What container grade do you actually need?

Wind and watertight means the box keeps weather out. Cargo worthy means it has been surveyed and certified structurally fit to be loaded and shipped again. Cargo worthy is the higher bar and costs more, but the extra you are paying for is the shipping certification, which is worth nothing to you if the container is going to sit in one place for the next fifteen years. For static storage, wind and watertight is usually the honest answer.

Yes, but only when you can see the specific unit first. As-is means the seller is making no promises at all. It might have a hole in the roof, a rotten floor, or doors that will not shut. Some are perfectly serviceable boxes being cleared cheap; others are scrap. If you can walk the yard and inspect it, an as-is unit can be the best value on the lot. Bought sight-unseen it is a gamble, and this quiz will not recommend it if you cannot inspect.

IICL is an inspection standard used by the leasing industry, and it sits above cargo worthy, with a tighter tolerance on dents, repairs and corrosion. You will occasionally see it offered on the used market at a premium over cargo worthy. It is genuinely the best used condition available, but for most buyers it is more certification than the job needs. This quiz sticks to the four grades you will actually be offered by U.S. yards.

Less than where you put it does. A wind and watertight box on a gravel pad with the roof clear of standing water will outlast a one-trip container sitting in a hollow where water pools and the base rails stay wet. Grade sets your starting point; drainage, airflow and level support decide how fast it deteriorates from there.

Each answer weights the four grades, and two hard rules override the scoring: if the container will be shipped it must be cargo worthy or better, because that certification is a legal requirement for carriage; and if you cannot inspect the unit, as-is is removed entirely. Your result shows which grades were ruled out and why. It is a starting position for the conversation with a supplier, not a substitute for looking at the box.