The Dallas – Ft. Worth metroplex was hit hard by hail storms during the month of August 2012, and we’d like to share two case studies from those storms.

Case Study #1: PODS® plastic roof vs. hail storm

As you may know, we had a number of strong tornadoes hit the DFW area in April of 2012.  We ended up serving a number of customers in the storm recovery in Forney, east of Dallas, and just lately, one in Lancaster, south of Dallas.  The Lancaster customer originally ordered two portable storage units from PODS®, and they sat out on her yard for about five months, holding all the salvaged possessions from her devastated home while it was being rebuilt. Unfortunately, PODS® containers have plastic roofs, and after a full summer in the Texas sun, a major hail storm seems to have cracked the roof on one of the PODS® containers (it may have already suffered previous damage as the PODS®container showed evidence of repair).  Her possessions were soaked by the rain and many things she was saving were ruined.  She called MI-BOX, and we told her about our aluminum roofs.  Our new customer now has consolidated her remaining belongings from her PODS®containers into a MI-BOX mobile storage container and is telling all her friends and neighbors the story. Update: Our customer tried for several weeks to get PODS® to take her claim, but they would not return her calls.  In exasperation, she told her story to local news stations — you can see her story at NBC5 and FOX4.  Unfortunately, the nice things she said about us and her good friends at NAPO-DFW ended up on the cutting-room floor, but rest assured that at MI-BOX, you deal with the people who know and run the business, so there’s never any call-center run-around.

Case Study #2: MI-BOX aluminum roof vs. hail storm

We had one portable storage container sitting outdoors that was hit by hail during a storm that was so severe that the apartment complex where it sat had its brand-new roof utterly destroyed, with daylight visible from holes all the way through the shingles and decking.  What happened to the MI-BOX?  It had dimples in the aluminum roof and no other damage at all.  It needs no repair and is continuing in service. All MI-BOX portable storage containers in Texas have one-piece aluminum roofs which provide much, much greater protection against hail and other falling perils, and there’s no risk of sun-fade damage from the intense sun in the southern states. Also, the interior stays cooler since the aluminum reflects most of the sun’s radiant heat. If you are storing outdoors in Texas, MI-BOX reflective aluminum roofs can make all the difference.We believe that MI-BOX mobile storage containers are the best in the industry — compare us to PODS® and Pack-Rat and decide for yourself!

Look “Underneath the Hood” of Your Portable Storage Container and Compare

Most people who need to move or store their goods give no thought to the quality of their portable storage container, shopping on price alone.  Price is important, and the Dallas MI-BOX dealership will always match our major competitors with your quote, but it is important to consider the quality of your portable storage container  when picking the right storage container for your goods. Often overlooked is what’s underneath your portable storage container.  If you could see under your container (hint: you can when they are on the delivery truck), you would see some kind of a sub-frame that supports the interior floor and gives room for a fork lift to pick up your container in a warehouse or storage yard.  If that sub-frame is made of wood, it will wick up water if it sits out in rain, much like a wooden fence around your yard.

Steel Sub-frame Won’t Wick Water into Your Dallas MI-BOX Portable Storage Container

Wicking up water from under your portable storage container and bringing moisture inside your container contributes to mold or a generally musty smell to your goods.  Severe water infiltration can be a more serious problem.  All Dallas MI-BOX portable storage containers have an all-steel sub-frame that does not wick up water even if it is sitting in a low spot of standing water.  This protection keeps your goods dry and fresh smelling, two important considerations when storing in a portable storage container.

Sealing Your Dallas MI-BOX Portable Storage Container

Beyond keeping water from wicking up from below, all of our Dallas MI-BOX portable storage container panels are seam-sealed, and where the panels contact the steel frames, our containers have a compressed neoprene-type gasket seal to keep even blowing rains out. Add to that the three weather-seal gaskets on the door of all Dallas MI-BOX portable storage containers (one on the bottom and one each on the interior and exterior tracks of our roll-up doors), and you have a container that gives your goods the protection they need. You might say, “My portable storage container is going to be  stored in the MI-BOX warehouse, so why should I care?  Well, consider the Texas weather.  What if the rain comes while you are loading or as we are carrying your container between locations?  You need a box that will keep your goods dry. There are a lot of reasons that a Dallas MI-BOX portable storage container will protect your furniture, household, and business goods, but the best reason always comes back to service.  Call us and let us show you how it feels to deal with people who care about you, your family, your business, and your portable storage container.

