Woopi sits at the top of the horticultural country that runs south to Coffs, and that shapes what people here buy containers for. It is one of our steadier runs and, since the bypass, one of the easier towns on the highway to get a truck in and out of.
From where we stand in South Grafton, Woolgoolga is mainly spray chemical, fertiliser and netting storage on the blueberry and banana blocks, packing shed overflow through the season, tools and materials for the trades working the growth estates, and equipment storage for the businesses along Beach Street with nowhere behind the shop. If you can spare the drive, come and stand in the unit before it heads to Woolgoolga. Doors, floor, roof from the inside with the doors shut — ten minutes at Reid St settles more than a page of specs.
Size is usually the first question from Woolgoolga: the 20ft arrives on a tilt-tray, the 40ft needs a sidelifter and firmer ground, and the delivery page sets out the difference.
| Size | Used from | New from |
|---|---|---|
| 10ft Containers | $4,350 | $6,400 |
| 20ft Containers | $2,200 | $3,300 |
| 40ft Containers | $2,600 | $5,500 |
Indicative, ex GST. Stock in South Grafton changes as boxes come and go; the quote for Woolgoolga is the unit plus the truck, once.
This is the most common serious conversation we have with growers in this district. A drum of scheduled chemical sitting in the corner of a machinery shed is the ordinary situation and it is also the one that gets written up the moment anybody audits the place. A plain shipping container is not the fix — it has a plywood floor and no ventilation, which is close to the opposite of what the requirement asks for.
A proper dangerous goods unit is ventilated and bunded so vapour cannot accumulate and a spill is contained. The specification depends on the class and the quantity, both of which are on the safety data sheet for whatever you hold. Get those two facts before you ring anyone — matching the container to the wrong class is an expensive mistake that a return policy does not solve. Detail is on the dangerous goods page.
Horticulture runs in peaks and a lot of what needs storing here needs storing for part of the year. Punnets, netting, picking equipment, seasonal labour gear. Buying a container to solve a three-month problem is how people end up trying to sell one in a hurry, which is the worst possible time to be selling.
Hire from twenty-seven dollars a week for a 20ft, ex GST, with delivery and collection included in the hire quote, generally beats buying under about a year. Past two years buying wins clearly. If the peak repeats every season and the container would sit idle in between, the arithmetic is worth doing properly rather than assuming — ring and we will quote it both ways.
Since the highway went around the town, getting a truck into Woolgoolga has been considerably simpler than it used to be — the through traffic that made the main street difficult is no longer in it. Town deliveries are ordinary suburban work: check the street width, check what is overhead, and check the run-in. The farm blocks up in the hills behind are where the assessment is worth doing. Horticultural country here is steep in places, the access tracks were built for a tractor or a ute, and the ground between the netting rows is not designed to carry a loaded rigid. Add irrigation lines, which are easy to miss and expensive to run over. The workable approach is to nominate a firm spot near the shed or the hardstand rather than deep in the block, and let us bring it the rest of the way if it needs a second move.
Any driver asks the same things of a block: will the ground hold a loaded truck, is there room to line up, and is there anything over the spot. Three phone photos usually answer all of it — more in our block-access guide.
Often, but the placement matters. Access tracks in the hills behind Woolgoolga were built for tractors, the ground between rows will not carry a loaded rigid, and irrigation lines are easy to miss. Nominate a firm spot near the shed or hardstand and we will work out the rest.
For anything scheduled, a purpose-built dangerous goods unit — ventilated, with a bunded spill-containment floor. The exact specification depends on the DG class and the quantity, which are on the safety data sheet. A plain container is not suitable and will not pass an inspection.
Whoever answers can see the stock. Tell them what is going inside and they will point you at a unit.
Or skip the form entirely.
Call (02) 5616 9099