Prepping Your Car For DOD Car Shipping Overseas

You are determined to take your car with you on assignment. Or maybe you can’t part with the one you found on assignment. You know there are other cars. But this is your car. And you want it.

Here’s what you need to know in order to ship your POV overseas.

DOD (Department of Defense) transport has many similarities to a civilian’s experience of travel, with one key difference- it’s most likely not going to cost you more than the price of insurance, licenses and any taxes.

Before you go through all the hullabaloo of preparing to ship your car, determine if the vehicle limitations exclude that which you intend to ship. Because international rules vary widely it is best to see your transportation office for details.

Shipping a privately owned vehicle, “POV”, internationally can be free- if you cross your “i”’s and dot your “t”s, that is.

Determine your eligibility for free DOD global shipping:

Are you currently a member of the US armed forces?

Or are you a DoD civilian or retiree with orders that authorize shipping your POV?

You are typically allowed to ship only one vehicle for free in these circumstances:

• A permanent change of station to, from, or between places overseas.
• Upon an official change in home port of the vessel to which you are assigned.

The second POV might be subject to an import duty. Check with your sponsor to determine any restrictions on a second POV.

Just like shipping a civilian vehicle, it is best to remove antenna, external mirrors and other attachments. However, because you are DOD there’s a different reason why. You want to cut down on the external measurements of your POV as much as possible so that you can avoid paying any additional costs wracked up when you go over the maximum size of 40 cubic feet, which measures to 20 tons.

Go in to speak with your local transportation office and overseas sponsor about insurance, taxes and licensing. Again, just like when you ship a civilian car, you will want to take note of any damage before you ship, with dated photographs and descriptions, which you submit to your insurance company. You’ll want to purchase insurance that satisfies the destination country’s requirements in order to make arrangements for yourself ahead of arrival.

You’re going to want to contact your local Vehicle Processing Station for more specifics about when you are eligible to ship your POV, which in most cases depends on the length of your tour overseas.

You will want to carefully review the restrictions regarding what you can and can't ship in your POV. Particularly, don’t forget to remove your Citizen Band (CB) radio as importation and operation of CB radios are prohibited in most overseas places. The removal of any restricted items will cost you, so do your due diligence.

If you have question about DOD shipping your POV overseas--contact us today to learn more! We are happy to offer cost estimates for shipments anywhere in the world ABSOLUTELY FREE! No obligation required and no strings attached! Call us at the number at the top of the page or get in touch through our online contact form today!