Shipping containers in Salem, VA.

Salem is an independent city, not a town inside a county. It has been one since December 31, 1967, and while it serves as the county seat of Roanoke County, the two are separate jurisdictions. Salem is not part of Roanoke County.

That is not trivia when you are asking about rules. A container going onto a parcel inside the Salem city limits is under the city's zoning and the city's inspections, not Roanoke County's, and asking the wrong office wastes a call. The Virginia building code question is the same everywhere in the Commonwealth, but zoning follows the jurisdiction line.

The city itself is about 25,000 people, home to Roanoke College and the Salem Civic Center, with the ordinary mix of a small city economy: light industry, contractors, service businesses, and a lot of properties that ran out of room in the garage.

A 20-ft runs about 160 square feet and is the common choice for tools, materials, inventory overflow, and household storage during a renovation. A 40-ft is about 320 and gets picked when you need to walk into it, or when the things going in are long.

Every unit we deliver is used cargo-worthy or one-trip, wind and watertight, doors working, with the lockbox already welded on. That is true whether you buy it or rent it, and it is not a line on the quote.

We build modifications in our own shop in Woodlawn before the container ships: man doors, windows, roll-up doors, vents, shelving, insulation. On anything with power we rough in the electrical and a licensed electrician does the final hookup and inspection.

If a jobsite office is what you are actually after, our mobile office page covers what a finished, wired unit includes.

This is a tilt-bed delivery. The trailer backs in, tilts, and eases forward while the container slides off, so it needs a straight approach rather than a tight pivot. Roughly 60 to 100 feet of clear run is the usual requirement, and in town that is the constraint more often than it is out in the county.

What we look at on a Salem address:

• Street width and whether the truck can line up without blocking a lane the whole time
• Overhead service lines, which are lower and more numerous in older neighborhoods
• Driveway slope and any curb cut the trailer has to cross
• Ground that will hold a loaded truck, including any concrete you would rather not crack
• Fence gates and side-yard widths, which are usually where a plan falls apart

Tell us the layout when you call. A photo of the approach saves everyone a wasted trip, and we would rather tell you honestly that a spot needs a different plan than find out with a loaded trailer on the street.

The delivery preparation guide is the full checklist.

Used cargo-worthy 20-ft containers start around $3,200 and 40-ft units start around $4,900, with those figures reflecting delivery inside our free zone. Salem sits outside that ring, so the container price holds and the trip is quoted separately and up front.

Rentals work the same way: from $165 a month for a 20-ft and $235 for a 40-ft, month to month with no contract, with delivery and pickup quoted for the distance rather than assumed.

There is no surcharge hidden behind that. You get one number for the container and one for the run, both before you commit.

Call (276) 237-6144 with the size and the address, or send it over and we will come back with the whole quote in one piece.

Roanoke · Christiansburg · Blacksburg

Not on the list? You're probably still in range — see the full service area or just call us and we'll check the mileage for you.