Here is the truth from The International Moving Doctor.

If you use good quality rubber tubs like the ones in this picture above, then you will be fine. They have the strength to be stacked up on each other so they will travel great with no issues or damage. Always stack the heaviest tubs at the bottom though.

The trouble happens when you use the cheaper plastic ones, often semi see through which are fine for your Christmas decorations to be stored in your attic or garage but not so good when you are using them to move overseas. The trouble happens when you stack four , five or six on top of each other. The one at the bottom can not support that much weight on top of it and starts to crack and split open. It might even crush and cause the ones above it to start leaning or falling which can make the whole pallet or U Crate to be unstable. On top of this (pardon the pun) the split open tub contents will get damaged and if there is anything liquid in there, it might leak which can then  cause damage to other things in your shipment, such as clothes or bedding.

If you are using a U Crate, the crate sides should support the load, even if the bottom is crushing but on a pallet you could end up with some serious damage as the load is only covered with shrink wrap and sharp pieces of plastic tub could tear the cover and loose items spill out from the pallet.

So, if using plastic tubs or crates, use good quality ones that are not cheap but they will ship just fine and be good for storage in your garage, shed or attic for years to come at your overseas destination. Cardboard moving boxes are great, and cheaper if you pack them full so they can not crush and you plan on unpacking everything soon after you arrive at the destination but if items might be staying stored then definitely invest in the tubs.

I hope that helps and don’t forget to ask the International Moving Doctor at UPakWeShip if you have any questions. If you are not sure what service you need, take a look at this You Tube video which explains all the different services we offer.

All our U Crate and pallet rates are online at www.upakweship.com so if you want to know how much it costs to move overseas, have a look at our international moving cost calculator.

If you need a personalized international moving quote, just click here.

Happy Packing folks

Cheers Mark Nash, aka The International Moving Doctor, UPakWeShip, your trusted International Mover.

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As of now, March 30th 2026, our online prices are still good but there is pressure on the horizon for rates to increase. This is partly due to the shipping lines adding “FSC” fuel surcharges and also the truckers hauling our shipping containers to and from the ports in the USA as well as our operations at UPakWeShip UK and UPakWeShip Europe are all paying more to fill their tanks and are passing on the extra costs to us.

While our weekly services across the Atlantic have not been effected with the Middle East situation, our Dubai service as been temporarily suspended and all the shipments that were heading to Dubai are safe in our UPakWeShip warehouse near Rotterdam waiting to see what happens.

We always honor quotes for 30 days from quote to pick up so if you are moving soon, I suggest locking into your rate and booking as soon as possible. If you are thinking of shipping in the next 60 days it is probably worth booking and shipping earlier if you can.

If not, please be prepared for increases, as gas and oil prices go up. and everything else has to follow unfortunately.

I am hoping everything goes back to normal again soon, if you have any questions, you can always contact me on email move@upakweship.com

I do not wish to alarm or pressure anyone, just giving honest advice as always….

Stay safe everyone.

Cheers,

The International Moving Doctor

Mark Nash

UPakWeShip International Movers

The post Fuel Surcharges on the horizon if moving overseas in 2026? appeared first on UPakWeShip.

This is a popular question, and I’ll do my best to answer it for you here.

The quick simple answer is no, providing you have all your boxes in a row!

Here is the more detailed answer.

U Crates, Pallets and Shared Container Services

If you are shipping U Crates, Pallets or our shared container service we have a simplified customs clearance process at our the UPakWeShip office in Rotterdam which allows us to not charge you any customs duties or taxes on your shipment providing you provide us with your passport and a signed declaration that all the goods are yours and used and not for re sale. We also need a packing list with a non-detailed description of what is in each box. By that I mean box 1 Kitchenware, not 14 forks and 12 knives etc. It’s all very easy and simple.

We can also store your things in our warehouse if you are still looking for a place to stay. The storage rate is 25 Euros per pallet per week, so if you had three U Crates or pallets the rate would be 75 Euros per week.

20ft and 40ft Self Lod Shipping Containers

If, however, you are loading a 20ft or 40ft shipping container yourself, then the container will have to be shipped direct to the nearest port in the country you are moving to. As this is a large shipment and arriving in the country of final delivery you will have to abide by the customs regulations of that country. We obviously do provide you with the documentation requirements and it varies with each European Country, but you will need a visa to show you are approved to be moving there and complete numerous forms and often provide proof you have lived outside of Europe for the past 12 months. Many countries require an interview at the embassy or consulate in the USA before you get your visa to move. Providing you get all the documentation requirements to us before your container arrives at the destination, we should be able to clear it through customs with no duties or taxes, but if anything is wrong or missing, the local customs office in the European country might charge you duties and taxes so do your homework and prepare well in advance. Also worth noting here is most of the shipping lines that provide the containers to go on their ships, typically only allow 3-5 days free at the destination before they start charging you for keeping their container, even if it hasn’t cleared customs yet. The port also jumps on the band wagon and will charge for the space your container is using, sitting in the port after 3-5 days while waiting. This is called rent and demurrage and will be invoiced to you for payment before delivery if the container takes too long to clear through customs or if further documentation is required by customs or any hold-ups. This is typical in countries like Spain and Portugal where the process can be slow.

As the shipping lines own the containers and want them back asap so they can re load them, we can not offer storage for your container so after if clears customs if you need it stored, the best thing to do is find a local self-storage place where we can deliver the container to, for you to unload.

