I've shipped a few MV things and priced a few more.
You need to use 'consolidated container shipments' which charge you by the
container volume / floorspace used. It pays to make sure that you can get
the target to a port that handles containers (thanks again Buzz) and that
it will go in the thing when it gets there. Unlike the less common Roll
on / Roll off they will also carry vehicles that will roll but not drive,
and the security is marginally better too.
Interestingly there was very little difference in the cost of shipping two
similarly sized MVs to the UK, one each from the US East and West coast,
so it appears that you pay for putting it in the container and sticking it
on the ship, the distance travelled isn't that big a factor.
You do get hit by lots of handling and customs charges when it comes out
the can, but if you make sure you got a good price on the original vehicle
the charges aren't too bad. You can also fill up the cab / interior /
trunk with the spares you'll need to have anyway, and this should save
some import charges on them too.
Have a close look at the insurance offered too - I did. It turns out the
only thing the insurance would cover me for was the total loss of the
vehicle (i.e the ship sinking) which I thought was sufficiently unlikely
that I could do without it. this has a knock-on effect on your customs
charges too as they charge you on the total cost, including insurance.
Enough - I'm off to start wiring up the VC 3 lights.
Gordon
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Nov 01 2000 - 21:37:43 PST