Shipments done by Travellers

I shipped my bike back through the same company that initially delivered it for me to Canada. This time though I shipped back from Newport News, VA, USA.

Whereas when I shipped out of Germany I didn't need a middle man, here, in the states you apparently have to use a forwarding company to mediate and arrange paperwork and pay charges. A bit of a pain if you didn't know that in advance (money wise) but can save time since they do save you runarounds with all the documentation and can answer questions.

My forwarding agent was Pride International in Baltimore:

Cynthia M. Milligan
CES- Certified Export Specialists
C-TPAT Certified Company
Pride International, Inc.
2200 Broening Highway Suite 241
Baltimore, Maryland 21224
Tel: 410-633-0033 Ext. 110
Fax: 410-633-0036

I paid them via a deposit into their account at a bank of your choosing and then had to arrange delivery of my bike with an escort at the port (another $75 for a one hour service!!!)

It's all fairly straight forward though the customs officer at the port (Homeland Security division…) said I was lucky to get processed on the day since I hadn't submitted my paperwork three days in advance before showing up - my forwarding agent had neglected to mention this little fact or simply didn't know. The guy was a motorbike rider himself and it wasn't busy at the time I showed with my escort. I just this down to travellers luck.

Pick up in Germany couldn't have been any easier. I showed first thing in the morning and with all the right documents was ready to roll home within an hour. No problems with the bike whatsoever (I had charged the battery before shipment) and all the stuff I had packed into my panniers (no problem to put things in there - I had asked and forwarder said it would be my responsibility - as opposed to the first shipping where i was told not to put anything in the boxes apart from tools) were still there (chained Helmet to bike too).

All in all it cost about $1100 i reckon, pretty much the same as i had paid over to Canada. And I think it was well worth it for nine months of travel!

How much it cost and how to ship my motorcycle from Darwin, Australia to Dili, Timor Leste (East Timor).

Perkins Shipping Pty Ltd
Frances Bay Drive, Darwin NT 0800
GPO Box 1019, Darwin NT 0801
Ph: +61 8 8982 2012 / 2015
Fax +61 8 8941 0991
Email: Dani...@perkins.com.au
de.m...@perkins.com.au (I think she had left Perkins)
Don’t border to email the main Perkins email.
Web: www.perkins.com.au

Quote on Ocean freight for:

a) Crated motorcycle:

Ocean Freight: a$100 per weight (tonne) or measure (m3), min 1cbm
E.T.T. (East Timor tax): 2.64% of Ocean Freight
B.A.F. (Fuel surcharge): a$9.00 per weight (tonne) or measure (m3).

b) Uncrated motorcycle:

Ocean Freight: a$100 per weight (tonne) or measure (m3), min AUD$350.00
E.T.T. (East Timor tax): 2.64% of Ocean Freight
B.A.F. (Fuel surcharge): a$9.00 per weight (tonne) or measure (m3).

Darwin local charges:
Port Service Security: a$0.25 per weight (tonne) or measure (m3)
Port Security charge: a$10.00 per weight (tonne) or measure (m3)

No local charges in Dili are included in this quote.

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ok, this is what they quote me but what happened?

I check their webpage for the latest schedule. I emailed them on what are the procedure when I hand over the bike to them, their reply was:

bike will be lashed into the container.

(it was a short and sharp email reply from them despite my long enquiry and using the western culture of saying hi and good day before anything.)

ok, it sounded simple. I went to see the officer in charge when I reached Darwin few days in advance to understand more about the actual price that they will charge and the real procedure. The officer in charge named… I don’t want to mention her name here, let’s call her Greasy…

We met Greasy and she explained more that she would only need the copy of my Carnet (CPD) and on the day of sending the bike here, I have to clear the custom myself. Full stop.

I ask her to look at my bike and measure how much will she charge. I put on the full pannier on the bike. I dragged Greasy out of the aircon room and she did not had a step out of the roof onto the tar, she immediately put on her sonnies (OZ slang for sunglasses).

Greasy didn’t border to measure and said,
it’s ok, I will charge you the minimum amount uncrated.
that was a$350.

It sounded so good to us! Then she said:

Oh, one thing I always forgot to put in the quote, which was a$100 for loading and lashing.

I asked if I can do the loading and lashing myself and save on the a$100, she said I cannot do that due to the insurance the company had and some policies that I am not allowed to do it.

