Shipping Containers For Sale Chicago: New & Used in Chicago, IL
Container Management, Inc. offers a large inventory of high-quality, steel shipping containers for sale in Chicago and the Greater Chicago area, including both new and used units at competitive, wholesale pricing, with pickup at our Chicago depot or delivery within a 200-mile radius. Businesses and individuals across Chicagoland use our containers for secure storage, export, customization, and other commercial or residential projects.
With our roots in Chicago, and over 30 years of experience, our Chicago depot is ready to serve your storage, modification, or export shipment needs with 20-foot and 40-foot container options, export-certified units, and dependable customer support. This guide helps Chicago-area buyers compare container types and sizes, understand pricing and the buying process, and review delivery, pickup, and modification options so you can choose the right container with confidence.
Our Containers Are Available for Pickup in Chicago or Delivery Within 200 Miles
You can pick up your containers or have us deliver them to you.
Pick Up Our Containers at the Chicago Depot
Our Depot site is in Chicago, IL, in the 60617 area.
For pickups, we provide a container release number. This allows you or your freight forwarder access to your purchased container(s) during the specified timeframe at the Depot Center.
Where We Deliver “Chicago” Shipping Containers
We deliver containers using a tilt-bed (roll-off) truck within a 200-mile radius of Chicago. This encompasses:
- Chicago, IL
- All Chicago Suburbs
- Central and Northern Illinois
- Northwest Indiana
- Central and Eastern Iowa
- Southern Michigan
- Central and Southern Wisconsin
For deliveries further than 200 miles, we employ a flat-bed truck broker that requires customers to lift off containers at the time of arrival.
Not sure if you’re within our delivery radius? Just ask!
Additionally, your delivery location may be closer to one of our other Midwest container centers, such as Indianapolis, Indiana; St. Louis, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; or Minneapolis, Minnesota.
How to Buy A Shipping Container in Chicago with Us
Our process is personalized to best meet your individual container needs, whether you’re purchasing new and used shipping and storage containers for business or personal projects.
Buying shipping containers is a seamless process with our efficient, customized system.
At Container Management, Inc., we ensure that you get the container size and grade that best meets your specific needs.
Complete Our Quote Request Form
Our quote form ensures you provide us with the important details:
- How many containers?
- New or Used?
- Do you want us to deliver the container?
- Where do you want to place the container: City, State, Zip Code
- What grade container?
- Storage or Export?
- Your email address and phone number
You Receive Our Quote
We email you back the same business day with our quote provided we receive your quote request by 4:00 PM EST, Monday through Friday.
We will email you back the next business day with our quote if we receive your quote request later than 4:00 PM EST, Monday through Friday.
Our quote is based on current inventory levels at the depot site(s) closest to your delivery location. Inventory at each depot site is subject to change, and shipping container pricing varies by size, condition, and market. Prices are based on current availability. Once current inventory is depleted, prices may vary with the next inventory replenishment.
We offer some of the most competitive wholesale pricing on the market by quoting according to current inventory availability.
Your Purchase
Provide a purchase order or email confirmation.
We will confirm your purchase by reserving your container size and grade at the nearest depot location. You’ll get the next container off the stack at the depot that meets your order criteria.
We can’t guarantee a specific color, but all of our containers are warrantied to be wind and watertight at the time of delivery.
Full payment is required before delivery or pick-up.
Our Operations Team will be in touch within one business day to confirm your order and accept payment.
Once your order has been paid for in full, they will coordinate the logistics of your shipping container delivery or depot pick-up.
Ground Level Container Delivery / Depot Pick-Up
For delivery: We work with professional local transport companies with specialized equipment to deliver your container directly to the ground.
You’ll know what day your container delivery is scheduled for within a day or two of placing your order, and the driver will give you a call when they’re en route on the day of delivery.
Plan on 4 to 7 business days from your shipping container purchase date.
Learn more about our delivery service here.
For depot pick-up: After purchase, we will provide you with a release number and pick-up information. You can then immediately go to the designated depot on the release and have the container loaded on your truck.
We’re happy to load your truck at the depot if you have the proper equipment to safely transport a shipping container.
