I just skimmed the article, but the two companies mentioned seemed to have legitimate uses for it (medical record storage and home staging furniture/art storage). The one time I remember watching some TV show on auctioning off the contents of unpaid storage units it was stupid things like broken down furniture and sports stuff.
I had a 10' X 30' unit for 4-5 months last year, when were were between houses. The place was extremely well run. So, one day I asked the owner about the real story of the "Storage wars" reality shows? She told me that it was basically bullshit for the most part. Bottom line is that most people are smart enough to not leave much of any value in a locker that they have stopped paying rent for. She is required by state law to post legal notices, and hire a licensed auctioneer to liquidate abandoned contents, but it's always a money losing event for the owners. She said it would be far easier and less stressful if people just paid their rent, since many leave junk that not only has no value, but they sometimes can't even be give it away, forcing them to spend time and money emptying the units out, and paying dumpster fees to get the crap hauled away.
In our area the big scores were to be had by the guys who were contracted by the banks to clean homes out during the foreclosure crisis. I knew a couple of carpenters who quit swinging a hammer for a while, since they were making an hourly wage to clear places out, and an equal amount, or more, by reselling furniture, electronics, and other high value stuff they removed from abandoned homes. We had houses in our neighborhood where owners just walked out like they were going on vacation, but never bothered to come back. Weird times.