The Charlotte Region
The Charlotte depot is about 15 miles from Uptown.
A tilt bed truck needs 130 feet of straight, level run to slide a 40ft box off, and 110 feet for a 20ft. Out past I-485 the land turns to sloped driveways and Piedmont red clay that slicks over in an afternoon thunderstorm, so describe the grade and drainage when you request a quote. Newer neighborhoods out toward Waxhaw and Ballantyne can have homeowner association covenants, so read those before you order. Mecklenburg County holds Charlotte and the towns of Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville.
The Triad
Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point, plus the furniture towns and the Uwharrie foothills below them.
The Triad sits about a hundred miles up I-85 from the Charlotte depot. The ground is rolling red clay with hardwood stands, and a wet spring can turn a sloped back yard into a problem, so describe the slope when you request a quote. High Point holds a furniture market twice a year, in April and October. Piedmont Triad International Airport sits between Greensboro and Winston-Salem. Thomasville, Lexington and Archdale are furniture and manufacturing towns. Liberty and Asheboro sit near the Toyota battery plant. Mount Airy, Elkin and Yadkinville are farm and small shop country, a longer drive up from the depot.
The Triangle
Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, and the suburbs around them.
In the Triangle, the drop spot can change from one street to the next. Containers here come from the Norfolk, Virginia depot, roughly 180 miles away. Describe the approach and the turnaround in your quote request. Inside Raleigh and Durham the older neighborhoods around Oakwood, Boylan Heights, Trinity Park and Watts-Hillandale have deep lots, alley access in places, and a hardwood canopy that sets the height clearance. Out in Apex, Holly Springs, Clayton and Wake Forest the lots are newer and wider and the soil is red clay over saprolite, so check whether the yard drains or holds water. Research Triangle Park, Holly Springs and Clayton are home to pharmaceutical and lab campuses. Wake County holds Raleigh and towns such as Cary, Apex and Garner, while Durham and Chapel Hill are in other counties.
Western North Carolina and the High Country
Mountain grades and gravel switchbacks up top, the Catawba Valley foothills down below.
Cabins and workshops around Boone, Banner Elk, Sylva and Franklin are reached by gravel drives with switchbacks, and a tilt bed truck cannot back a 40ft container up a grade it cannot see over. Describe the approach angle, the width at the tightest turn, and whether there is a level run of 130 feet at the end of it. Two 20ft containers can fit a site that will not take a 40ft. The Blue Ridge Parkway does not allow commercial trucks, so mountain runs go around it. In winter, a north facing grade can hold ice after the rest of the county has thawed.
The Sandhills and the Cape Fear
Fayetteville and the pines down through Lumberton to Wilmington and the southern beaches.
The Sandhills take their name from the ground. Longleaf pine grows out of deep sand here, and a loaded truck can bog down in a soft lane that a pickup crosses without noticing, so tell the sales representative whether the last quarter mile is sand, clay or gravel. Once a container is set on sand it drains well, and a few pressure treated blocks under the corners keep the doors swinging true. Fayetteville, the seat of Cumberland County, sits beside Fort Bragg. Southern Pines, Pinehurst and Aberdeen are golf and horse country, with residential lots in the woods, some with a single narrow approach. Farm country runs through Sampson, Bladen and Robeson counties. Down at the Cape Fear, Wilmington, the seat of New Hanover County, has a working port, and the beach lots at Southport, Oak Island and the Brunswick County strand need the approach walked before delivery day. From late summer into fall, tropical weather can move a delivery date.
Eastern North Carolina and the Outer Banks
The coastal plain, the sounds and the barrier islands. Runs from the depot are longer here.
Eastern North Carolina is flat and open, and the variables are water and distance. The water table sits high, drainage ditches run alongside many farm roads, and pocosin ground can stay soft a week after the rain quits, so describe the last stretch in and whether it has ever rutted. A container set on turf here can settle unevenly within a season, so use blocks or a compacted pad at the corners. Farm and packing country runs through Nash, Edgecombe, Wayne, Greene and Duplin counties, with tobacco and sweet potato fields. Greenville, in Pitt County, has a university, a hospital system and a boatbuilding trade. New Bern, Havelock, Jacksonville and Morehead City sit near military bases and the coast. Down East, which in Carteret County means the villages past the North River bridge, and out on the Outer Banks, lots can have a single approach off a sound side lane. NC 12 can drift over with sand, and Ocracoke is reached by ferry, which has to be arranged as its own step. Salt air is also a factor, and a yearly rinse and a touch up on any scratch protect the paint.