Straight answers
What Is an “A-Grade” Shipping Container?
There’s no such thing as an “A-Grade” shipping container, and it should be a red flag if someone is trying to sell you one. Grades like “A-Grade,” “B-Grade,” and “C-Grade” are totally subjective and vary from seller to seller. The intermodal industry doesn’t use them and instead uses condition categories like “One Trip” or “Wind and Watertight” to identify container grades.
Key points
- There’s no such thing as an “A-Grade” container in the intermodal industry.
- Companies that offer “A-Grade” containers are usually less professional.
- If someone offers to sell you an “A-Grade” container, that should raise a red flag.
- The intermodal industry uses conditions like “Wind and Watertight,” not “A-Grade.”
- If you’re worried about cosmetics, buy a One Trip container or paint your used container.
Why “A-Grade” is a red flag
Sometimes less professional container sales companies will describe containers that are cosmetically better looking as “A-Grade,” but that doesn’t really mean anything beyond their opinion. If you’re worried about cosmetic conditions, we recommend either buying a One Trip container or pressure washing and painting your container after delivery. A Wind and Watertight (WWT) container can still be a practical storage solution even when it shows cosmetic wear—and painting after delivery is a normal way to clean it up when appearance matters. See a real-world example on our Customers page (/customers): WWT containers cleaned up and painted for the BWI Airport Marriott.
There’s no such thing as an “A-Grade” container, and anyone trying to sell you one should raise a red flag. If you’re worried about how your container will look, buy a One Trip container or pressure wash and paint your used container after delivery.