producers
We have Brantford-area cheese makers, microbreweries, and bakeries running 20ft and 40ft HC reefers as backup cold storage. The loading discipline is the same as long-haul reefer: pallets on T-bars, leave the red line clear, do not pack the back wall solid. We deliver pre-cooled containers (the unit runs on shore power at our yard for 24 hours before pickup) so the customer is not cooling a hot box on day one. That detail saves a lot of spoiled inventory in the first week.
What Loading Mistakes Do Our Drivers See Most?
The most common loading mistakes are the same handful, repeated across every kind of buyer. After enough deliveries you start to see the pattern, and most of these are easy to avoid once you know what to watch for.
The Mistakes Our Drivers See Weekly
- Loading the door end first: easiest access point, worst weight distribution. Always load from the back wall forward.
- Ignoring the 15cm void rule: small gaps look harmless, but cumulative voids let the whole stack shift on the first hard brake.
- Strapping over packaging instead of through it: a strap that compresses cardboard does not actually hold the cargo. Run the strap through the pallet skids or around a structural member.
- Forgetting overhead clearance for the unload: people prep the site for delivery, then store equipment overhead at the unload destination and forget the container needs clear sky again to leave.
- Treating the floor as a generic “1,500 kg/m²”: the rating is for distributed load. Point loads from machine feet need dunnage to spread the contact area.
- Skipping the walk-through after loading: close the doors, then walk one full lap around the container before the truck leaves. Half the time you find something to fix.
The most expensive mistake we see is buyers who underestimate the truck weight in their site prep. A loaded delivery rig with a 40ft container weighs in the 35,000 to 40,000 kg range. That is not a backyard SUV. Soft lawn that holds a pickup truck fine will give way under the trailer wheels of a tilt-deck. We send a survey question with every quote: “Has the delivery surface supported a fully loaded gravel truck before?” If the answer is no, we ask for a photo and sometimes recommend an alternate approach or a different placement entirely.
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Family-run in Brantford since 1995 · 200+ containers in stock · 4.9★ across 124+ Google reviews · every box graded by a person, walk it before it lands.
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We have been supplying shipping containers across Ontario since 1995. Our warehouse is at 90 Morton Avenue E in Brantford, and we deliver right across the province on a cash-on-delivery basis. No surprise fees, no chase-the-paperwork.
Van Blanc Ent. Inc., 90 Morton Ave E Unit 1B, Brantford, ON N3R 7J7. +1 888-509-6658
If you are planning a load that is unusual (heavy point loads, oversize crate, frequent forklift access, or a freight schedule that has to thread Highway 401 traffic windows), call us before you pick the container grade. A five-minute conversation with Paul or Christian usually narrows down whether you want a one-trip, a CW, or a custom-modified bin with reinforced floor plate, the kind of work we walk through in our field guide to reinforcing and cutting a box. We deliver in 1-3 days from our 4 Brantford yards. Every quote comes with a real lead time, not a hopeful one.
Go Deeper: Detailed Topic Guides
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much weight can I put in a 20ft shipping container?
The CSC plate on a standard 20ft ISO container rates the maximum gross weight at 30,480 kg. Subtract the tare (around 2,300 kg) and you get a theoretical payload near 28,000 kg. In practice, Ontario road weight limits put the deliverable cargo closer to 22,000 to 24,000 kg on a standard five-axle trailer combination, less during spring half-load season.
What is the 60/40 rule for container loading?
The 60/40 rule comes from the IMO CTU Code: no more than 60 percent of the total cargo weight should sit in either half of the container, measured both side-to-side and front-to-back. Keeping the centre of gravity near the geometric centre prevents trailer instability on the road and reduces cargo shift during transit.
Do I need dunnage to load a shipping container in Ontario?
If you have any gap of 15 cm or more between cargo and the container wall, or between adjacent pallets, you need dunnage to fill it. Common materials are 2-by-4 lumber, plywood sheets, hardwood blocks, or inflatable airbags. Without dunnage, cumulative voids let the load walk during transport and damage the goods.
