Overseas Automobile Shipping

Submitted by Dawn Petersen De Soto on 10/03/2020

Moving overseas is a really popular thing to do. Especially with the economic boom, it opens new opportunities for the people, gives people a new environment and a fresh start. Some people find it easy to drift from place to place, experience new stuff, and keep experimenting. So they don’t buy anything concrete and then stay on the move, discarding stuff as they go. If you are not a drifter, however, and would like to settle down, then one of the biggest challenges is moving your stuff to your new home. Of course you can’t just leave everything behind. There are many important things that you will undoubtedly need in the next phase of your life, and it’s just not feasible to buy them all new. So you need to find a way to shift your stuff overseas. Along with moving, also come security, paperwork’s and the danger of your stuff getting damaged.

One of the most important things is your car. You can’t just buy a new car every time you are moving. so you have to take it with you more often than not. Moving cars is an important and care demanding service. Delivering something as expensive and important as a car to another place brings with it a lot of logistical and legal hurdles.

Moving a car overseas requires even more finesse and follows a long and lengthy procedure. It is different in many ways from a door to door or within country moving. For one, overseas moving requires a lot of lengthy and hectic paperwork and licensing. Unlike moving a car domestically, an international move will require more paperwork and will be held liable from numerous regulations from both U.S. customs and customs in the country the car is shipping to. The way a vehicle is moved is also going to vary when shipping overseas. Then there is also the cost of the transport moving the vehicles (usually done by ship) and the loading / unloading. Then there is the matter of distance, where cars sometimes have to travel hundreds of miles and so it becomes very important to maintain the cars over the longer distance, and subsequently longer time period. It can take 2-3 weeks for some shipments to reach their destinations, making the cars liable to damage and making it really costly should anything happen.

When making a big move like moving overseas, it becomes really important to completely and thoroughly plan ahead, which can make it easier for both you and the company which is moving your stuff. There are 3 main ways of transporting vehicles.

Roll-on/roll-off ships are ferries designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers, and railroad cars. They are driven on to the ship and secured. The ship then transports them to their destination, and then off the ship on their own wheels or using a platform vehicle.

Advantages of a ro-ro ship include:

Speed. Since cars and lorries can roll onto the ship at one port and then roll off at the other port within a short period of time.

It can also transport different cargos, for example, containers. It allows to cross the border more quickly, using Customs-sealed unit, thus increasing the speed and effectiveness.

Ro-ro vessels have an impact on tourism. A lot of holiday makers and private car owners use ro-ro vessels for voyages. A person can take his car from one country to another or from one continent to another by sea.

At the same time, the disadvantage of ro-ro vessels is the volume of the cargo. Wheeled cargo can’t be stacked, that’s why the capacity of the deck is limited. Loading and unloading needs a lot of time. The cars are usually transported on open decks and may be harmed during transit.

The next method is by using containers. Choosing containers to transport your vehicles means greater flexibility with what you ship and how much. For example, if you are unable to fill a container with cars, the unused space can be packed with other items. containers are a very secure choice. A container can only be opened by the management and its contents cannot be seen from the outside, so no one is aware of what’s in them. These combined security features allow for far more peace of mind. It also makes it possible to avoid the expensive and resource-wasting practice of storing inventory. Containers must adhere to strict safety regulations in terms of structural integrity. A container fit for shipping is one that’s air and water tight, so as to protect your cars from things like rain, hail, dust, sun, tree sap, bird lime and temperature extremes. A car being loaded into a container must be carefully positioned before putting wheel chocks in place. After being properly chocked, the wheels are lashed to the container to ensure no movement while in transit, and therefore a very low chance of damage. And finally, they are a standard transport product, which means they can be loaded, transported and unloaded anywhere in the world.

The final method is Air transport, which is a much safer and faster method of shipping, however usually rare since it is highly expensive. It is usually used to transport luxury vehicles, classic cars and other high dollar cars.

To deal with the difficulties of moving these cars, and getting help that can allow you to properly and easily deal with the moving, it is important to contact an international moving company such as A-1 Auto Transport. It is because they are vastly more experienced and have helped many customers before. They can also provide much better safety and security for your vehicle. There is a vast range of countries they deliver to, so you’re in safe hands no matter where you are going. The recommended time to contact them is about 90 days in advance, as sometimes the paperwork can take a long time and it becomes harder, so giving 90 days’ advance notice, allows them to pick up everything and get ready for the moving.

Submitted by Dawn Petersen De Soto on 10/03/2020