Please be aware you are required to comply with all DOT and OSHA rules while at the depot and Container Management, Inc. cannot be liable for any issues during transport.
Option: If you’re purchasing your container for export
If you’re buying a shipping container to be used for export, you can add a CSC Survey to your purchase (please note, surveys add 3-5 business days to the normal timeline).
We are happy to provide a cargo worthy (CW) container, as well as coordinate an export certification from a licensed surveyor at the depot prior to your trucker picking up the container.
Learn more about ocean export shipments here.
Types of Shipping Containers for Sale – Chicago
Container Management, Inc. is proud to offer new and used shipping containers for sale near Chicago, IL. Whether you need a 20-foot or 40-foot shipping container, we'll help you find the perfect container to fit your needs. Select any of the containers below or read our Buying Guide to learn more.
You can also contact our team or request a quote, and one of our specialists will be happy to assist you.
Discover Our Chicago Area Pricing
As a wholesaler, we’ve provided excellent customer service to container brokers, businesses, individuals, and many others in Chicago for more than 30 years. As one of the most reputable, largest, and long-standing container wholesalers, we can typically offer better prices than our competitors, backed by our family-owned history and expertise.
New and Used Containers We Sell in Chicago
We sell new and used steel shipping containers in different sizes and configurations in the Chicago Area market, with container sales focused on practical storage solutions. Our Chicago Area customers often buy:
- Cargo Worthy containers that meet international specs for shipping goods overseas
- 20-foot containers for storage; new shipping containers are available in both standard and specialized designs
- 20-foot containers for a variety of customizations
- 40-foot containers for storage and customization (8 feet, 6 inches high)
- 40-foot high-cube containers (9 feet, 6 inches high)
- Specialty containers, including open-side and double-door configurations
- Refrigerated containers for temperature-sensitive cargo
- Other new and used shipping container sizes
Learn about Shipping Container Grades.
Modifications
Our Chicago area fabrication shop can modify containers for business storage, offices, retail, and other applications, supporting customers who want to build with shipping containers for homes or commercial spaces. We can add:
- Cut-outs for doors and windows, including roll-up doors, man doors, windows, and skylights
- Flooring (wood, steel)
- Electrical wiring & lighting, with work completed to comply with local building codes
- HVAC systems, including units installed in modified containers
- Insulation, with material types varying based on customer preference
- Interior wall installations such as drywall and paneling
Whether you're building container offices, pop-up retail units, or custom storage modules - we've got your back.
Creative Uses of Containers in Chicago, Illinois, and Beyond
Explore some of the creative ways Illinoisans have repurposed steel shipping containers and how entrepreneurs are starting shipping container storage businesses.
Gas Stations and Automotive Service Centers
With hinged doors at both ends, cars can drive in at one end of the steel container and exit the other. Therefore, containers are cost-effective ways to expand capacity at existing brick-and-mortar automotive stations, replace an old or deteriorating station, or sit independently as a storefront in a lot.
Shopping Centers
One of Chicago's most noteworthy applications for repurposed containers is in the Bronzeville Area, on Chicago’s South Side. Fondly nicknamed “Boxville,” a series of shipping containers serve as storefronts for the black and brown entrepreneurs of the local community.
Since 2017, the goals of Boxville have been threefold:
• Keep the dollars in the community.
• Offer an opportunity to launch local small businesses without the overhead of a brick-and-mortar building.
• Provide goods to an under-resourced community
Shipping Container Homes
Builders construct both individual homes and entire subdivisions from shipping containers.
Individual Homes
Individual container homes are scattered throughout Chicago and its suburbs. Upscale container homes, such as one in St. Charles, Illinois, sold for $743,000. In Westmont, Illinois, another Chicago suburb, the container home sold for $525,000.
Subdivisions
In other areas, such as the Englewood, Chatham, and Auburn Gresham neighborhoods on the Southside of Chicago, modest three- and four-bedroom homes are built from 40-foot containers. Home prices will start at $300,000.
Entertainment Complex and Patios
Customized containers are also sourced as entertainment venues and community gathering places.
