A storage unit gets rented for a month during a move and paid for ever after. One of three people eventually calls about it: the renter who wants the bill to stop, the family closing a relative's unit, or the buyer who won the contents at a lien sale and has a deadline. The job is the same for all three, and it is short.
The crew works the storage lots along I-55 and Highway 80 in Jackson and drives to units in Ridgeland and Clinton on the same photo quote.
The twenty-minute sort at the door
Roll the door up and sort before anything is lifted, with the crew standing there. Twenty minutes covers a 10 by 10 unit, because most of what is inside was decided years ago. Four piles:
- Keep: what goes home with you today, straight into your own vehicle so it never mixes with the load. More than the car holds, and the crew drops it at a house in the metro for a small extra on the quote.
- Sell: only what is worth the listing and the wait, such as a working appliance or a solid wood dresser. Take it home rather than pay another month while the listing sits.
- Donate: furniture with no stains or breaks, working small appliances, kitchen boxes, books. This pile comes off the disposal side of the bill, because it goes to a donation partner instead of the facility.
- Dispose: the rest, usually most of it. Mattresses from years in an unheated unit, particleboard that swelled, boxes of paper nobody will open.
What the facility will want before it closes the account
If you bought the contents at a sale, the sale terms set the deadline to clear the unit, so book before you bid. If you are closing a relative's unit and the rent has lapsed, ask the office where the account stands first: Mississippi's self-storage lien law lets a facility sell the contents of a unit in default after notice, and the rental agreement has to say so. A call before the sale date beats a fast cleanout after it.
For a unit in your own name, check your rental agreement before you book the truck; the rules that count are in it. Most facilities ask for some version of the following.
- Written notice that you are moving out, sometimes a set number of days before the next billing date. Give it before the cleanout, or the next month can be charged anyway.
- A swept, empty unit. Anything left behind becomes a cleaning charge on the final bill. The crew sweeps the floor and photographs the empty unit before you pay.
- Your lock off the door. An open latch with no lock is how the office knows the unit is vacated.
- Gate hours. Most gates run on a code and close in the evening, so book a morning slot and give the crew the code or meet them at the gate.
- A call to the office once it is empty, so the account closes that day and the autopay stops.
What cannot ride on the truck, and where it goes in Jackson
Some of what a unit holds stays off the truck: paint, solvents, fuel, pool chemicals, pesticides, propane tanks, car batteries and tires. The city will not take chemicals, paint or oil at the curb either. The crew sets it aside at the door.
- Paint, oil, gasoline, antifreeze, batteries, pesticides and fluorescent tubes go to the City of Jackson's Environmental Service Center on University Boulevard, for city residents only. The city's page lists what it accepts and the current days.
- Latex paint that has dried solid can go out with the household trash; MDEQ's guidance is to let it dry or mix it with an absorbent first.
- Tires: inside the city, tires and appliances are collected at the curb on Wednesdays if they are out before 7am. MDEQ also lists local-government tire collection sites for anyone with fewer than twenty-five tires a year.
- In rural Hinds County, bulk items and white goods are collected by arrangement through the county's public works office, and each metro town lists its own hazardous waste options.
What it costs, by the load
A unit is priced the way a garage is: by the share of the truck the contents fill, with the loading, the drive and the facility fee in one number. Most units are a quarter to a half truck, and the ranges below are the ones on the pricing page. A safe or bags of concrete are priced by weight after a look, and a same-day or weekend slot costs more; the keep and donate piles bring the number down. The firm quote comes from a photo of the unit with the door up, and it is the figure on the card after the empty unit is photographed.
| Unit | Truck share | 2026 price |
|---|---|---|
| 5 by 5 or 5 by 10, boxes and a few pieces | Quarter truck, about 4 cu yd | $225–$325 |
| 10 by 10 with a bedroom set or a sofa | Half truck, about 8 cu yd | $375–$500 |
| 10 by 15 or larger, packed to the door | Three-quarter to full truck | $525–$800 |
Set against another month of rent
The comparison is on your last statement: the monthly figure, times the months you would realistically keep paying, set beside the quote. A unit rented for a move two summers ago has already cost more than the truck that empties it, and every month you wait adds the same amount again.
Useful links
- City of Jackson Solid Waste Division – collection days, Wednesday appliance and tire pickup, what the curb refuses
- City of Jackson household hazardous waste – what the Environmental Service Center accepts from city residents
- MDEQ Waste Tire Management Program – local-government tire collection sites for small quantities
Questions on this
What does it cost to clear a storage unit in Jackson?
By the truck share: a small unit with boxes and a couple of pieces is a quarter truck, $225 to $325; a 10 by 10 with furniture is a half truck, $375 to $500; a large unit packed to the door is three-quarters to a full truck, $525 to $800. A photo with the door up gets a firm figure.
Can the crew get into a storage facility in Jackson after the gate closes?
No. Gates run on a code with posted hours and the truck has to be out before they lock. Book a morning slot, give the crew the code or meet them at the gate, and tell the office the unit is being cleared that day.
Where do the paint cans and tires from a Jackson storage unit go?
Not on the truck. City residents take paint, oil, chemicals and batteries to the city's Environmental Service Center on University Boulevard; tires go out at the curb on Wednesdays inside the city, or to a local-government tire site on the MDEQ list.