How firm does the ground need to be for tilt-deck container delivery?
Firm enough to support a fully loaded gravel truck. Compacted gravel, concrete, asphalt, or hard-packed soil all work. Soft lawn, mud, or fresh fill will sink under the trailer wheels and pin the rig. For asphalt driveways or interlock, place 4-by-6 hardwood timbers under the corner casting positions to protect the surface from point loads.
How much clearance does a 40ft container delivery truck need?
About 110 feet of straight backing room for the trailer to angle the deck and clear the container as the truck rolls forward, plus 16 feet (5 metres) of overhead clearance for the tilt motion. A 20ft container needs about 70 feet of backing room with the same overhead clearance. Lower clearance from power lines, eaves, or tree branches kills the drop.
Can I drive a forklift inside a shipping container?
You can if the floor is protected. Standard plywood floors are rated for distributed load of about 1,500 kg per square metre. A forklift puts heavy dynamic point loads through small wheels, which exceeds the rating. Lay 3/4-inch steel plate or heavy rig mats across the floor first. Many Ontario warehouses run daily forklift traffic into 40 HC bins this way without floor damage.
What is the maximum weight on Ontario roads for a loaded shipping container?
The Ontario Highway Traffic Act sets a gross combined weight of 41,500 kg for a five-axle tractor-trailer on a Class A highway. After subtracting truck, trailer, and container tare, that leaves roughly 21,000 to 24,000 kg of cargo weight depending on the configuration. Spring half-load season can cut that by 40 percent on secondary roads.
How do I secure heavy machinery inside a shipping container?
Use four-point diagonal lashing: two straps from the front anchor points to the back corners of the machine, two straps from the rear anchor points to the front corners. Anchor each strap through the container floor lashing rings, rated around 1,000 kg per ring. Add hardwood blocking against the wheels or skids to prevent any forward or rearward movement.
Can I load a reefer container the same way as a dry container?
No. Reefer containers have T-bar floors that channel air across the cargo, and a red line at the back ceiling marking the maximum load height. Pallets must sit on the T-bars so air can flow underneath, and nothing above the red line so air can return to the refrigeration unit. Loading a reefer like a dry container blocks the air path and produces hot spots.
What is a CSC plate and why does it matter for loading?
The CSC plate is a steel data plate on the left-hand door of every internationally shipped container, certifying it under the 1972 International Convention for Safe Containers. It lists the tare weight, maximum gross weight, and allowable stacking weight. The numbers tell you the structural ceiling for loading. WWT-grade containers may have an expired CSC plate, which is fine for stationary storage but disqualifies the box from further ocean shipping.
How long does container delivery take from Brantford?
Van Blanc delivers in 1 to 3 days to most of southern Ontario from our 4 Brantford yards. Eastern Ontario routes (Kingston, Brockville, Ottawa) typically take 1-3 days. Northern Ontario routes (Sudbury, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie) take 5 to 10 days because the freight is quoted per route. Every quote includes a real lead time, not a hopeful one.
What grade of container should I buy if I plan to load heavy machinery?
One-Trip or Cargo Worthy. Both have inspected structural frames and floors rated for the full CSC payload. Wind & Watertight works for lighter, distributed loads but you should drop the stacking weight to about 75 percent of one-trip rating if you plan to stack containers. As-Is grade containers may have floor damage and should not carry heavy loads without inspection first.
Sources
- International Maritime Organization, International Labour Organization, and UN Economic Commission for Europe. (2014). Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU Code). unece.org
- International Organization for Standardization. (2022). ISO 6346:2022 Freight containers, Coding, identification and marking. iso.org
- International Maritime Organization. (1972, amended). International Convention for Safe Containers (CSC). imo.org
- Government of Ontario. Highway Traffic Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, Part VIII (Truck Weight and Dimension). ontario.ca/laws/statute/90h08
- Transport Canada. (2025). Cargo Securement Standard 10, Containerized Cargo. tc.canada.ca
- TT Club. CTU Code, a quick guide. Safe container packing practices for the global supply chain. ttclub.com