Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities as a Non-Controlling Interest	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011
Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities as a Non-Controlling Interest [Abstract]
Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities as a Non-Controlling Interest	(3) Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities as a Non-Controlling Interest Included among the funds that the Company manages are several Japanese container funds that were established by a related party under separate investment agreements allowed under Japanese commercial laws (see Note 9). Each of the funds is financed by unrelated Japanese third party investors. The container funds under management are considered VIEs because as manager of the funds, the Company has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the entity's economic performance such as leasing and managing the containers owned by the funds. With the exception of two specific Japanese funds established in September 2010, the fees earned for arranging, managing and establishing the funds are not significant to the expected returns of the funds so the Company does not have a variable interest in the funds. The rights to receive benefits and obligations to absorb losses that could potentially be significant to the funds belong to the third party investors, so the Company concluded that it is not the primary beneficiary of the funds. With the exception of the sale of containers to the two Japanese funds established in September 2010, the Company recognized gains on sale of containers to the unconsolidated VIEs as sales in the ordinary course of the business. For the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 the Company sold $24.9 million, $12.4 million and $5.8 million, respectively, of container portfolios to the Japanese VIEs and recognized gains of $2.3 million, $0.6 million and $0.8 million, respectively. In September 2010, the Company transferred approximately $16.0 million of containers to two specific Japanese funds that are considered VIEs. The terms of the transaction included options for the Company to purchase the containers from the funds at a fixed price. As a result of the residual interest resulting from the fixed price call option, the Company concluded that it may absorb a significant amount of the variability associated with the funds' anticipated economic performance so the Company has a variable interest in the funds. As the Company has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of the VIEs and the variable interest provides the Company with the right to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the funds, the Company determined that it is the primary beneficiary of these two specific VIEs and included the VIEs' assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2011 and 2010 and the results of the VIEs' operations and cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 in the Company's consolidated financial statements. The containers transferred to the two consolidated Japanese VIEs had a net book value of $14.1 million as of December 31, 2011. The container equipment along with $2.2 million of cash held by these container funds and $1.7 million of net investment in direct finance leases, have been included on the Company's consolidated balance sheet with the offsetting equity related to the funds presented separately as non-controlling interest of $18.7 million in the equity section of the Company's consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2011. No gain or loss was recognized upon the initial consolidation of the VIEs in September 2010. The net income of $0.6 million and net loss of $0.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, attributable to the two Japanese funds is presented as net (income) loss attributable to non-controlling interest in the Company's consolidated statements of income for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010.

The entire disclosure for noncontrolling interest in consolidated subsidiaries, which could include the name of the subsidiary, the ownership percentage held by the parent, the ownership percentage held by the noncontrolling owners, the amount of the noncontrolling interest, the location of this amount on the balance sheet (when not reported separately), an explanation of the increase or decrease in the amount of the noncontrolling interest, the noncontrolling interest share of the net Income or Loss of the subsidiary, the location of this amount on the income statement (when not reported separately), the nature of the noncontrolling interest such as background information and terms, the amount of the noncontrolling interest represented by preferred stock, a description of the preferred stock, and the dividend requirements of the preferred stock.

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