Things have changed a lot in the self-storage industry over the years. We’ve advanced past storing our belongings in barns, attics, basements, closets or garages. All of those options take up valuable space in the home and create clutter. During the 1950s and 60s, self-storage rental units became popular. People could rent a room and store goods without taking up space in their home or office. Today, people have another option for self-storage: portable storage.
Portable storage offers a variety of benefits on top of the benefits of a regular self-storage unit. First, let’s look at the many logistical options for renting a portable storage container.
- Delivery. Have the storage container delivered to your home.
- Pick up. Go to a portable storage rental location and tow the storage container to your home on a special trailer.
- On-site use. Bring your belongings to the portable storage location and fill the storage box on site.
After you’ve put your belongings in your portable storage container, you are not limited to keeping that storage box at one specific location. You have various options for what you can do with it.
- Short-term or long-term storage. Store your belongings in a portable storage container at storage facility for as long as you like.
- Moving by freight. If you are moving and want to ship your goods from one location to another, you can have your portable storage container transported for you. This is a great option for movers who want to turn their cross-country move into a road trip without having to drive a large moving truck.
- Storage transfer. If you plan to transport your goods to a different location for storage, you can use the portable storage unit like a trailer. This means you won’t have to empty out a self-storage unit into a moving truck or trailer and then back into another self-storage unit.
When I moved across the country a while ago, I didn’t have that much stuff, and I didn’t have a hitch on my vehicle to tow a trailer. So, I rented a U-Box portable storage container, filled it up, and had it transported to my new home ahead of me. The entire process was convenient and allowed me to enjoy my cross-country drive in the comfort of my own vehicle.
This new frontier in the self-storage industry creates many new options for the do-it-yourself mover as well as people who are just looking for a more portable way to store their belongings.
Have you used portable storage? What do you think about the idea of being able to store and transport your belongings so easily? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.