NPSA Chairman Invents Tool to Realign Container Doors

Nobody likes to be locked out. Unfortunately, portable storage containers are often loaded with one side heavier than the other. This can cause the container to shift out of alignment and make it difficult to open or close the doors. The National Portable Storage Association, or NPSA, is helping take the frustration out of container storage misalignments with an instructional video on YouTube, a viral video site Google runs, to clearly demonstrate how to open a stuck door using a brand new invention.

"You may discover the portable storage container doors are misaligned after you load your contents into the container," said Phil Herndon, 2007 Chairman of the NPSA, a nonprofit membership association dedicated to the advancement of the portable storage industry. "If you cannot close one side of the double door, or if one of the doors seems like it may be sprung, then you have an alignment problem."

The alignment problem occurs when the weight shifts. When that happens you can't close the doors. If you suspect you have an alignment problem, first confirm the gasket corners, the edges of the doors, line up. If you notice the gasket on the left door is higher than the gasket on the right door, that usually indicates a misalignment caused by loading the container. It's not a big problem, Herndon said, but it does need to be fixed in order to secure the contents of the container. You fix it by resupporting the low corner.

Herndon invented a tool to make it easier to level a container. By inserting the tool in the side of the container that's low and sliding a jack in the space, you can raise that corner and then resupport it, allowing you to freely open and close the container. "You can use almost anything as a support," Herndon says. "A piece of scrap concrete metal works well. Just use something solid. When you lower the corner back down again, the problem is usually solved." If you do not have any tools available, you can often solve the problem by redistributing the load inside the container.

For more information, visit www.npsa-us.org. You can watch the video on YouTube "How to get open "Hard-to-Open" Container Doors" video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymvRdriPDlo.

The National Portable Storage Association
The National Portable Storage Association is dedicated to the advancement of the portable storage industry. We at the NPSA are here to serve those in the portable storage industry who rent, sell or lease containers, trailers and mobile offices. The NPSA assists members with industry, regulatory and workforce issues; plus, offers members networking, marketing and legislative support at national, state and local levels.

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