Tips on how to transport your vehicle abroad

Tips on how to transport your vehicle abroad

If you find yourself in a situation where you need to transport your vehicle abroad, you might find yourself in an overwhelming position. Do not worry, we are here to help you with that! Movers Toronto will give you all the information that you might need! Obviously, you need to somehow ship your vehicle to another country. If you do not need to ship it, you can always drive it yourself! There are actually quite many things on your to-do list so let us dive right into it!

How To Transport Your Vehicle Abroad – Checklist

• Do your research
• Find out about pricing
• Select a shipping method
• Submit necessary documents
• Create a vehicle condition report

Step One – Research

Before doing more or less anything in life, it is always wise to do some research on the matter at hand. This is even more important when you want to transport your vehicle abroad. But what should you research? The most important things to research are companies and associated costs. Start with acquiring more knowledge on various shipping companies and international transporters. You have several tools to help you with this, primary being your internet browser. Take some time to use your favorite search engine and research the companies online. Do not forget to also check out sites like FCM.gov, BBB.org as well as forums and sites that do reviews. You also need to check with your friends and family for any personal experiences they might have.

What you want to know about these companies are their credentials and certificates. A good moving company, such as long distance movers, will be fully licensed and insured! If a company has everything, they will never hide it.

What are the costs?

Next thing you need to research is the cost. Now, some of the companies will not be willing to part with this information online but you should still get a rough estimate if you conduct your research properly. These costs do change quite a bit and are dependant on a variety of factors, such as fuel rates, so just be mindful of that. A good practice is to visit several forums and check out the experiences of people who did the same thing before you. Just be sure to check the date of those posts, as some might be a couple of years old.

With all of this done, you should have a rough estimate on how much will it cost to transport your vehicle abroad.

Step Two – Pricing

In this step, you will be calling a lot of the moving companies and get quotes for the move. Do not just look for the total amount, look at what the price includes. You might pass out on a really good deal because it costs more, when in fact it has additional fee’s which you might be able to shave off. But what do you need to look for?

• Look for the type of service
• Check for the method
• Look for the destination fee
• Check for insurance

For the type of service, you should be checking what are you paying for. Is it a door to door service? Is it a door to port? Port to Port?

Where the method is concerned, it might be an ocean container, shared container or maybe roll on roll off, and so on.

Destination fee is something you will be paying, no matter where your vehicle is going. Make sure you get a detailed report on how much everything will cost, as this is something that often gets overlooked. Ask about it!

Insurance is another flexible thing, so make sure that you are well informed on what exactly does the insurance cover. You can save a lot of money here but peace of mind is priceless for many.

Step Three – Shipping Method

When trying to transport your vehicle abroad, this will be the step where you have the most freedom of choice. If you want the whole thing to be over quickly, and do not mind paying a couple of hundred dollars more, just hire your own shipping container. You will need to supply the shipper with all the necessary paperwork but this is the fastest and easiest method there is. Also the most expensive one.

Next option is the middle ground. So-called “roll on roll off” is when your vehicle is driven into a RORO vessel. It then gets braced and secured. This method is slower, due to the fact that most of these vessels are hopping from ship to ship, which delays delivery time. Or they might not, it all depends on the destination and is another thing that warrants further research.

The last option is to transport your vehicle abroad with other vehicles set to the same destination. This is called consolidated vehicle shipping. In this method, your vehicle shares space with others, in a shipping container. This will almost always make the wait time longer, due to the fact that the entire container needs to be full before shipping.

Step Four – Submit Documents

Alright, with everything above in place, it is time for the most exciting thing! That is right, paperwork!  You need to gather all the necessary papers that your company requires and deliver it to them. Delaying this step will prolong the time it requires to transport your vehicle abroad. Luckily, this documentation is pretty simple and straightforward. All you need is a clear original title, a copy of a bill of sale and a copy of your US passport.

Now, there might be other documentation required by the destination countries but that varies from country to country so it is impossible to list them all. These include things like notarized power of attorney, proof of payment on vehicles and perhaps an import approval. Just make sure to ask about these when you are talking with your movers.

Step Five – Vehicle Condition Report

Whenever you want to transport your vehicle abroad, you will be always better off to make your own inspection report, with pictures. It is always a good idea to service and wash your vehicle before you hand it in for transport. The moving company will do their own report when the vehicle arrives at their location. Having two reports will ensure that everything is as it needs to be.

We hope that now you have a much better idea of what transporting your vehicle abroad entails!