Tilt-tray or side-loader: which truck your site can take

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The tilt-tray

A tilt-tray is the standard container delivery. The tray tilts back, the container slides off the rear onto the ground, and the truck drives forward out from under it. It is quick, it is the cheapest method, and it places the container accurately along one axis — where the truck can get the room.

How much room a tilt-tray needs

As a working rule, a tilt-tray needs roughly twice the container length in straight, clear space, plus room to manoeuvre into position. For a 20ft container that means about 12 metres of straight run; for a 40ft unit, closer to 25 metres. It also needs ground that is reasonably level and firm enough to carry a loaded truck, and clear height for the tray to tilt — which is often more than people expect, so watch for wires and branches.

The side-loader

A side-loader carries its own crane gear and lifts the container off the side of the truck, setting it down alongside. It needs a clear strip beside the drop point rather than a long run behind it, which makes it the answer for narrow blocks, laneways, tight yards and anywhere a tilt-tray cannot get the straight clearance. It can also stack and retrieve, which matters if the unit will be moved later.

When you need a crane

When the container has to clear something — a fence, a wall, a house, a level change — neither truck will do it and you need a crane. It is the most expensive option and it is quoted separately, but on a tight urban block or a canal-front property it is often the only way the unit gets where you want it. A crane needs a clear lift path and stable set-up ground, and it has to be coordinated with the delivery truck on the day.

How to assess your own site

Walk the route the truck will take, from the street to the drop point, with a tape measure. Record the gate width, the narrowest point, the turning room, the surface and the gradient. Look up for wires, branches, eaves and awnings. Then photograph it — the straight run behind the drop point, the gate, the approach from the street and anything overhead. Those photos answer more questions than any description.

Ground that will carry the truck

A loaded delivery truck is heavy. Lawn, sand, soft fill and gravel drives that carry a ute all year may not carry it, particularly after rain. If the approach softens in wet weather, either schedule around it or choose a drop point closer to firm ground. A bogged truck is a long, expensive afternoon for everybody.

What to tell us when you order

The delivery address, the drop point, the gate width, the surface, the gradient, anything overhead, and whether the site is accessible to a heavy vehicle in wet weather. If a permit is needed to occupy the street, say who is arranging it. That information is what turns a delivery from a hope into a booking.