Overseas shipping

Weeeeeeeelll no one is bidding on my Uship listing (http://www.uship.com/shipment/1966-Impala--1985-Alfa-Romeo-Internation/176252153/) so I was wondering where I should look next.

I did get in touch with a shipper that quoted me roughly $6000 for a 24-foot container from "door to door". I have a lot of questions about that one that you guys might be able to answer, but the big question is "Where do I go from here?".

I need shipping from Hungary (could also do a bigger city near by like Bratislava, Budapest, or Vienna) to Tacoma, Washington for one 1966 Impala (runs/drives) and one 1985 Alfa (rolls, but doesn't run).

If someone has done container shipping like this before:

Door to door at a residence? Does that seem right?

Do they just drop the container in your front yard? If not, how do I get the cars in/out?

What else do I need to know?

If I can fit a Trabant in the container, who wants it?

Thanks, -Bill

I've seen them dropped on driveways before, but I usually see them on the rigs. I can imagine that if they were to drop the container, some small wood ramps should do you just fine. 24 feet sounds right. That's 24 feet from the outside of the door to the outside of the other door. 23 feet 8 inches?

Hungary Bill wrote: If I can fit a Trabant in the container, who wants it? Thanks, -Bill

I do!

Wow very good price, that's the lower end of what I've seen to ship just one car (packed with other stuff) from the US to the Caribbean.

When I was doing towing I would load/unload a lot of diplomats cars to and from NY. The container stays on the trailer. I would back my flatbed up to it and roll the cars out of the box on to the truck. Some of the containers are pretty high so they may have to back the truck up onto a couple of 2x10s to get it the height of the trailer. Call a couple of towing companies when you get back to Washington. Someone there will know how to do this and have you unloaded in no time.

I would love a trebant if it isn't too much to mail back to NY.

Yup, rollback to get them out.

Possibly check with auto dealers that carry American cars and see what they have to say.. If you were shipping from the States, I coud help you, but you aren't. I will make a call for you, as a few of the forwarders I work with handle big shipments.

Yeah, put three Trabants in there sideways and call them 'packing material'. Profit.

Ask Bobzilla.

I hear he ships international all the time.

Price looks about right for a container from Europe, at least given the prices I've seen recently. You should be able to ship RoRo, but according to some friends of mine who import cars from Japan to the UK, there is always a good chance that some parts will put in a disappearance. Also, I don't think you can ship a non-running car RoRo.

I also got caught out by the "container stays on the truck" part, but I only had to get a few motorcycles out.

You'll need a customs agent to clear the container, that is likely to be another $250-300, but an experienced agents makes the process much quicker and smoother than you could DIY it. Also make sure that you can get the container delivered quickly as storage at the port is rather costly.

I didn't even think about an American car dealership. I'll have to give that a try.

The flatbed backed up to the container is perfect! When I was sharing e-mails with the guy doing the quote he made it sound like they were just going to plop the container in my yard. I never did get an answer from him about how they planned on doing that...

The part about all this that caught me off guard was the fact that he said it would be MORE expensive if I were do drive the vehicles to a larger city to do the shipping. That still doesn't make much sense to me, but he's the one giving the quote so I'll take his word for it.

The RORO shipping was set to save me a crap-ton of $$$ but getting the Alfa back together and licensed in time while not sacrificing my job, sanity, and marriage didn't seem like a feasible idea. So in parts she goes...

If there is room, I really AM going to try to squeeze a Trabi in there.

Thanks again everyone.

So you are getting two containers? I can only assume a 66 Impala is at least 16 or 17 feet long right?

I had one shipping container sent from the Caribbean. The truck arrived, and they gave us the half day to empty it. It remained on the trailer. When I had containers dropped off, the angle that is required to tilt it off the rollback might damage the contents. Look for a close loading dock to roll the cars off, as plan "B"

Anti-stance wrote: So you are getting two containers? I can only assume a 66 Impala is at least 16 or 17 feet long right?

You know... I knew the Impala was "big" but I had no idea just "how big" it was. I'm currently in India, so no tape measure, but it's looking like my Impala might be 17.75 feet long! (and I'll have you know I can park it between the lines of a "european" parking spot)

This raises the question: Crap, now what?

I guess I was under the assumption that when I told the shipper what I was shipping, he might have looked into how long it was... I REALLY don't want to lose my Alfa but the Impala is my daily driver and I don't want to lose that either...

On the bright side, I'm glad this is being addressed now as opposed to when I have the container in my front yard.

Alfa > Impala

m4ff3w wrote: Alfa > Impala

Agreed

But I need a runner/driver for my return to the states. I really doubt my ability to get the Alfa back together and registered for the road in time to move.

This is worse than having to choose a testicle.

I had measured two of my VWs, a Fox wagon and a MKII Jetta, to put into a storage unit once and remembered them being 12 to 13 feet long. So I figured a 60s Impala would have to be 4ft or so longer.

Hungary Bill wrote: This is worse than having to choose a testicle.

pfftt.. that's easy. Left.

There has to be a second place.

Crisis adverted. Shipper says that a 40ft container would not change the price.

If the wind picked up in your respective areas today, it was probably because I let out the world's biggest "sigh of relief".

Glad to hear you didn't need to do the JDM stack method of car transportation.

And there they go...

I wont see them again until January 21st

How many Trabants did you fit?

none

I was able to get the box with my bumpers in front of the Alfa, but otherwise the Impala and Alfa are "nut-to-butt".

Ah well, the only thing I'd have had to offer for one is a non functioning Yugo with almost all the parts it needs to run, and a shift light monster tach.