OK let's test the font of knowledge

Anyone know anything about shipping large stuff to the States?

I have a customer (more than 1 actually) in the States who wants a chassis/bodykit, I know nothing about shipping stuff this big, several questions

Who should I try for a quote, any idea of likely cost?

Customs paperwork this side & t'other side - what's required & who deals with it - me or a shipping agent

Which leads to - do I need a shipping agent?

Will I need to crate it all up or can it be bubble wrapped/cardboard packaged - if it needs to be crated do shipping agents provide crate or do I just build one round it?

Anything else I should be aware of, watch out for?

Any info much appreciated!

many many years ago (about 18 years ago now ) my dad shipped a ford aerostar van over from america, came by boat, that cost about £500 at the time, that included the container

maybe not much use now, after so many years, but maybe gives a figure to aim for

Hi There

If your shipping large/ multiple items to the same destination in the states you may be better off using a shipping container as this could work out cheaper.

I use a company called IML Marine Management for all of our shipping requirements.

There Tel no is 01948 667 200, they are very helpfull with stuff like this

Hope this helps

Rgds

Matt

Russ,

We use a company called Air Marine for US-UK-US shipments of similar size and weight. They will be able to advse you on the admin/customs side of things and have always provded a good service for us.

http://www.airmarine.co.uk/contactus.html

A company I used to work for airfreighted a Dodge Viper to the UK. It came in a wooden container made of 3/4" marine ply with a 4"x2" timber skeleton round it. It would have made a nice garage for storing the car. Cost 8 years ago was either £5000 or $5000, either one way or return, I don't remember.

A shipping agent will look after all the forms and send a flat bed truck for collecting the container. They'll hire you a big metal shipping container if you think you need it.

A word about sea freight though. We shipped a rolling road to South Africa by sea. What came out at the other end was somewhat rusty. Sea water and sea air are quite corrosive and containers are not water tight.

Sea freight is cheaper but slower.

Any suggestions on getting a newly build mk bec to sweden inc the trailer..........
answers on a post card

Oh and the best way to ship stuff is groupage.... it worked for me shipping a seven from south africa to the uk.
You must make decent crates as the buggers stack everything on the top of you large crate

The boys in jhb dipped into two of my crates....and stole the power tools......
so insurance is key.

as the man says make sure its water tight and stick decasent packs in as well.

we imported 4 mk kits to the USA last year. container costs around £2500 to £3000.00 for a 20 foot container. you can get 4 kits in easily, at a aqueeze 8.

You will need a shipping agent to handle the customs paperwork dont try to do it on your own. expect to pay around another $500.00 to $1000.00 in customs fees, inspections etc plus the agents fees (which are not that much) you shouldnt need to pay much duty, we paid around 0.5%

if you need the contact details of a shipping agent in the US please u2u me

cheers

Paul

from what i've seen, most these kits have the same basic design, so if your any good at welding, ship the metal work over and weld it into the chassis shape yourself, my local steel stock has a program in their cutter to cut out all the parts for a seven replica chassis, and can cut the lengths out of steel or alloy, just an idea as this would save a lot of money.