Portable storage containers for San Diego businesses
Stock, offices, records and jobsites
The short version: One Stop Moving & Storage rents lockable steel containers to San Diego businesses: a Standard 8×8×5 ft for $99 a month or a Large 8×8×7 ft for $175, month to month. Shops keep seasonal stock in them, offices use them for a suite move, and contractors use them as a jobsite lockup. Delivery and pickup are quoted in writing before you book.
- Ground-level floor: roll a hand truck straight in
- Steel doors that take your own padlock
- Moved from site to site anywhere in San Diego County, quoted in writing
- Not a 20 or 40 ft shipping container, and we say so up front
Since 2008
Moving San Diego
CAL-190616
California mover license
USDOT 1956864
Interstate, MC 694565
BBB A+
Better Business Bureau
98%
Of our customers come back (company records)
7 days
7 AM–7 PM, phone open 24 hours
Businesses
What do San Diego businesses use a container for?
Mostly four jobs: holding stock or fixtures near the loading door, an office or suite move, keeping files and records out of the way, and locking up tools on a jobsite. Our largest container is 8×8×7 ft (448 cubic feet), so it suits a shop or an office, not a warehouse load.
Retail stock
Park seasonal stock or fixtures beside the loading door until you need them.
Office and suite moves
Fill a container on Friday and unload it into the new space on Monday, with our own movers doing the lifting if you book them, quoted in writing.
Files and records
Keep boxed files behind steel doors and your own padlock.
Restaurants
Lock away patio furniture over the winter.
Shop or office remodel
Clear the space into a container on your lot while the work runs. See renovation storage.
Need more space?
For more than a Large holds, ask about our commercial storage, quoted in writing.
A container can stay on your property as long as you rent it, with access any time while it is there, or we can collect it sealed and keep it at our facility, where visits are by appointment, Monday to Saturday, 7 AM to 7 PM. Storage at our facility is quoted in writing.
The container is all steel and weather-resistant, but it is not climate controlled, so keep heat- or humidity-sensitive stock somewhere that is. What goes inside is covered by your own insurance, not by the rental, so check your policy before you load.
Jobsites
What a container is good for on a jobsite
A container works best as the lockup for the things that walk off a site overnight: power tools, shelving, safety gear, boxed tile, fixtures and appliances waiting to go in.
The doors are steel and take your own padlock, and the floor sits at ground level, so a crew rolls a hand truck straight in without a ramp. Your crew can open it any day, at any hour, while it sits on your site.
Terms follow the job rather than a contract length. The rental runs month to month with no early-return penalty, so a container can arrive before framing and leave the week after final inspection. When one site wraps up and the next begins, we lift the loaded container by forklift onto our tow bed and set it down at the next address anywhere in San Diego County; that move is quoted in writing for the new address.
Know the limits before you order. The largest container is 8×8×7 ft, with 448 cubic feet. That holds a lot of hand tools and cabinet boxes, but it is not a shipping container. Search for construction storage containers in San Diego and the top results are equipment-rental companies offering steel containers of 20 or 40 feet. We do not rent those sizes. If the build needs a full-size shipping container, one of those companies is the better call.
The delivery truck needs about 30 ft of clearance and level ground, so mention low wires, scaffolding or a tight gate when you reserve. Our crews are full-time employees, not subcontractors, and One Stop Moving & Storage has worked in San Diego since 2008 under CAL-190616 and USDOT 1956864.
Rent is $99 a month for a Standard or $175 for a Large, and delivery and pickup are quoted in writing. See container prices, line by line.
Before you place it
Whose rules apply to your container
Most jobsite rules in San Diego County were written for cargo or shipping containers, so ask the city whether a short-term portable container counts before it goes on your site.
Escondido’s code, for one, defines a cargo container as an industrial metal shipping container. Only Chula Vista’s section names portable storage containers separately, so elsewhere the code does not say whether a container delivered for a few weeks or months counts. We list what each city’s code or bulletin says, with its source, but we cannot answer that question for a city.
Before the container goes on your site, call the city’s building or planning department, describe the container and how long it will stay, and ask whether the rule applies to it. Anything in the street or sidewalk needs a city permit almost everywhere; Carlsbad does not allow containers there at all.
City by city
Jobsite container rules around the county
What each code or bulletin says, in short, with the date we checked it. Rules change, so confirm with the city before delivery.
City of San Diego: Information Bulletin 149
“A Building Permit is required to install cargo containers on a site.” The only exception listed is stage sets during a permitted special event, and supplying electricity, plumbing or mechanical service needs its own permit. The bulletin, dated March 2024, does not address short-term portable storage units (checked 16 Sep 2026).
Read IB 149Escondido: §33-725 and §33-727
Cargo containers may sit temporarily on private property in any zone to hold building materials or construction tools during work under an active building permit on the same property. They go within 10 calendar days of the permit’s expiry or final, and on lots under one acre stay no more than 180 days a calendar year (checked 16 Sep 2026).
Containers in EscondidoChula Vista: CVMC 19.58.445
Shipping containers are not allowed in residential zones except with an active construction permit. A portable storage container in a residential zone goes in the garage first, then an existing driveway, one per lot, for 30 consecutive days and 90 days in a calendar year (code amended 2026, checked 16 Oct 2026).