The post Will I Pay Duties and Taxes when shipping my stuff to Europe? appeared first on UPakWeShip.

If you have some boxes of stuff that you want to get overseas the cheapest way possible, look at our pallet service.

If you can pay a dew hundred more I really recommend our U Crate 100’s to protect all your stuff. You load it up at your house and we deliver the same crate to your driveway overseas.

If you really need to take your bed, then I suggest the U Crate 200 but you do have to hire a truck and load the crate on the truck and drive it to the local terminal. A bit of a pain and personally I would rather ditch the bed and use the U 100 ‘s You can ship 1,2,3,4, even 5 U Crate 100’s and they are still cost effective.

If you have a bunch of boxes, sofa, bed, desk and say an arm chair then I suggest packing it all well and put it in a Pack rat or Unites container at your house. It then gets trucked to our terminal near Charleston where we unload and transship it into our own shipping container loaded with all the other pallets and U Crates off to the same area.

If you are thinking you want to take the whole house load of stuff with you then use a self load 20 or 40ft container. These containers though for Europe have to go into the destination country direct and some of the customs paperwork for France, Portugal, Italy, Spain for example can be a bit tricky whereas all the other services above for Europe would go via our terminal near Rotterdam NL and have a very simple customs clearance (in English) into Europe.

My two pennies and if you want to see all the different services, please watch my video here. https://youtu.be/WeMwRTQ8y3c?si=7-4P_DWuHMxu5Wzn

Cheers

The International Moving Doctor

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If you would like a quote to move your things overseas take a look at our international moving cost calculator. You can view international shipping costs online on our web site by clicking here. No login info required, no personal information needed.

If you need international moving costs from Europe back to the USA then click here for our international moving rates from Europe to the USA.

UPakWeShip has you covered door to door with its own offices and personnel both sides of the Atlantic. One company door to door, saving your sanity and bank account every time.

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Take a look at UPakWeShip’s international moving cost calculator to see the service options and prices they have available. Anywhere in Europe to the USA is covered with all-inclusive lump sum door to door pricing that wont break the bank.

If you are a graduate moving to the USA or your company has given you a tight lump sum relocation budget then UPakWeShip would be an ideal service provider. Using the latest technology you can almost move overseas on your phone (except you do have to pack your boxes)

UPakWeShip is definitely the most cost effective easy way to ship from Europe to the USA. Until some genius comes up with an app that ships your boxes over the internet, UPakWeShip is the next best thing!

Don’t forget with UPakWeShip offices both sides of the pond, they can move you back to Europe and the UK just as easy.

The post International Moving Costs, France to USA appeared first on UPakWeShip.

If you would like to see our international door to door shipping rates from the USA to Italy all you have to do is click on this link and see our all inclusive lump sum prices online.

International Moving cost calculator USA to Europe https://rates.upakweship.com/

International Moving cost calculator Europe to USA https://upakweship.eu.com/shipping-rates/

Either way across the Atlantic UPakWeShip has you covered with its own offices and operations as well as the only company to have all its lump sum all inclusive rates online.

Nothing is simpler than an overseas move with UPakWeShip.

The post Moving USA to Italy via UPakWeShip Rotterdam appeared first on UPakWeShip.

For an example: say your moving estimate is $12 per cubic foot for moving from New York to London. A large mattress at 40 cubic feet once protected and loaded into a mattress carton would cost 40x$12 = $480

A new one vacuum packed in a box is at most 8 cubic feet x $12 = $96 and costs to buy a mattress is about $300.00

Therefore, seeing its cheaper to buy a new mattress and ship it, rather than shipping your old bed bugged stained bulky mattress, you are technically  shipping it for free!

 Alternatively don’t ship a mattress at all and buy a new one when you get there.

Sweet Dreams, The International Moving Doctor

Any international moving questions, please let me know. Click Here.

How much does it cost to move overseas? Click here to see all out international moving rates and options online 24/7

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1/ Make sure the company you are going to use is licensed. In the USA you must be licensed by the Federal Maritime Commission. You can check to see if your mover has an FMC license on their web site here.

2/ Make sure you have an all inclusive door to door price. There is nothing worse than being charged extra at the destination because something was not included.

3/ Check references. Many reference sites charge money for advertising and will display the worst reviews unless you pay them for advertising but you cant go wrong with checking Google Reviews. They are 100% neutral and smart enough to know if a bad review is false or worse, posted by a competitor.

4/ Always check to see who will be handling your move at the destination. You don’t want your move being auctioned off to the cheapest delivery agent overseas. Its best if you move overseas with a company that has its own offices at the origin and destination to maintain quality control.

5/ Call the International Mover, chat with them to check they know what they are doing, ask questions, get advice. There is nothing worse than not being able to get past an automatic answering service or mysteriously there only seems to be one person at the company.

Brought to you by the International Moving Doctor: UPakWeShip is fully licensed with the FMC, has all inclusive prices, a five star Google rating, offices in the USA, UK and Europe, and has experienced staff that actually answer the phone. Moving overseas from the USA? All our main destinations have door to door all inclusive shipping rates and shipping options, online. Click here for International shipping rates.

Think UPakWeShip when you have an International Move on the horizon. Call 1 866 868 6386

Email move@upakweship.com

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