Shipments done by Travellers

While on vacation in the US, I used ShipVehicles to help move my BMW GS from the west coast to the east coast in the US. I received several quotes from local US shippers and got a good rate for uncrated shipping.

"26 June - I am awaiting my bike in Anchorage. it should have been here 3 weeks ago but due to the incompetence of Frontier Forwarding it got impounded in LA customs, has cost me $460 (125 of which was customs clearance fees and unavoidable) on top of the 920 pounds paid to ship it, and it is still not here.

1 July - the bike arrived yesterday at long last. I have had two weeks of hanging around waiting plus the costs associated with this, $460 in customs clearing costs and have spent $40 on phone calls. The bike arrived in LA three weeks before I learned of its arrival. I was not contacted to say that I had customs clearance to complete, the only contact from Frontier Forwarding concerned the delivery address. The bike was impounded by customs because it sat there so long. I had to pay for the storage and impounding fees, a total of $460 above the freighting costs. Frontier Forwarding had told me the bike would customs clear in anchorage. They knew the transfer would be in LA to get it to Anchorage. Would you expect a company that 'specialises' in shipping bikes to know that the first time it enters the US, the customs need to clear it. Frontier Forwarding didn't, in fact when initially asked about compliance formalities for the us the agent Anthony did not have a clue."
For more info regarding this shipment put "Frontier Forwarding" into the site search engine and look at the Bulletin Board for all the gory info.

Very helpful and not at all fazed at the concept of shipping a motorcycle to Alaska, or anywhere for that matter. Dave Wren emailed me with a scan of the waybill and all the flight numbers and was generally very helpful.

I supplied my bike crated but I imagine Jardine Logistics could arrange this for you via a third party.

My contact at Jardine emailed the waybill and all the flight details before I left the UK so I had all the info I needed for when I went to collect the bike at Anchorage airport.

I had to drain the fuel tank and remove the battery from the bike. This meant that the bike wasn't classed as dangerous goods and therefore I was saved about 100GBP (150USD) in checks and certifications etc. The total cost also included insurance up to 5000 GBP.
If shipping from the UK it is advisable to have the bike steam cleaned and have a letter to prove it, as Foot & Mouth disease is still perceived as threat when shipping from Britain. I had to clear the bike with the Agriculture department at the airport as well as normal Customs because of this. Once they saw the letter they were fine.

Other than that, Anchorage airport and customs was fine. No delays and no charges.

This price was for 2 BMW F650's weighing 510kg for the 2.

Packing was simply strapping to a metal pallet - no wheels out - did not even have to take the Touratech panniers or topbox off!

On arrival in Australia quarantine did not even look at the bikes on arrival. Charges in Australia with Patricks for warehousing and off-loading from the plane was AUS $139.70 for the two bikes.

Hi, I used Geodis shipping to send my bike to Veracruz in Mexico, from the start they were very helpfull Pauline Howard there rep gave me tips on how to crate my bike and how to save space and weight. I delivered my bike to there yard at west thurrock. I was given a time of shipping and an approximate date of arrival and the name and all the relevent details of the shipping agent in Mexico,this was
Rohde & Liesenfeld SA DE CV
Dakota 204/desp 101
Colonia Napoles 03810
Mexico DF, Mexico.
Tel 52 55 11070010
FAX 52 55 11070031
After 3 phone calls they were able to tell me who was the customs agent in Veracruz, they spoke good english and asked if I needed help to ship out just to give them a call.
The customs agent in Veracruz was
Agencia Aduanal
Gonzalo Salas Villagomez
AV. Juarez, No100 Despachos 204/205
CP 91700, Veracruz, Veracruz. Mexico.
This guy also spoke good english, after a few days of delays due to storms in the adlantic the ship arrived and one week later I got my bike. The shipping from Englad cost about GBP400 the customs cost a further $300 US. once in Mexico you must buy a temp import licence the customs agent will help with this as it has to be done at a state bank, not to shaw what happens comming over a land boarder but you must sigh the licence back when leaving Mexico as it is a guarantee against you selling your bike it cost's about $25 US. Customs in Veracruz should be best left to customs agents. They will save a lot of leg work and frustration but make sure you agree on all price's first. Hope this helps.