Containers in Chula VistaEl Cajon: §17.75.020
Construction laydown yards in commercial and industrial zones, and prefabricated storage containers used for short-term or seasonal storage, are listed as temporary uses that may be allowed with a Temporary Use Permit (checked 16 Sep 2026).
Containers in El CajonSantee: residential code amendment to CRC R105.2
Santee’s local amendment exempts metal storage containers used as temporary storage structures from a residential building permit. The exemption does not cover habitable space (checked 16 Sep 2026).
Containers in SanteeCarlsbad: engineering Q&A
Dumpsters and storage pods are not allowed in the paved street or on sidewalks, so a jobsite container in Carlsbad has to sit on the site itself (checked 16 Sep 2026).
Containers in CarlsbadPoway: residential zones
Poway has no rule written for a short-term moving container, but it requires a minor conditional use permit for “seatainers” (cargo containers) in residential zones, and a container in the street needs a written encroachment permit (checked 30 Sep 2026).
Containers in PowaySolana Beach: building sites
Large containers on building sites may stay up to 90 days without a temporary use permit, and anything in the right-of-way takes an encroachment permit from the City Engineer (checked 16 Oct 2026).
All service areasUnincorporated San Diego County
County zoning §6162 covers cargo containers, with a limit of 180 days in 5 years, and the county’s handout PDS-726 describes one container of up to 320 sq ft with a building permit. Street use takes a Public Works encroachment permit ($217) plus a traffic control permit, which takes about 6 weeks (checked 16 Oct 2026).
Driveway permitsQuestions
Jobsite and business storage, answered.
Short answers for contractors, shop owners and office managers. City rules change, so confirm placement with the city before delivery.
All moving questionsDo you rent storage containers to businesses in San Diego?
Yes. Shops, offices and contractors rent our steel containers month to month: $99 a month for a Standard (8×8×5 ft) or $175 for a Large (8×8×7 ft), with delivery and pickup quoted in writing. Our largest container is 8×8×7 ft; we don’t rent 20 or 40 ft shipping containers.
How much does a storage container for a construction site cost in San Diego?
A Standard container is $99 a month and a Large is $175; delivery and pickup are quoted in writing for your address. Moving it to a second site is quoted in writing for that address. Any city permit is extra, and loading help from our movers is quoted separately, in writing.
Do I need a building permit for a storage container on a San Diego jobsite?
Possibly, so ask the city first. The City of San Diego’s Information Bulletin 149 requires a building permit to install cargo containers on a site, but it does not address short-term portable storage units. Describe the container to Development Services and ask whether the bulletin applies to it.
Can you move the container between job sites?
Yes, anywhere in San Diego County. Call to schedule, and we lift the loaded container onto our tow bed by forklift and set it down at the next site. That move is quoted in writing for the new site. Outside the county, we can ship it to the 48 continental states, quoted in writing.
Is a container big enough for construction materials?
For tools, fixtures and boxed materials, usually yes. The Standard is 8×8×5 ft with 320 cubic feet, and the Large is 8×8×7 ft with 448. We do not rent 20 or 40 ft shipping containers, so a large build that needs one should call an equipment-rental company instead.
Can my crew get into the container every day?
Yes. While the container sits on your site, your crew can open it at any hour, any day, with your own padlock. If we store it at our facility instead, visits are by appointment, Monday to Saturday, 7 AM to 7 PM.
Can a jobsite container sit in the street?
Only with a city permit, and not in every city. The City of San Diego issues a Traffic Control Permit for up to 7 days, and Carlsbad does not allow containers in the paved street or on sidewalks. Our driveway permits guide lists the rule in each city we checked.
Sources
- City of San Diego Information Bulletin 149, Cargo Containers (March 2024), checked 2026-09-16
- Escondido Zoning Code Article 36, Cargo Containers (§33-725 and §33-727), checked 2026-09-16
- Chula Vista Municipal Code 19.58.445, Portable storage and shipping containers (amended by Ord. 3623, 2026), checked 2026-10-16
- El Cajon Municipal Code ch. 17.75, Temporary Use Permit (§17.75.020), checked 2026-09-16
- City of Santee Residential Code amendments (CRC R105.2, item 15), checked 2026-09-16
- City of Carlsbad Land Development Engineering Q&A: dumpsters and storage pods in the street, checked 2026-09-16
- Poway Municipal Code Ch. 17.08, residential zones (seatainers: minor conditional use permit), checked 2026-09-30
- Solana Beach Municipal Code 17.60.010, large containers on building sites, checked 2026-10-16
- County of San Diego Zoning Ordinance §6162, cargo containers, checked 2026-10-16
- County of San Diego PDS-726, requirements for placing a sea cargo container, checked 2026-10-16
- County of San Diego Public Works, Encroachment Permit Application Package, checked 2026-10-16
Free quote
Put a lockup on your site.
Price a container for the site ZIP, then tell the office about site access and whether the container will move to a second job. Call (858) 633-8600; the phone line is open 24 hours.