The cost of an in-house container pool does not end at the purchase price. Compare the same route, delivery volume and service level, and separate services already included in the rental agreement.
Equivalent cost per trip
For ownership, total container investment or financing, washing, labour, storage, empty-return transport, repairs, losses and tracking over the period. For rental, list fees, extra delivery or return charges, damage or loss charges, and services outside the contract. Divide both totals by completed trips or deliveries.
Measure required pool size rather than guessing: record daily dispatch volume and the full return-cycle time, then examine peak demand and late returns separately. This data supports scenarios for lower routes, losses or delayed returns.
Pilot one repeat route. Do not compare rental fees with depreciation alone without accounting for actual trip count, cleaning capacity and container returns.