Shipments done by Travellers

Remark: As there

this service can be summarised as "wishy-washy".

whilst the bikes got to their destination the process was left wanting.

whilst we consider the cost high it was for 5 M cubed ( 2 uncrated rolling bikes & 1 M cubed box)and all charges to the wharehouse in auckland. arthur quoted us at Au$ 150 M cubed.

again we were happy to leave the bikes uncrated as they are not pretty and it saved us hassles associated with crating if you are under time pressure.

the mistake we made was to ship the 1 M cubed box. we forgot we

Looked extensively at air freight out of Dakar but it was going to cost in the region of 1000 euros (Air France) to get to Paris. Air Brussels will ship to Belgium for 1/2 price of regular shipping fee if you fly with them. Go to their office which is entered by the door at the far right of the terminal building with your back to the carpark. Ignore transitors at this point, but you may need one later. You'll have to leave ID with the guard at the bottom of the stairs. At the Air Brussels office speak to the man in charge of air freight, a very urbane Senegalese who speaks excellent English and French. He can explain the details to you. I was shipping KLR 650, with no luggage.
Took a long time, (3 weeks)but I didn't need the bike in a hurry. Amadou will give you a contact name and number in France. If you're coming from the UK I think there is a ferry from Le Havre to Dover. Rode away from Le Havre and the boys at the pick-up point gave me a push start no problem. In Dakar all I did was disconnect battery and left it there in their care. I wouldn't leave luggage on as it is stored in their wharehouse until next available shipping. I had no damage (but the bike had already taken a beating).
Stayed at Campement on Yoff beachfront, 15 mins walk to airport. Can't remember the full name of the campement but it's right on the sand at the end of a short road off the main airport road. Opposite local soccer field and half constructed market place, which the local lads use as a workshop for making new fishing boats. Cheap clean and Yoff is very safe, your bike will be safe in their 'off-ish'the road parking. Old guy associated with the hostel slept next to bike.
Hussan was running the place and he helped me to find the shipper down at the port. Go there and stay with him. If you want to fly out he knows the score as he came with me to help get a good price and he used to work down at the port! Speaks English, French, Wolof and God knows what else. Top bloke never asked for a cent, but I tipped him well as he saved me 100's of euros.

I had the bike crated by a professional crating company. This costed 300 C$, but it was done very well.

OCF collected the crate from the crating-company. (included in the price)
They shiped the bike via Singapore to bangkok.
The contact in Singapore (seetha at macnels)was also very helpfull.
In Bangkok things were not so well aranged. The contact there (Montira at macnells) was horrible. She never replied to Emails or phone-calls.
Therefor I decided to pick up the papers and clear the bike myself at PAT (the harbour)
Cost for the papers was 60 U$ (it's included in the given price).
Customs is not to dicicult but timeconsuming (1/2 day). Since it now was friday-afternoon we had to come back to the port on saturday.

At first there was a fee of 20 U$ to put the bike on a truck... but I convinced the port-autority's that I could walk it out just as well. (I can be very pursuasive).

Clearing the bike took also half a day, mostly because the main-computer did not work on saturday :-(

I gave some local people (that had helped dismanteling the cate) 2 U$.

I found the hole procudure relatively easy. No bribes were asked (well... maybe the truck was a bribe-thing)

Only one lady at the costums was a bitch... but I had no dealings with her anyway and the other oficials found her a bitch also.

No further harbour fee's were asked, but I did NOT use an agent.

One more thing: I brougth a thai-speaking friend!

More details can be seen on my web page, but here is the gist of it. On Ruta 40, met a guy who worked for SwissAir Cargo in Buenos Aires. He helped me get in touch with the Uruguay office (above).

I was trying to get the bike to Vancouver, or close to it. Shipping to the port of New York was 165 a cubic meter, and to Seattle was 185 a cubic meter, a good deal I thought. The crate went to NYC by sea, and then by truck to Seattle.

I took the Greyhound bus from Vancouver to Seattle ($25), arriving at 10:30. A $18 cab ride got me to the freight offices. I needed to get a customs stamp (5 minutes away by taxi), and the crate was released. I got the forklift guy to put me in a corner, and an hour later the bike was together. No damage in shipping. Battery was dead, got a boost from the forklift and back in Vancouver at 9pm that day.

Here are the fees:(all prices in USD)
THC $70.75
Stripping $35.37
Documentation $55.00
Chasis $8.49
Security Fee $25.00
Ocean Freight $523.55 (for 2.83 cubic meters)
B/L Fee $65.00
PBIP Charge $15.00
Handling $65.00
In-Out fee Seattle warehouse $45.00
Disposal of crate Seattle warehouse $35.00

I was able to pay on the receiving end (didn't have to pay anything in Montevideo, except for customs brokers clearance $USD300, cash only. He wanted $350 - his info: Gerardo Mendez Moure, email gmen...@despachante.com.uy Phone 916 85 05. His office is by the port Peidras 271, office 102). I was not able to do this process by myself, on account that a broker is needed to get the account with the shipping line (IFS Neutral Maritime Services in my case). I needed to send a money order to IFS in New York before the shipment would be released in Seattle. IN Seattle I had to pay the $80 by cash or cheque only.

I managed to get the base of a crate from the BMW dealer in Montevideo. I drove around looking for carpenters and after the crate was assembled, we took all the peices back to the BMW shop and used their warehouse to put the moto in the box. The reason being is they had a forklift to load the crate onto the truck to take it to the port. You must bring the crate to the port on one of these special licenced trucks, you cannot enter the port area with a private vehicle.

Transit time was quoted at between 30 -35 days. Actually took May 26 - July 25. Almost 2 months. One of the problems was that in NYC, the crate was randomly (?) selected for not one but two Xray screenings, and that pushed things back a bit.

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Here are some quotes for alternate locations:
Montevideo/Seattle
Transit Time: 35 days
Ocean Freight: Usd 185 x w/m
Drayage Usd 25 x w/m

Docs. Fee: Usd 65 x shpt

PBIP - Carrier Fees Usd 15 x shpt

Warehouse Handling Usd 65 x shpt

Montevideo/Toronto
Transit Time: 31 days
Ocean Freight: Usd 165 x w/m
Drayage Usd 25 x w/m

Docs. Fee: Usd 65 x shpt

PBIP - Carrier Fees Usd 15 x shpt

Warehouse Handling Usd 65 x shpt

Note:

1.00 tn = 1.00 Cbm

Air Movement
Montevideo/Vancouver
Transit Time: 4 days
Air Freight Rate: Usd 3.33 x Chargeable Weight
Fuel Surcharge Usd 0.40 x Chargeable Weight
Security Fee: Usd 0.10 x Chargeable Weight
DGR Fee: Usd 180
Due Carrier: Usd 45
Airport entrance. Usd 95
Warehouse Fee: Usd 75

Note: 1.00 cbm = 167 Kgs

Custom Clearence Charges.

Customs Charges Fee: Usd 180 + IVA (23% VAT TAX)

Custom Brooker Fee Usd 160 + IVA (23% VAT TAX)

Law 16134 Usd 60 + IVA (23% VAT TAX)

Port TAX Fee Usd 25 x weight.

Transport to port or Airport Usd 60

That's all the info that we can obtain. Unfortunatly, here in Uruguay we don't have more options to send shpts to Canada.

I hoep that this info can assist you.

Brgds

Luis Gustavo Jarr