We have to use Perkins to go to Timor Leste, they control the market. If we go to other agent, they will still use the boat from Perkins and the price would be higher because Perkins is sort of the main contractor in the region.

So on the actual day of sending, I went to Perkins and they asked me if I had cleared the customs, I replied negative.

Greasy: Then you have to before you come to us.
Me: so where is the custom office?
Greasy: just down the road, very near.
Me: Do you have the road name? Would you mind showing me on the map?
Greasy: …. flip flip flip flip flip the road directory and try to point out of her office window.

My wife and I were VERY lucky that were staying with our friend in Darwin, which knew the way and could drove us around.

My friend that we stayed with, Errol said: Is it the one down CBD at junction of Lindsay street and Wood Street?

Greasy: yeah... that’s the one!

Errol drove his car and lead us to the custom house. It wasn’t as described as ‘just down the road, very near’. I parked outside, took the Carnet (CPD) and went in. I told the lady officer in the office that I am going to export the bike out and I showed her the Carnet. Straight away, the officer was very efficient, she know what to do. she came to inspect my bike, to see the VIN and engine number is the same as the Carnet. then she stamped on the Carnet. That’s it! No charges.

We went back to Perkins. Showed her all the documents and paid up. Upon paying, they wanted to give me a paper written invoice then with a Perkins stamp. I rejected the receipt and requested a proper and itemized with Perkins’ letter head and invoice number. The cashiers, Greasy #2, being disappointed, went back to her table and type something which looked like a proper invoice to proof that I had paid to hand me.

Then I drove my bike into the dark yard…took a picture and said goodbye.

Greasy said she will email me the actual seaway bill when the ship leaves the port. I must have the seaway bill number in order to collect the bike in Dili. On the day the ship left, I checked the email for long time and nothing came in. I call them and Greasy said…

er… I just sent an hour ago, didn’t you receive it? er... no, half hour ago.

Okie, I patiently waited for another 3 hours, nothing came in. Lucky again, we are still in Darwin when the ship leaves and Errol was able to drive me straight to Greasy’s face to get the document that she supposed to email me.

Till today, the email was stolen by some cable thieves and the mystery of the missing email wasn’t solved yet.

As stated by them, the bike should reach the destination in 3 day’s time. They indicated that it is an estimated time. In actual fact it became 7 days! what a good estimate.

We reached Timor Leste thinking that the ship would really arrive in time but it was 4 days late. We stayed in Hotel Rocella, which was opposite to Perkin’s agent.

The morning 21st May 2010, Friday, when we reached Dili at 8am, we walked straight to the Perkins office. According to the schedule, the ship should arrive on the day before, 20th May 2010. I showed them my invoice and seaway bill. They said ship hasn’t arrived and I should come again tomorrow.

So tomorrow I was so happy to go again. They said the ship arrived. They made me signed a document that was an arrival notice and said:

today Saturday, custom not working. Come again on Monday.

We went back on Monday, 24th May 2010. They said,

Yes, ship arrived. you pay and take this, go to the custom office, get your Carnet stamped, and then go to the container yard to take your motorcycle.

ok, we were so happy!

We walked to the custom office, showed the lady our Carnet (CPD) and she just stamped on it without seeing our bike. I also have to tell her that she must tear off one part of the document and keep for her record.

Then we took a taxi to the container yard at about 930am.

The guy in charge said

container still in port, come again 2pm, maybe better at 3pm. we took a taxi back.

at 2pm, the container arrived at the yard and my bike was being tied by rope. The point that they tied in the front pulled almost bend the plastic of my bike! What a Flintstone technique that they use to tie down my bike for that a$100 they charged. The guys in the Dili yard were real friend and real helpful. We did not pay any money. Just have to photocopy the ‘stamped’ Carnet and the Seaway bill to them.

We were free to go.

Petrol station is just down the road. It’s call ‘bensin’. us$0.95 per liter. Don’t use ‘solar’ because that’s diesel.

Easy?

what we paid for in Darwin side was:

Ocean freight (180kg, 3.036kg) a$350.00
Port Security surcharge (m3) a$0.25
Darwin Port Service (Ex. GST) a$10.00
Bunker Adjustment factor a$9.00
East Timor Tax a$9.25
Other Charges (loading and lashing) a$100.00

Total a$478.50

My wife and I also made an effort to ask our Estonian friend that traveled the same route with us but was about 6 months faster than us. They also used Perkins and their BMW GS1150 was not smaller than my Honda XRV 750. What they paid for in Darwin side 6 months ago with a bike not small then mine was:

Ocean freight a$236.30
Port Security surcharge (m3) a$0.59 ($0.25 x 2.362 m3)
Bunker Adjustment factor a$17.73 (2.64% x 236.30)
East Timor Tax a$17.73

Total a$260.86

In his email, he also mentioned that the guy that took the actual measurement of his bike was nice.