In rural Loves Park, Illinois, part of the Rockford, Illinois, metropolitan statistical area, plans are underway to build a combination retail and entertainment complex.
At 838 W. Kinzie Street in Chicago, you can find an outdoor patio and stage made from repurposed shipping containers.
Similarly, containers serve as a community center in Woodlawn, a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago.
Popup…Well, Everything
Pop-up museums, libraries, retail markets, and more grace the Chicagoland area.
Hydroponic Container Farms
Urban and rural hydroponic container farms are an eco-friendly, climate-controlled way to maximize space and extend the Chicago growing season. Year-round, hydroponic farms grow in vertical trays, for example, in Mokena, Illinois, and in the Fulton Market district in Chicago, where understanding CSC plates and export surveys is essential if containers will also be used in international trade.
Traditional Uses
Of course, Chicagoans continue to buy steel containers for more traditional uses. They buy shipping containers to move goods overseas. Moreover, they buy shipping containers to:
- Store goods, equipment, and tools.
- Create mobile blood donation centers.
- Use at construction sites for storage, first-aid centers or break trailers.
- Establish portable, temporary, or permanent office spaces.
- Create cost-efficient added space for myriad purposes.
We Deliver Shipping Containers Within a 200 Mile Radius of Chicago, IL
Container Management, Inc. can deliver your shipping container anywhere within a 200 mile radius of Chicago, and our nationwide container sales locations make it easy to purchase outside the region as well.
This means we can deliver your shipping container to other prime locations near Chicago and Lake Michigan, including:
- Aurora, IL
- Naperville, IL
- Rockford, IL
- Peoria, IL
- Bloomington, IL
- Fort Wayne, IN
- South Bend, IN
- Milwaukee, WI
- Kenosha, WI
- Madison, WI
- Green Bay, WI
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Lansing, MI
- Ann Arbor, MI
- Davenport, IA
Contact us today to find out if our Chicago location is the best option for delivering your shipping container.
Frequently Asked Questions About Shipping Containers for Sale in Chicago
Who is Container Management, Inc.?
Container Management, Inc. was founded in Chicago in 1993 to supply shipping containers to individuals, businesses, and industrial companies. We provide new, used, and modified steel shipping and storage containers. We offer local inventory, fast delivery, customer fabrication, and competitive wholesale pricing for customers throughout Illinois and the Midwest.
Where can I buy shipping containers in Chicago?
You can buy shipping containers directly from Container Management, Inc., with pickup available at our Chicago depot or delivery within a 200-mile radius of the greater metro area. We specialize in 20-foot, 40-foot, 40-foot High Cube, and other specialty containers, available in One-Trip (New) or used Cargo Worthy and Wind/Watertight conditions.
Does Container Management deliver containers in Chicago?
Yes. We deliver containers using tilt-bed trucks for ground placement within 200 miles of our Chicago depot and we arrange for flatbed delivery for longer distances.
How soon can I get a delivery?
We can typically deliver your container within 4-7 business days after payment.
Do you rent containers in Chicago?
No, we no longer rent containers.
Do I need a permit in Chicago?
Most short-term storage containers do not require a permit, but permanent container structures may. Always check local zoning rules.
Why our Clients in Chicago Trust Us
- Family-owned & Trusted: We’re a multi-generational, family-run business with decades of experience.
- Proven Track Record: We have hundreds of 5-star reviews from Chicago-area customers who praise our professionalism, pricing, and delivery reliability.
- Expert Support: Our team is well-versed in both container logistics and fabrication – meaning you get expert help from quote through delivery.
- We adhere to the BBB Standards for Trust:
- Build Trust
- Advertise Honestly
- Tell the Truth
- Be Transparent
- Honor Promises
- Be Responsive
- Safeguard Privacy
- Embody Integrity
Learn about
Shipping Container Grades.
Container Management, Inc. Can Help
Contact Container Management, Inc. today for expert guidance, competitive pricing, and reliable delivery in Indianapolis, Indiana. Whether you need new or used shipping containers, modifications, or export-certified units, we’re here to help you every step of the way. Get your free quote now and experience the trusted service that sets us apart. Don’t wait—secure your ideal shipping container today!
