Mark944na86

Anyone have experience with freighting big stuff (engines, transmissions, etc.) internationally? I'm thinking of possibly buying some items from the US that would be too large or heavy for courier or postal services -- if speed of delivery isn't an issue, what are the most cost efficient options for this sort of stuff?

JohnKoaWood

Contact Dave at CEP or Chris White, I know both of them have done large international shipments, I believe Dave has done Australia...

jeevyboy

I'd go with sea freight. Cheapest option. If you find a good air freight deal it will be maybe a 1/3rd more expensive but will get there within 1/2 the time or less. Really depends on how fast you want it there. Depending on the airline they may have issues with engines though, its considered a hazardous item for some, and they may charge more.

I just shipped a transmission and engine out from the US by air this week to Singapore. One of the issues i ran into was that the initial shipper i worked with would only pick up from a business location. The fact is i bought these parts from someone who has a garage in his own house, and the shipper considered it not a business location and so informed me they would not be able to perform the pickup. Then i tried FedEx, and there was a LOT of paperwork to be done. So i finally found a decent compromise by going with a company called Homeshipping, which offered air and sea freight options and would pick up from business and residential addresses.

Mark944na86

How much did the shipping cost you to Singapore through Homeshipping, out of interest? That would give me a benchmark of what to expect...

BTW, for sea shipping, did the engine and/or transmission have to be crated, or just strapped to a pallet (aka a skid)? Thanks for your advice.

jeevyboy

It cost around $2717 for ground pickup, transport and shipping to Singapore for air freight, with a turnaround of 10 days. This was for a WHOLE load of parts though, engine, transmission, a whole interior of a car including all panels seats carpets n dash, and all drivetrain bits as well as fenders and nose of car. I would imagine that the the engine and transmission would only account for half that cost.

AS far as i know everything was boxed for transport. If you were going to ship by sea, maybe strapping to a skid may be enough if you chose LCL, but i'd think it would be best to crate it just to be safe for you and the shipper.

Mark944na86

That's pretty good... particularly for air freight. Did you ship the torque tube too?

jeevyboy

It was part of the shipment, yes.

Mark944na86

Wow. That's an impressive amount of stuff. All very encouraging.

Thanks for the pointers! And good luck installing all your "stuff".

Own Goal

We ship our manufactured products which are heavy Intl fairly often. International crates need to have the face with screws instead of nails or staples. Just a detail but we learned it early the hard way. Get a good forwarding agent to walk you through it. We have a gal on staff that knows the ropes. Not hard, just particular.
As for air carriers just got quotes from FED-X, UPS and DHL from China Monday on some parts. Best was DHL @ 50 RMB per Kilo. 40kg ran about $301.

thingo

You are best to find a branch of a freight company in your area, I use concordia. The cost per kilo will be a fraction of normal fedex, ups etc rates, but they will charge you for doing the paperwork, so it is only worthwhile with items of value. In Sydney you can't do the paperwork, you have no choice but to use a freight company anyway, so it is wise to find one before the shipment is sent.
Person sending the shipment has to be familiar with paperwork and packing.

Fishey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VDMs0E0wic

Sorry but its so good! lol