International Freight Costs

Anyone know anything about freight costs (various) for sending a complete IOM from continent to continent (eg Australia to US). This is not to be accompanied by a passenger (ie not luggage).

Regards

Nick

Nick Lindsley
Australia 0418 727-727
Intl +61+418-727.727

I do send and receive tons of stuff from Europe, as far as I have experienced, Post Office is the cheaper way…but it takes TIME…ask the Post Office about it, they should give you more information about it…
Or, shipping it via boat, very long, weight doesnt matter, only size

Hope it helps a bit
Wis

_/ if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it! _

I got my AC-15 from NZ for less than $100 and it came in a 7’ long coffin looking case that was made for it. I just got a box from Scotland the other day that took 1 week which is really good service. It just depends on how full things are when it shows up. If the plane isn’t full they will put it on the next one otherwise it may take a day or so but for the most part 10 days is about right.

Larry -

I found it to be very expensive to import/ship a 4 foot long set of 3 hulls and 2 cross beams from the UK to here in Minnesota.

How were the shipments made? Email me off line if you want to, as the Fedex and UPS were prohibitive, but maybe they were quoting me for a priority or fast delivery. Heck a 2-3 week wait would be fine. If rates really are pretty low, then importing multihulls from the UK or France might not be impossible. Especially since the weight is negligible - only the size of the shipping container. Might even be able to import 3-4 at same freight cost as 1.

It was about $90 from NZ to San Antonio. I can’t say that was the total bill since they shipped it on their end, but the final leg was UPS. I was a pilot for DHL for many years and they were fairly reasonable International and were much larger than you would think. I have not sent anything from here to UK, but the best I can tell you would be to really work it hard. There are many freight forwarders such as PILOT AIRFREIGHT that do nothing more than buy a block of space on FedEx and UPS etc… and they get a tremendous discount… they they turn around and peddle that discount to you (with a nice piece left in there for them) It keeps the planes full, you are happy they are happy everyone wins.

I may be heading in that direction as I get to the point where I may be filling orders over there. If such a thing comes up and there is anough interest I will start a thread on freight rates.

Are we talking US dollars on this post (not Aus or NZ $). Also do these carriers pick up from Aus?

Nick

Nick Lindsley
Australia 0418 727-727
Intl +61+418-727.727

Thanks for the tips Larry. Up here (Minnesota) we are home to Northwest Airlines, and I have tried to tie in to a pilot or two to hand carry stuff back from a London pick up, but kind of difficult, as they probably think the frequency of “carries” will increase. I also had a fellow (a business flyer) from Madison Wisconsin willing to pick up and carry during his frequent flights. We had agreed upon a “free boat” for the services, but then the UK builder kind of bailed out on me. I have been starting a series of contacts with some French builder/owner/sailors, and also have discusssed sharing a container space with US Sailing teams coming back from Europe training/regattas. Problem with that is it is done at their convenience and may not meet time frames for when you want a boat here.

I will proceed to line up some builders/sellers over there and stay in touch with you. If you get to shipping before I get to receiving, please keep me (us) updated on freight costs. I know one issue was any tariffs, but most r/c boats are still considered “TOYS” and are exempt from import fees. At least here in the US.

As a former freight pilot - is there any profit to be made handling shipments overseas for others? I’m not thinking “rich and retired” - but enough to at least cover the costs and time involved? Based on a few IOM and Marblehead purchases and overseas classifieds, could one cover costs by becoming an r/c boat freight forwarder? ie: Building shipping containers and handling paperwork to get a boat shipped from point A to point B … with a lot of good designs coming out of UK, Europe and “down under” - it seems there would be more sales and movement if one could improve on the issues of freight shipments. It could (potentially) improve the entire picture of r/c sailing if it were easy and cost efffective to ship between countries. Just a thought.

Hi Dick,
Oh I know your neck of the woods quite well… when I was with ATA (Rest in Peace or bankruptcy if you prefer) we did all our Boeing training there at the NWA facilities. You are on the right track snagging someone to take your box over… post 9-11 is going to make it dicey though. You would NEVER believe the stuff that the F/A’s would haul back. On the L-1011 we never used the forward cargo pit and they would fill it up with furniture etc.

If you have someone that goes into the crew room and can leave a note on the bulletin board… you might get a hit there. Trouble is most of them are not going to want to worry with it, unless you get some very sympathetic person.

As to becoming a freight forwarder… no… way too many regs, bonds, red-tape etc. This is just something that is going to be difficult and expensive. The best way will be to send multiple boats at one time. If you wanted to start something there… you might be on to something. Using the wondeful internet if you can post a ship date… and see how many people would be interesed in kicking in together you might be able to get a better rate. The drawback is of course getting everyone and their money to come through… then you need someone on the other side that is willing to resend everything once it gets there. Breakage and damage at that point would be another nightmare. It’s the apple hanging on the branch just out of reach. Sooner or later someone will come along with a stick and knock it off and solve the whole thing.

I would go from England or Ireland back here 2-3 times a month and never really had anything to bring back (People do not realize that the USA is the cheapest place in the world to get almost anything) other than rareities. OH WELL… I will keep you in mind, and once I have some hard evidence I will start a thread here and let everyone in on the deal.

Larry - want to share in the cost of a new Lear - or similar? Can we write the initial cost off as “work related educations” or something similar? [:D] [:D] [:D] [:D]

You did give me an idea though. Neighbor is in their maintenance group at NWA and flies to different airports - either for emergency repairs or training sessions for local mechanics. For the planned flights he might be able to be convinced - given enough beer and pizza ! Will have to “discuss” with him in the near future. Thanks.

Dick, actually with the new legislation going into effect Jan 1, old Lears are going to be quite cheap. You won’t be able to operate them above 280, and they are too expensive to operate lower than that and it’s too expensive to convert them over… so… look for tons of them sitting for parts.

Man I wish I could, I still have pass privileges with AA, but I never have the time to go anywhere. We need an “in” with a trucking firm for all but the International stuff. I am working on it though! Never can tell.
PS… I will buy the jet if you will pay for gas and maintenance. Hehehehehe…[}}:-|>>]

We will know that RC Sailing has come of age when we have our own Learjet dedicated to moving around the globe continually. Presumably we are talking about Lear 21, rather than 60s but with a good pair of extra tanks they might be able to have some range as well. Wasn’t Bill Lear an all time innovator. BTW, the Lear started life as a Swiss designed fighter.

In the mean time, any one got a list of prices for freighting an IOM in US dollars

To -->Aus/NZ US(Can) Euro Asia Brazil
From
Aus x
US/Can x
Euro x
Asia x
Brazil x

Even a set of golf clubs would be useful.
Nick

Nick Lindsley
Australia 0418 727-727
Intl +61+418-727.727

You might want to check in with Jeff Byerly and Brad Gibson. They ship to the US all the time. I believe that the cost of shipping my complete IOM (rig, sails, hull, fin, bulb etc.) via Fed Ex from Australia to the US was approximately US $300 for second day shipping.