Level a Shipping Container on Screw Feet Instead of Timber Packing

The Problem

A shipping container carries its whole load through the eight corner castings — the steel fittings at each corner with the oblong holes. Everything between them is thin corrugated skin that isn't meant to bear on anything. Set the container down on ground that falls away at one corner and the frame twists: the doors stop meeting the gasket, the locking bars won't swing home, and one leaf sits proud of the other.

The usual fix is stacked timber under each corner. Timber crushes under 4,000-plus pounds of empty container, wicks water out of the soil and rots, and works loose as the ground moves through a wet season. Adjusting it means jacking the corner again to pull a shim out.

The Technique

Levelling feet are threaded screw jacks with a bolt pattern that matches the corner casting. They stay under the container permanently and adjust without lifting it.

1. Bolt a foot into each bottom corner casting through the casting's existing holes — no welding and no drilling into the container.
2. Set the container down on the four feet rather than on packing.
3. Wind each foot up or down with a wrench until the container reads level. Work opposite corners rather than going around the box, so you aren't chasing the twist from one side.
4. Check across the door opening as well as along the length. If both leaves swing and latch without a shove, the frame isn't racked.
5. Re-check after a few weeks and after the first hard rain, and wind out whatever the ground gave up.