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Mobile Self Storage

ISSUE: August 2008

It’s All About The Box

Innovations In The Container Industry

By Suellyn Newey

Photo courtesy of PODS

Photo courtesy of Mobile Attic

Photo courtesy of Public Storage

Photo courtesy of SMARTBOX

Photo courtesy of Seattle-Tacoma Box

Photo courtesy of Kontane, Inc.

Photo courtesy of Havener Enterprises

Photo courtesy of COWS

Innovation is the name of the game in the mobile storage industry—from its status as the new kid on the block the day the first storage container was delivered to the customer’s door, to today’s standing as the fastest growing market segment in the storage industry. Although this dynamic industry has set heads spinning with its record growth, it has hit some bumps in the road of its brief 10-year history, and the overall picture of the mobile self storage industry remains fragmented.

The Mobile Self Storage Association (MS-SA) has attempted to set an industry standard container size of 8-by-5-by-7, but the length, width, and height still run the gamut. Hence, the association is promoting the concept of independent operators using a standard size so they can exchange customers. Franchisors have used this strategy to extend their reach nationwide.

Nevertheless, according to David Nathan, owner of N.J.-based Containers on Wheels (COWS), diversity is the fuel that feeds the innovations currently taking place in the industry. Although there are only three kinds of container materials— wood, plastic, and steel—size and style are up for grabs, and the kind of material definitely figures into the equation. Independent mobile storage operators have developed their own standards for containers based on geographic location, material availability, weather, what their customers like, and if their primary customers are commercial or residential.

The pioneers of mobile storage and others in the packing, transport, and moving industry have used their ingenuity to develop a multitude of container options, and there are as many opinions on container style and size as there are companies in the business.

From Packaging To Containers

Kontane, Inc. was in the business of designing and supplying packaging to numerous industries, including moving and storage, when Chuck Helm, president the N.C.-based company decided to construct containers and transportation systems for the mobile storage industry. “We built our first container to serve the moving and storage industries in 1975 and our first mobile storage container between 1995 and 1996,” Helm says. The company’s latest innovation is the HomePak™ container and the HomePak XL-T Lifting Trailer. According to Helm, his research into the industry indicated that the delivery system is as important as the container.

The HomePak™ mobile storage container is fabricated with CoreTough ST, recycled composite plastic panels, unique in the industry. The core is made from high impact polystyrene; because of its sandwich/composite panel configuration, it is highly impact and deflection resistant. The ABS facings—a material commonly used in automobile interior and exterior applications—is UV resistant, easily painted, and has a high range of temperature performance, meaning it can be used inside and out anywhere in the country.

Standard panel dimensions are up to 20 feet in length and Kontane can customize containers at the customer’s request. Another HomePak™ model built with the same plastic panels has a base fabricated with tubular steel and I-beams and three quarter- inch tongue and groove plywood. The containers ship knocked down, allowing more containers to be shipped in less space and minimizing freight charges. Both containers have a custom-designed roll-up door for easy access, and the door can be locked.

The HomePak™ owes its concept to the plastic top Kontane developed for their wood container, which made it waterproof, lighter, and less expensive. Kontane switched to plastic for their HomePak™, but they still sell the wood container with the plastic top for a less expensive entry to the mobile storage market. The weight savings with the plastic top means that mobile storage operators can put more 8-by-5-by-7.5-foot wood containers in the same size truck. The wood container weighs 637 pounds, but with a plastic top, it weighs only 525 pounds, almost a 20 percent savings in weight.

The container delivery trailer is 28 feet in length with an overall width of 120 inches. It is gasoline powered with a drive wheel and hydraulic system; it can also be operated by a wireless remote. It has four-wheel electric brakes, four hydraulic lifting cylinders for a 10,000 pound capacity, and four-wheel independent air ride suspension.

Easy Containers And Delivery

Nathan believes that the key to mobile storage is to make it as easy and inexpensive as possible to get containers to customers. “The whole advantage to mobile storage is that it is more convenient and easier for the consumer,” he says. “We make it easy and inexpensive to get the mobile container to the facility owner and for them to deliver it to their customers.”

