damage to bus when importing? has it happened to you

[sackmcgannay]

reading through the insurance info sent by shipping company and it is a little unclear on scratches/dents to vehicle?

"Scratching, denting or marring of automobile or motorcycle or mobile home unless the freight forwarder and the owner of the
automobile or motorcycle or mobile home both agree and sign a "Certificate of Condition", or a similar document, stating the
condition of the automobile or motorcycle or mobile home at the time same entered the custody of the freight forwarder or
steamship company, noting all defects, if any."

Has anyone completed a certificate of condition?

As the bus i am importing (like many i'm sure) has its fair share of bumps and bruises it could be quite hard to log them all - my only thought was to get a video
waking around bus when delivered at port??

Has anyone had any experience with loss/damage in transit when importing and can give any advice please?

thanks.. rowan.

 

[scott wilson]

yep loads and you don`t have a leg to stand on as a trader anyway.Private using lingstown may be different

 

[Guest]

insurance will cost you 2% of the value of the vehicle, i had a 40 footer to myself so i wasnt worried about damage. it depends on the condition of the vehicle really and if you are willing to pay a little extra

 

[alex4057]

they seem to have a habit of picking up vans under the chassis with a fork lift, I have seen many a van with damage, normally pretty minor damge though, (Bent chassis rails and a bit of paint been rubbed)

 

[sackmcgannay]

Can anyone advise whats safest method of shipping - roll-on/roll-off or shared container?

I am looking at RO-RO as destination port is closer to me.

 

[K@rlos]

I know someone who loads car for import/export, he says they get abused big time :? You would think they would have abit of respect for someones soon to be pride 'n' joy tbh

Karl

 

[sackmcgannay]

aah bloody hell - dont say that!

I was thinking of getting the seller to walk round the van making a short little video before handing it over to the shippers - any point?

 

[Rusty Lee]

make sure you get a spare key hidden in the van someone swiped mine away and ive heard loads people have had this.

 

[Heebee_GB]

insurance will cost you 2% of the value of the vehicle, i had a 40 footer to myself so i wasnt worried about damage. it depends on the condition of the vehicle really and if you are willing to pay a little extra

Isn't it 2% of the vans value but with an excess of $1000?

Sounds like it's not worth it to me.

 

[ProfessorWheeto]

Can anyone advise whats safest method of shipping - roll-on/roll-off or shared container?

I am looking at RO-RO as destination port is closer to me.

RORO is only an option if the vehicle has a current certificate of roadworthyness.

Container can be alright, in my experience we had some damaged, as mentioned before, from forklift damage, no biggie if its chassis rails, a right twat if its tie rods etc (ever tried to push a non runner when the front wheels are pointing different directions?!!)
We also had some damaged on the roof where vehicles had been dropped on top of them (my van being one!)

It's a bit of a gamble really, there is a lot of scope for damage in transit and not much you can do about it really.

 

[Clem]

:shock:

http://www.ssvc.org.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=42191&hilit=shipping+damage" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[mattd1984]

:shock:

http://www.ssvc.org.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=42191&hilit=shipping+damage" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just had a look through this thread, poor bloke

 

[scott wilson]

in the good old days we used to send complete shitters roro and push em on with a forklift or the such like.Then they were grateful for the custom....nowadays if it aint spotless them feck off and by the way when we get to antwerp we`ll steal everything inside the vehicle cos we is bent dodgy feckers Lost £6k worth of stock at antwerp on a roro! be warned! :evil:

 

[Heebee_GB]

:shock:

http://www.ssvc.org.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=42191&hilit=shipping+damage" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just had a look through this thread, poor bloke

I've changed my mind. Insurance might be worth it!!

 

[sackmcgannay]

absolutely sh****g myself now..but its got to get here somehow!

...SO what do people thinks the safest - RO-RO or in a shared container??

 

[Graham L]

Don't forget that buses are being shipped all the time and every time I go to Felixstowe or Chatham its full of VW's and more exotic cars that have got here in one piece without damage, the route from the US to here is a well tried one and its in the shipping companies best interest to deliver buses safely.

I think as long as you use the right people = CFR for Shipping, Kingstown to handle it this side (then it goes to Imorex who know what they are doing) you will be OK.

I've never paid for insurance as its all in the small print and usually there is an excess to pay as well, remember you are shipping a 40 year old bus thats already likely to have a few dings in it so its really hard to pinpoint any additional damage.

I wouldn't lose sleep over it,

 

[sackmcgannay]

cheers for the reassurance graham.. CFR? - does this just mean cost & freight? or is this a particular shipping company?

Kingstown - are these guys the best? I was going to ship with Rinkens International - anyone have any experience with these guys?

when you say use Kingstown for sorting stuff out this end could you elaborate on what stuff this end?

Thanks and sorry - i've never done this before!

 

[sackmcgannay]

"the right people = CFR for Shipping, Kingstown to handle it this side (then it goes to Imorex who know what they are doing) you will be OK"

Do i need to contact each of the above and arrange each step?

I was just aranging the seller in US to deliver to port - to the shippers warehouse.. then i suppose i imagined going to destination port in UK paying duty + vat and getting bus trailored back to my house.

I'm new at this and would really appreciate some help really - does my above plan sound right or am i not being aware of a lot more details/options/complications that need to be covered?

 

[Graham L]

You can contact Kingstown Shipping in Hull (ask for Mark or Alan) and they can sort everything for you, they tend to use CFR as their shipping agent in the US so you'll end up using the same people but I deal direct with CFR.

You can get the seller to deliver it to the shipper in the US no problem, usually the shipper needs to be notified in advance to get a reference number but again Kingstown can sort all that for you. At this end Kingstown then handle the importation side for which they charge £350 and then you have your VAT & Duty on top of that. Once you've paid your bill for the shipping, handling, VAT & Duty you are free to collect the bus but it won't be off the dockside if it come in a container it will be from a bonded yard such as Imorex in Felixstowe.

(Bus is loaded at CFR into a container, shipped over and then unloaded in Imorex's yard and pushed into a warehouse for safe keeping)