Container Shipping Service and Rates
Our extensive list of contacts with licensed operators such as Freight Forwarders and NVOCC allows us to provide the highest quality services to our clients.
We have full cooperation from loading warehouses located in Atlanta, Savannah, Seattle, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey,Texas and Canada.
Our experience will guarantee a safe and secure transportation service.We have cooperation with different port agents in various countries across the world and will assist you in unloading and documents processing.
The rules and bylaws regarding international shipment of vehicles are slightly different from shipment of general cargo. U.S. and foreign customs consider any vehicle to be a motorized vehicle if it requires a DMV (Department of Motor Vehicle) registration. Vehicles that are regarded as vehicles include:
- ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles),
- Automobiles,
- Boats,
- Jet skis,
- Mopeds,
- Motorcycles, and
- Trucks
Overseas freight service providers provide two alternatives to carry motorized vehicles
- Ocean container or Lift-on Lift-off (Lo Lo) Shipping Service
- Roll-on Roll-off (Ro Ro) Shipping Service
In this blog, we will provide you information about shipment of vehicles from the U.S. in containers.
Shipment of Motorized Vehicles in Containers: An Overview
Shipment of vehicles is the most popular and least expensive way to ship a vehicle. Motorized vehicles are placed inside the containers and then loaded onto the ocean going vessels using cranes. Shipping vehicles in containers may be the only option if they are to be delivered to the port of departure and transported away from the destination port using road transport i.e. rail or trucks.
Ocean vessels that carry vehicles in containers are known as Lo Lo (Lift On/Lift Off) vessels. The reason they are called Lo Lo vessels is because the load is lifted on and off the vehicle using cranes.
Motorized vehicles are placed and secured inside multimodal freight containers in two ways.
a. Shipping a Single Motorized Vehicle in a Container
High value vehicles are usually shipped using this option. Shipping a single vehicle in a container minimizes the chance of damage during transportation. It increases the probability that the vehicle arrives at its destination safely and securely without any dents, scratches and other vehicle damage.
b. Shipping Multiple Motorized Vehicles in a Container
Another option for international shipping of motorized vehicles is by placing more than one vehicle inside the multimodal freight container. The consolidated cars may belong to different owners or to the same owner. An advantage of shipping vehicles, consolidated with other vehicles is that you end up saving on the freight costs.
A disadvantage of shipping vehicles consolidated in a single container is that it increases the chance of damage during transportation. In addition, if the container contains vehicles of different owners, it will cause delays due to auditing and finalizing international shipping documents relating to the ownership of the concerned vehicles.
On a final note, remember that U.S. customs does not recognize an ocean shipping agents' container freight service for vehicles as an LCL ocean freight service. International shipment of vehicles in containers is treated differently from LCL (Less than container load) sea freight services.
LCL ocean freight is used for shipping of crated, boxed, and palletized cargo through the ocean. Shipment of vehicles in containers, on the other hand, is treated as FCL (Full Container Load). The Shipping rates and inspection procedure of FCL cargo is also different compared to LCL cargo.