When the industry began, no one knew how to design and build containers that would collapse and fit into a flat kit to simplify delivery and reduce costs for the mobile storage owner, Nathan said. A container that meets those requirements is Nathan’s newest innovation. He worked closely with his company’s engineers to create modular steel containers that break down to make an 11-inch high kit; he then took it a couple of steps further and put wheels and hardware inside. The kits can be delivered on a trailer using a regular truck, and assembled with no additional personnel.

COWs has two starter packages for the customer to choose from, each accompanied by a manual, a socket wrench, and a trailer. Starter Kit A includes six 16-foot containers, and Starter Kit B includes three 16-foot containers and four eight foot containers.

The containers are easy to assemble, but Nathan says he goes the extra mile and sends a management team to any customer who needs additional help with assembly. Two of the container’s caster wheels are stationary and two turn 360 degrees, making it easy to push or steer the container. They can also be stacked, and each corner of the container has a raised right angle so it cups the container above; a blocking plate holds each wheel in place.

As Nathan points out, it is important to have consistent branding for a professional look and to help customers maintain their image, so he insured that the container’s steel framework can be ordered to match the customer’s logo color. Not one to rest on his laurels, Nathan already has several new products in the design stage with others in the patent process.

Preassembled Wood Boxes

Jake Nist, owner of Seattle Tacoma Box Company, favors wood containers; he knows a thing or two about wood and is quick to extol its virtues since his company’s roots go deep in the northwest woods of Washington. It was founded in 1889 as a lumber company and through fires and hard times, thrived by morphing to meet the changing times. In the 1950s, Seattle Box began building wooden moving and storage containers for the military. In mid-1990, the company capitalized on its storage container expertise and entered the mobile storage industry.

“A lot of containers are made of metal or fiberglass, but we’ve done a lot of research and think wood containers have the best characteristics for the portable storage industry,” says Nist, although he admits proximity to the material and prior experience in the lumber industry are contributing factors.

One of the latest innovations of Seattle-Tacoma’s box is an option for a pre-assembled, pre-hung tilt door. The container takes a vinyl cover when stored outside to keep the rain out, and rather than allow the cover to flop around, Nist said they placed a Velcro® fastener on top of the container so their customers or the consumer can roll back the cover and get into the door while the cover is still on. The door also provides easy ingress and egress to and from the container when a customer wants to access something at the back of the crate.

Although they manufacture several types of wood containers, Nist said they maintain consistency in the base construction to insure they can be easily stacked. Most of the containers they manufacture are 5-by-8-by-7 to 7.5 feet tall. There are two basic styles of containers; the first type is shipped in individual parts and nailed together at the customer’s location; the second type is shipped as a collapsed kit and bolted together at the customer’s facility.

Either box can be easily assembled in less than 10 minutes. All hardware comes pre-attached, has placards for bar coding and Velcro to secure waterproof plastic covers. If assembly is difficult for the customer, Seattle-Tacoma Box provides onsite supervision for an additional charge. “Wood panels are easy to replace, flexible, durable, light weight, and they stay cooler than metal or fiberglass,” says Nist. “Wood is also the only breathable material that lasts a long time and is cost effective to buy.” Nist describes the containers made by Seattle-Tacoma Box as “heavier duty.” The top and base are constructed from a solid sheet of half-inch plywood to provide strength; the side walls and end are attached to the base and each other by a tongue and groove system, thus locking the components together. Both containers have identical construction and are designed to stack up to four high in warehouse storage with a loaded capacity of up to 3,000 pounds per container.

The Switch From Wood To Metal

When Chris Havener started his business 10 years ago in Michigan, he operated a conventional storage facility in a 250,000- square-feet warehouse on 16 acres; but he had trouble renting out all that space. Mobile storage was new, and his entrance to the market was marked with disappointing wood boxes, which, as he puts it, were no good at all.

That obstacle didn’t slow him down— Havener switched to metal and had a lawn mower company build a steel box. The steel boxes were made in Asia; three years later when he tried to market them, the price of steel had shot up and they were extremely expensive to ship. Still undeterred, Havener kept innovating, demonstrating how entrepreneurial spirit and the will to succeed are job requirements in the mobile storage industry.

