Military Surplus Auctions
Military Shipping Containers Sold for a Middle of $1,205 on GovPlanet, and 40-Foot High Cubes Brought Up to $7,300. Ninety-Four More Sell November 4 and 11.
GovPlanet sold 85 surplus 20-foot shipping containers from April 15 to October 28 at a middle price of $1,205, and 41 40-foot containers at a middle of $3,900. The 40-foot DFC-40HS high cubes brought the most, $7,300 in Colorado, $6,700 in Texas and $6,300 twice in September. In North Carolina, 20-footers sold for $510 to $1,855. GovPlanet's next two sales close Wednesday, November 4, with 58 containers, and Wednesday, November 11, with 36.
GOVPLANET — GovPlanet, the Ritchie Bros. site that sells the military's surplus, sold containers nearly every week from April 15 to October 28, and its sold results list 85 20-foot containers and 41 40-footers in that time. The 20-footers brought a middle price of $1,205 and ranged up to $3,165, paid for one in Alabama on June 3, and $2,805 for one in Hawaii on September 16. Two in Oregon brought $2,030 and $2,005, and one in California $2,000.
The 40-footers ran about three times higher, at a middle of $3,900. The DFC-40HS-02 high cube was the top seller: $7,300 in Colorado on September 16, $6,700 in Texas on April 15, $6,300 in Kansas and $6,300 in Colorado on September 23, and $6,100 in Florida on October 14. A few containers, a 40-footer in Ohio, another in Kentucky and a 20-foot TIR in New Jersey, sold for $5 each.
Soldiers secure a container on an Army Palletized Loading System truck. Photo: U.S. Navy (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.
Where the containers sold and for how much
California sold the most, 27 containers at a middle of $1,350, and Washington followed with 19 at $1,105. Ohio's ten went for a middle of $763 and New Jersey's ten for $1,433. Oregon's ten brought $1,205 and Hawaii's eight $1,268. The 40-footers in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia and Kansas pushed those states higher: Alabama's five sold at a middle of $3,900, Georgia's three at $4,400 and Colorado's three at $6,300.
Close to home in the Carolinas, North Carolina's five 20-footers sold for $510 on September 9, $1,105 on August 26, $1,465 on July 29 and $1,575 on June 3, and a side-opening 20-footer brought $1,855 on September 9. In Georgia, 40-footers brought $3,700 and $4,500 on October 21 and $4,400 on September 16.
Other containers, and what came inside them
The 35-foot containers sold for less than many 20-footers: six of them, five in Ohio and one in North Carolina, brought between $255 and $1,205. Four 20-foot half-height containers sold for $205 to $785.
Some lots were engines and transmissions packed in their own steel shipping containers. Fifty of those sold at a middle of $2,450. A Detroit Diesel 8V92 turbo diesel in its container brought $11,605 in California, and Cat 3126 engines brought up to $11,100, with 23 of them selling at a middle of $2,050. Nine Cat C7 ACERT engines in containers sold at a middle of $7,400, between $5,050 and $10,000. Five GEP 6.5-liter diesels, the Humvee engine, sold in their containers for $1,105 to $2,815. Twelve Allison transmissions in containers sold at a middle of $935, and F404 jet engine shipping containers from Pennsylvania brought $705 to $1,600.
The next sales: Wednesday, November 4, and Wednesday, November 11
GovPlanet's Wednesday, November 4, sale closes starting at 8 a.m. Pacific with 530 lots, 58 of them shipping containers, alongside 30 Humvees, 23 excavators and 47 generators. The Wednesday, November 11, sale closes starting at 7 a.m. Pacific with 330 lots, 36 of them containers, alongside 29 Humvees and 17 excavators.
How to register and bid
Bidding is online at GovPlanet.com. Open a free account and bid on any lot before its sale closes; the closing times are on each sale's page in the auction calendar under Auctions. Every lot's page lists its fees, payment and pickup terms. On the military lots we read, GovPlanet added a 15% transaction fee to the final selling price, payment was due within seven days by wire transfer or by credit card for an extra fee, and pickup was due within eight business days before storage charges start. GovPlanet also adds a 4.5% fuel surcharge capped at $2,250, plus the sales tax of the state where the item sits. Bids cannot be pulled back once placed. The buyer pays for all transport, and the driver must bring a copy of GovPlanet's Item Release. GovPlanet's customer care line is (844) 225-8799, weekdays from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific. Containers sit at the yards listed on each lot, and the buyer arranges the truck to haul them; a 20-footer usually moves on a tilt-bed or rollback, and a 40-footer on a flatbed or container chassis.
The short version
GovPlanet sold 85 20-foot containers from April 15 to October 28 at a middle of $1,205 and 41 40-footers at $3,900, with high cubes bringing up to $7,300. North Carolina 20-footers sold for $510 to $1,855. The next sales close Wednesday, November 4, with 58 containers, and Wednesday, November 11, with 36. On top of the winning bid, the military lots we read carried a 15% transaction fee and a 4.5% fuel surcharge.
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UX Auctions reported this article independently. We do not sell, consign, or take bids on any container; bidding is handled only by GovPlanet. The photographs show military shipping containers in use, not the lots themselves.
Sources: GovPlanet sold results for shipping containers, April 15 to October 28, 2026, read October 31, 2026; GovPlanet auction calendar and sale pages for November 4 and 11, 2026, read October 30 and 31, 2026; GovPlanet payment, fee and pickup terms as shown on its item pages, read October 31, 2026.
Photo & Resource Information Credits: U.S. Navy and U.S. Department of Defense (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
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