DO YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE?
HOW COME I HAD A MINIMUM CHARGE AND AN ADDITIONAL LOADING AND LASHING?

When I received the bike, the container was very empty, just my bike and about 20 small parcels. They used rope to tie my bike which was very cost efficient (for them).

At this point, you may think that I have a problem, maybe I am very proud, cocky and demanding so they want to put extra charge on me but I have not been in contact with Perkins except for asking quote though email one month before the shipping date. How cocky can I be? On the first meeting with Greasy, she sounded like I was her best friend. Maybe I have a Chinese face that would hint her that I come from the other world, I am a tourist and my father is the CEO of a big company and my mum own the largest massage parlor in Asia.

Anyway, the charges we had in Dili were the same as our friend from Estonia, which was:

DOC us$30.00
WF us$16.00
Total: us$46.00

What to do, they are the only company around. So I am writing this to tell you not to expect too much things.

Perkin office in Darwin:
S12 27.668 E130 50.879

Custom office of Darwin:
S12 27.529 E130 50.425
Junction of Wood St and Lindsay st.

Perkin agent in Dili (SDV Pty Ltd) and Rocella Hotel:
S8 33.171 E125 34.954

Perkin container yard in Dili:
S8 33.629 E125 32.665
Address given to me: Banana Road, Aimutin, Hudi Laran. Contact Mr Carmo: 7269360. After some taxi ride, we realized that the area was named ‘Delta’.

Dili Seaport Custom office:
S8 33.186 E125 34.420

In Dili, don’t border to ask the taxi driver how much to go where or don’t expect to have a meter in the taxi. The charges that we had for taxi ride for 2 person was usually us$2.00 per trip within Dili. Not to mention from Airport to Dili, they could charge 10-20 times more than the local. So we learn, get into the taxi, tell them

‘Delta’

or some other places in short (without taking out Lonely Planet and showing them the map).

Then I just pay the taxi us$2.00 when my wife and I got off.

The email from our Estonian friend complained about the expensive taxi ride they had in Dili. hee….

Welcome to Asia!

T's and C's not provided by shipper
Payment had to be made in cash as they could not accept a credit card
No paperwork supplied and no tracking number
Sporadic replies to numerous Email and telephone calls
Delivery quoted as 5 day took 26 days to arrive in Bangkok
Storage charges levied even though we were not informed of arrival
Unprofessional from start to finish

Shipped my bike (Yamaha XT600) without panniers in 1 SQUARE METER crate.

COSTS: 450 Au$ (Australia) total for

- wooden crate (ready to go)
- port delivery
- document fees
- shipping

Thanks to WWS, had everything done within 2 days.
Called WWS, chosed crate, talked about price, made an appointment with customs (had a 10 min ride to the airport where they are located).
Next day took my bike apart, WWS helped me out with forklift to get it in the crate, custom officer came over to clear my Carnet. Done.
Was totally amazed, how good 'n quick everything worked out!!!

COSTS in Germany:

Had an offer of 350 Euro (total, inclusive home delivery).
I think it can be cheaper if you collect it on your own...

We shipped 2 Kawasaki 250s & the cost (US$ 1550 EACH) included a crate for each bike (each crate cost US$250). The route was Quito - Miami - Vancouver. If we were picking up the bike in Miami we did not require crates. From Miami the crates were loaded on to a truck and sent to Vancouver overland.
The crate was made by the agent's friend, who was a carpenter. In hindsight we should have taken a look at the crates a few days prior to the shipping date, as they turned out to be a bit too big so we ended up paying about $200 to $300 extra.
The process essentially took the whole day (9 am to 6 pm) which included the actual packing of the bikes in the crates (front wheel came off, battery disconnected, air pressure in tires reduced), inspection by customs & airline, and paperwork. Patience is key!
We had 3 days in Vancouver to clear the bikes, before charges began. The agent in Quito had given us the address/telephone of the clearing agent in Vancouver, whom we contacted right away. Process was very simple - customs did not even check to see what was in the crates.