Today, Havener Enterprises, now based in Illinois, manufacturers the Mini Sea Box and the ProBox. Innovation isn’t always the purview of a lone inventor, and Havener is quick to note that his container design evolved through suggestions from customers.

“We tried the ideas our customers suggested, and as the changes filtered through, we chose the ones that we thought would work best; our containers got better,” Havener says.

The area where the company rents the mobile storage containers is blue collar and they aren’t much interested in bells and whistles; their primary interest is pricing they can afford. Thus, plastic covers work best for the containers, which are often stored outside and exposed to harsh weather conditions.

Havener’s boxes are made of 26-gauge galvanized steel and 22-gauge steel. The ProBox is 5-by-8-by-7.6-feet. The Mini Sea Box is built in sizes 5-by-8-feet, 8-by-10 and 8-by-15, all 7.5-feet high. The containers are designed to operate with wheels kits, and the wheels and placing doors at each end of the box for easy access, are Havener’s latest claim to fame.

The boxes are also collapsible and ship flat and ready for assembly; it takes a team of two about 30 minutes to assemble the boxes when they arrive. “We have a package that includes three containers, but we always deliver a fourth for no charge,” Havener says. “It is convenient for us and our customers. They usually use the extra box and it saves us on delivery.” Havener’s business mix is 80 percent of the containers are delivered to the customer’s driveway and the other 20 percent are used for moves.

A Revolution In Container Tops

Aaron and Ryan Wolf named their new patent-pending container cover, as well as their business, The Hard Top, and they believe it will create a revolution in the mobile storage industry. The idea for creation of a new kind of waterproof cover occurred during discussions at a Mobile Self Storage Association meeting in St. Louis, and the concept for The Hard Top evolved from frustration with the current plastic covers that need constant maintenance and repair.

The Hard Top is molded out of one quarter- inch black polypropylene plastic and the durable cover is easy to remove and transfer between mobile storage containers due to the fork lift receptacles molded into its top.

The Wolfs weren’t new to the mobile storage industry when they began researching a new top for containers; in fact, they had made 18-ounce vinyl covers for so long, the covers had almost become the industry standard. But these covers were actually a bone of contention for the brothers when they operated their own mobile storage company.

“The covers were almost as expensive as the containers, and every time they had to be taken off and moved to another container, the forklift operator had to get off the lift and get back on again,” says Ryan Wolf. “It took one minute and 28 seconds, and with 150 to 200 covers a day, the time added up. The Hard Top takes only 27 seconds to move and transfer to another container, and the forklift driver never has to get off the lift.”

The Hard Top is reinforced with 4-by-4 wood allowing operators to stack full containers with confidence and Velcro on the side holds up the door flap. The waterproof ceiling straps will not rub through and the top increases the lifespan of the container.

The old plastic covers hung over the sides and were light enough to billow up during transport causing them to tear and loosen. The Wolfs applied expertise from their backgrounds in engineering, and began researching various types and weights of plastics. They kept their eyes open for plastic top configurations that might work for containers—something they could make themselves. They also interviewed people about what they thought might work.

The whole process took the Wolf’s about five years, during which they built molds and a vacuum system, sent prototypes around for assessment, and demoed prototypes.

“We just showed a prototype at the recent trade show and sold the concept to U-Haul International. And Public Storage is test marketing them in Los Angeles,” Wolf says. “We sold 900 covers in the first quarter of the year, one of our most profitable quarters. The trade show provided us the exposure we needed and we only anticipated demonstrating The Hard Top. We had no idea the concept would be so well received or that we would make so many sales and create so much potential.”

Summing It Up

The overall question is this: Will standardization squeeze out innovation?
Probably not. Although standardization is on its way and does have a place in the mobile self storage industry, potential for growth will continue to be bolstered by innovation, and at this point, it’s not in short supply.

Suellyn Newey is a freelance writer, editor, and public relations manager based in Prescott, Arizona. Her work has appeared numerous publications including American Builder Magazine and The Times of Fountain Hills.