Safety of Your Possessions Depends on the Construction of Your Portable Storage Containers

How portable storage containers are constructed can make all the difference in the world to your valuable possessions stored inside. It’s easy to look at a portable storage container and conclude that it’s just a box to put your stuff in, but when you consider the value of what you are usually storing, there are a few attributes that are really important to consider when looking to use portable storage containers.

MI-BOX Portable Storage Containers Keep Your Valuables Safe from Weather

First, are your portable storage containers weather-tight? You may be planning to do your loading and unloading on nice, sunny days, but what happens if you see rain clouds on the horizon while your portable storage containers are sitting out on your street, driveway, or lot? A hard blowing rain can get in a lot of places. At MI-BOX Moving and Mobile Storage, our containers have rubber weather gaskets around the doors at the sides, and on the bottom. They also have a rain-shedding brush at the top of the door opening. Finally, they are sealed with a special neoprene gasket between all mating surfaces, and the roof is resealed, a second time, after the single aluminum sheet is affixed to the frame, insuring a weather-tight container that will keep your possessions dry in a storm. Also worth considering is the floor construction of your portable storage containers. If they are made of wood or metal planks, they may leak water from the underside, especially if they have to be transported by truck during a rain-storm. What is under the floor? Is it wood, or metal? MI-BOX portable storage containers have an all-steel sub-frame that means that they will not “wick up” water into the container, and the floor panels are sealed so that they will not leak from the under-side, even if they are carried in a downpour, throwing water up against the under-side of the portable storage containers

Steel Makes MI-BOX Portable Storage Containers Strong

Next, consider the strength of your portable storage containers. Are the walls made of plastic or steel? Ours are made of DuraPlate™, a product made from two layers of steel with a composite core and a baked on finish. Panel joinery is by sealed lap seams insuring a water-tight connection. There are containers on the market where the whole box is made from corrugated metal, and others made of blow-molded plastic. Next time you see one in a parking lot, walk over and take a look – you can  see the quality difference. At MI-BOX, we take pride in having the quality of our containers. When it is holding your family’s possessions, why take a chance with anything less than the best portable storage containers in the industry?  

Comparing Mobile Storage Containers in Dallas – Ft. Worth

At the MI-BOX dealership in Dallas, Texas, we support businesses and individuals looking for mobile storage containers in the Dallas – Ft. Worth metroplex.  Often, when looking for the best provider of mobile storage containers in the DFW metroplex, the customer comes to us to compare us to PODS® and other well-known and lesser-known providers.  There are differences in both the delivery system as well as the container.  We thought it would be a good idea to tell you how our containers are different and what that means to you and your property.

What Sets MI-BOX Apart from the Mobile Storage Containers: Dallas – Ft. Worth Competition

First, the containers used by all suppliers of mobile storage containers in the Dallas – Ft. Worth metroplex are not all the same.  MI-BOX uses DuraPlate containers with heavy steel frames that do not warp under load or rust in your driveway.  These are not like the cargo storage containers you see on cargo ships coming from China to ocean ports in the US and then being loaded onto rail cars or trucks to be delivered to warehouses across the country.  These mobile storage containers are sixteen feet long, not forty or fifty-three feet as many of these large and very heavy international shipping containers. The MI-BOX mobile storage containers in the DFW metroplex are made of DuraPlate ™, a proven structural composite material that consists of two external skins thermally bonded to a high-density polyethylene core. It was originally developed in 1996 for over-the-road trailers. The DuraPlate composite trailer is the leader in the North American trucking industry, with over 350,000 on the road today. At the heart of the DuraPlate panel is a structure that is extremely strong and energy absorbent, resulting in durability, impact resistance, and unsurpassed aesthetic appeal. Also, all MI-BOX mobile storage containers in the Dallas – Ft. Worth metroplex have an aluminum roof, not a translucent plastic roof as some of our competitors do.  Though we have used these in the past, our current generation and the ones we use in the DFW metroplex have a solid sheet of reflective aluminum that reflects the southern sun’s reflective rays, keeping your possessions out of the direct radiant heat of the Texas sun.  These containers are much cooler than a car sitting out in the hot sun.

Trust MI-BOX for Mobile Storage Containers: Dallas – Ft. Worth Metroplex

Finally the containers are secure.  There is a steel door and the DuraPlate wall panels are two layers of steel over a composite core, making the containers extremely hard to break in when coupled with a high-security self-storage-style disc lock. All things considered, when you need mobile storage containers in the Dallas – Ft. Worth metroplex for your residential or commercial application, you cannot find finer containers than MI-BOX Moving & Mobile Storage containers.