Also called Fork pockets
Forklift pockets are two rectangular openings built into the bottom cross-members of a shipping container, spaced and sized to accept forklift tines so the box can be picked up and repositioned without a crane. Most 20-ft containers carry them as a standard factory feature; whether a container can actually be moved this way depends on its length, its weight, and whether it's loaded.
Yes, a container built with forklift pockets almost always has exactly two, cut through the bottom rails a set distance apart so a standard forklift's tines line up with them. That spacing is close to industry standard on 20-ft boxes, which is why they're the size most often moved this way on a jobsite or a farm.
The pockets aren't guaranteed on every box that comes through a yard. Some older units, some heavily modified ones, and some specialty sizes skip them or have them welded shut from a prior life. If moving the container by forklift matters to your plan, look at the bottom rail yourself before you count on it.
The pockets themselves are only half the question. A forklift rated for the weight of an empty 20-ft container can be well short of what a loaded one, or a longer 40-ft box, needs. Length matters as much as weight: a 40-ft container lifted from two points near its ends puts real bending stress across the middle of the span, which a 20-ft box never experiences.
That's why an empty container is a much safer forklift lift than a loaded one, and why a 20-ft box is a far more routine lift than a 40-ft box. Tine length and spread matter too. Tines that don't reach fully through the pocket concentrate the load at the tip instead of spreading it across the rail.
Our own deliveries go by tilt-bed truck, not forklift, the truck slides the container off the back and our crew levels it on blocks. Forklift pockets come into play after that, if you own or rent a forklift and want to reposition an empty container yourself, slide it onto a different pad, or square it up against a fence line.
They're a moving feature, not a foundation feature. A container still needs firm, level ground under it once it's set down, pockets don't change what the ground underneath has to do.
A forklift pocket is built to take a straight, horizontal tine, not a chain, strap, or hook pulling at an angle. Don't treat it as a crane rigging point or a place to anchor a come-along. For lifting with a crane or overhead rig, the corner castings at the top and bottom corners of the box are the rated attachment points, not the forklift pockets.
We'll show you exactly which containers are set up to move by forklift and which aren't.
Same-day reply. We'll send a real number, a real delivery window, and any photos we need to confirm fit.
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