Dear Mr Magill,
Many thanks for your message of enquiry. It is much appreciated.
It's good to hear that you are considering importing a Classic Car into the USA, and we would very much like to be of assistance to you in the process of the vehicles shipping. Indeed Automotive Shipping is exactly what we here at Phoenix do best, so any questions you may have, please fire away and I'll do my best to get straight back to you in as much detail as possible.
By far the most economical method of shipping a small car (under 4 linear metres) from the UK to the USA is by Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro/Ro) sea-freight service. This is best described as a sort of unaccompanied, inter-continental car ferry service.
The main UK port for export by Ro/Ro is Southampton, which is located down on the Central-South coast of England. The car will need to be delivered to Southampton docks at least 48 / 72 hours to meet Ro/Ro sailings to the USA. Alternatively, we can arrange collection & delivery of the vehicle. Liverpool can also be used as a port of exit if required.
It is important to note, that all paperwork related to the vehicle shipment must be lodged with the shipping line, and UK customs 4 working days prior to sailing.
Once we have a target sailing date in place for your car, we'll make sure that you have all the correct shipping paperwork and information needed to effect delivery dockside, in good time. If however, we organise the collection for you, this will be taken care of as a matter of course.
The closest Ro/Ro port to Detroit is Newark, New Jersey.
The cost for shipping a small car from received UK port, to arrival Newark, New Jersey, USA, would be GBP 595.00 all-inclusive + US port fees for fast service (8 day transit) or GBP 545.00 including US port fees for slow service (23 days transit).
The return shipping costs are GBP 595.00 + GBP 65.00 import customs clearance and paperwork.
This port to port price is inclusive of port handling charges, export customs entry and documentation charges. It also includes the currency adjustment surcharges, and fuel surcharges applicable at this time. Also included is the newly introduced NES export entry system, and AMS US security manifest surcharge.
Full cover marine insurance (optional but recommended) can be arranged direct with the underwriters broker (an introduction will be made at time of booking shipment) and is offered at a rate of 3% of the value covered (subject to formal offer of "The Insurance Broker")
There are other current 'odd-ball' considerations at the moment. As we have had a situation with "Foot-&-Mouth" over here in the UK. in the past - Whilst the shipping line ensures that all rolling road contact wheels are sterilized before boarding each of their vessels, it is our recommendation to take this one step further, and to suggest the car be steam cleaned by the supplier. At minimum, the wheels & tyres, under the wheel arches, inside the engine bay and along the sills, should be cleaned off. Better still would be a full underbody steam clean as well.
US & Canadian authorities of recent times have relaxed their acceptance levels of contamination on cars, but still it seems that cars are being selected for cleaning at destination if found to be dirty. This can be a costly affair at that end, so better dealt with over here in advance of shipment
By the way... The car drives, brakes, steers and has a parking break... Yes?-
This is the basic criteria for movement of cars on these vessels. That's not to say that we cant accommodate such vehicles, but depending on what way they fall short may make them subject to a tow on/off or chocking surcharge.
Also important is that no spares (other than a basic 'cars-own' type tool kit) should travel with the car. No accessories, loose parts or personal effects or belongs of any kind. We realise it is a very attractive convenience to ship spares along with the cars, but any such items would not be covered by any insurance or liability, either by Phoenix, or the line. Worse still is the potential for the car to be refused entry to the port until the items are removed!
The shipping lines do however offer a 'Static Cargo' option where pallets of goods can be shipped on the same vessel at competitive rates. If you would like a separate quotation for this option, please let us know.
We can also offer a sea containerised service. This may get the vehicle a lot closer to your final location in Detroit, and your car would be individually loaded into it's own metal sea container. This alternative significantly increases the costs of shipping, with a very rough guide being something like 3 times the cost of shipment by Ro/Ro.
Should you wish to explore this option further, please let me know and I will get back to you with a detailed costing, by way of comparison.
Well.. thank you very much for reading through this transmission. I hope I have touched on many of the points you may have had questions on, but if not.. ask away, and I'll get back to you.
Once again, our thanks for your enquiry. We hope to hear back from you soon.
.
Kind regards,
Emma Pittaway
Phoenix Cargo
