How to Pick the Right Sized Construction Trailer

Shopping for a construction trailer can be tricky, especially if you’re unsure about what your needs are. But we’re here to help. Learn how to pick the right sized construction trailers for your crew. Here’s everything you need to know, and more.

With the construction industry contributing $650 billion to the economy every year, the industry is booming everywhere all of the time. If you’re in the construction business, you might find that you need to have more staff and more admin on hand as you grow. In order to accommodate these needs, you’ll need construction trailers that make sense.

Here are 5 things to consider to make sure you pick construction trailers that match the size and scale of your projects and what you aim to build.

1. Understand the Terms

The size of a mobile construction trailer is noted by industry-specific terminology. The kinds of office or mobile construction trailers that are available to most people fall into three different categories.

A single-wide trailer is the lowest priced and most common of all trailers. While they can vary in length, they’re typically about 14′ wide and can be transported don the highway relatively easy.

Larger trailers are known by different, albeit slightly misleading terminology. A double-wide trailer isn’t quite double the width of the standard trailer. It’s usually about 24′ wide.

If you’re working on a major project and setting up shop for a long while, you might need a little more space. If you need to have offices, operational space, and room to draw up plans, a triple-wide trailer, around 42′ wide might be the answer.

2. Buying Used Saves Money

When you’re setting up a trailer for a temporary project, you might bristle at the thought of spending a lot of money on a trailer. However, there are used options that will allow you to get what you need while spending considerably less than the price of a new one.

Buying a new trailer that’s been sitting on a lot for a couple of years as a display isn’t always the best idea. Buying a used trailer means buying one that’s been serviced, inspected, and repaired from top to bottom. Buying a used trailer means that you can have it customized without having to tear out new materials. It could cost you less to customize a used trailer than to buy a new one.

Renting a trailer can also be a drain on your resources since you’ll have to have it insured and try to return it in as good condition as you rented it in. The amount of money that you pay to rent a trailer for a few months could be the same price as buying a used one outright.

Ask about insurance or warranties available for your used trailer.

VIEW SIZES OF MOBILE OFFICE TRAILERS

3. Quality Matters

When you’re putting a trailer up on a construction site, you’re putting the structure at risk at all times. There could be heavy machinery, toxic chemicals or even explosives to worry about. Without strong materials to protect the exterior of your trailer, it could be in danger of being damaged.

That’s not to mention the importance of your staff’s safety. A good quality trailer should also accommodate your size without compromising safety. When deciding on the size that you need, a large and low-quality trailer might not be as good as a strong trailer that’s built to last.

If weather conditions are going to be a problem during your construction season, you might need a trailer that can accommodate your staff if they need cover. High-quality trailers will protect you from the elements or be able to insulate you from extreme heat.

4. Some Trailers Offer Flexibility

If you’re not sure how big your project is going to be, thankfully you’re never really limited by size with modular trailers. You could disassemble and move your trailers around if need be. You can even connect trailers together to extend the amount of space you have.

Rather than stressing about space every time you grow, you could simply expand your fleet by connecting trailers together.

Often a single construction project could turn into a series of projects and you might need trailers that become your base of operations. If you’re taking on multiple regional projects, used modular trailers are a perfect option.

5. Do You Already Know Your Staff Needs?

If you’re having in office staff fill your trailer, you need to consider their spatial needs. If there will be multiple people taking business calls all day, having people stacked on top of one another could be stressful. It’a hard to concentrate on your phone call when there are other people talking on the phone at the same time.

Each member of your office staff should get about 100 to 150 square feet. Be generous with space if you want your staff to feel comfortable and at ease. Being in an overly crowded space can add to the stress of daily requirements.

Your measurements shouldn’t be based on external measurements, but internal measurements instead. When some sellers measure their trailers, the numbers they give could take into account closets, insulation, and whatever siding materials are outside the trailer.

The problem with this is that when you’re making a decision based on staff, you could be deciding on space that’s several feet smaller than you’d planned. You need usable office space and so your office trailer measurements need to be based on real internal numbers. Since you can’t cram an office into a bathroom or around a bend in the construction, ask for real internal numbers.

Construction Trailers Offer Many Benefits

The benefits of construction trailers mean that you’ll be able to interview new staff on site, meet with investors, and store important equipment securely. When you buy instead of rent, you can avoid paying additional fees on top of the costs of a delayed project. You can also move the trailer to the next site as you win more projects.