Container Transport in Hemmant: Empty Returns and Port-Side Yards

Hemmant, postcode 4174, is where a great deal of Brisbane's empty container work ends up. A container is discharged at the Port of Brisbane, hauled to a warehouse, unpacked, and then it has to go somewhere. Very often that somewhere is a container park in Hemmant. This page explains how empty returns and yard deliveries work here, what changes from park to park, and what to send us so the job runs to plan. If you already have the details, send us the container information or call 0407 977 529.

Where Hemmant sits in the container chain

The container chain has a wharf end, a customer end and an empty end. The wharf end is the terminals at Fisherman Islands. The customer end is your warehouse, yard or worksite. The empty end is the park where the shipping line wants its box back. Hemmant is a port-side industrial suburb and one of the places where the empty end is concentrated, which is why our work here leans towards returns and short repositioning runs rather than long hauls. On the other side of the port, container transport in Eagle Farm covers the same short-leg work for the TradeCoast warehouses.

The container parks along Gosport Street

Ask anyone who runs empties in Brisbane where Hemmant matters and the answer is the same: it is where a lot of the empty containers end up. Container parks cluster around Gosport Street, including a large park at number 102 with room for more than 4,000 containers and its own wash and repair bays, and another at the corner of Anton and Gosport Streets. If you have just unpacked an import container, there is a fair chance the shipping line's return advice points you here.

Why the empty return is the main job

A return to a park is a short run on the map but it is not a free run. Each park has its own receival hours, and some ask you to book. The return advice from the shipping line names the park, the container and the date by which it should be back. Miss the window and you make a second trip; overshoot the free days and the line's detention charges start. Our job is to make the return trip happen in the right window with the right paperwork, and to confirm it so you can close it out. For the wider picture, see our page on empty container transport in Brisbane.

Booking rules change; check the advice you were given

Terminal and park booking systems change from time to time. We do not want to quote you last year's rule. Send us the release, the return advice and the delivery address and we will confirm what is needed for this particular box.

Hardstand and yard deliveries on the Lytton Road side

Beyond the parks, the Hemmant and Lytton Road side of the precinct is full of hardstand yards and older industrial sites. Surfaces vary. Some are concrete and some are compacted gravel that does not enjoy a loaded sideloader after a week of rain. If you are putting a box onto a yard here, tell us what the surface is and whether there is a forklift or reach stacker to handle the container. If there is not, a sideloader can set it down, but we want to know the ground first.

Sideloader or skeletal trailer on a hardstand site

The choice comes down to what lifts the container at your end. If the yard has a forklift with the right attachment or a reach stacker, a skeletal trailer can drop the box in a marked position and your equipment takes over. If there is no lifting gear, a sideloader lifts the container from the side and sets it on the ground, but it needs clear space beside the delivery position, firm ground, and no power lines or trees overhead. Our sideloader page explains the equipment in more detail.

What to send us for a Hemmant job

1. Container number, size and type (or the door code)
2. The shipping line's return advice, naming the park and the return-by date
3. Pickup address and, for a yard delivery, the surface and access notes
4. Whether the yard has a forklift or reach stacker
5. Your preferred timing and any free-time deadline

With those five items we can usually tell you quickly what is needed. If you want the bigger picture on job types and trucks, read about container transport in Brisbane, or see how port-side runs work on the Port of Brisbane page.