Our resident Moving Doctor, Mark Nash is in the house! Mark has been in the moving business for 33 years, originally from England; he has moved 5 times internationally and has worked in England, mainland Europe, The Middle East and for the past 19 years in the USA. If he doesn’t know the answer to the question, he has enough friends in this industry to find out for you.
He currently sits on the board of the International Shippers Association and the Commercial Affairs committee at the International Association of Movers.
Mark will always do his best to provide an answer honestly, professionally and treat this forum as a place where everyone can learn about moving overseas.
Rana
Posted at 04:34h, 21 SeptemberWe need to move personal household items from Rochester, New York to Kathmandu, Nepal. Currently interested in your U-Crate option. Do you operate this route? Thank you!
The Moving Doctor
Posted at 09:51h, 21 SeptemberHello Rana, thank you for the question, for the moment we only service routes between USA, Europe, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand however we plan to expand this to a worldwide service in 2024. So if you are planning to move to Nepal next year then please can you check back with us in January and we will be able to provide you with a door to door quote to Nepal for a U Crate. Hope that is ok.
Cheers The International Moving Doctor
Alexandra Ross
Posted at 14:58h, 13 SeptemberDear Mark,
Where can I find a list of prohibited items from UK to Canada. For example, can you ship perfume? These would be my personal half used bottles.
But is there a clear list of strictly prohibited items?
Can boxes be mixed, like kitchen things, personal items (trinkets), clothes, bedding, etc. or should they be kept separate.
I assume books should go on the bottom.
Can you please explain how the pallet works and what boxes are acceptable for it? Do you sell the accepted boxed or recommend any brands? Do you still get a plastic cover with just the pallet and your own boxes?
How long typically is a move from London, England to Vancouver, Canada?
If <500lb is weight, is the quote price reduced?
Thank you!
The Moving Doctor
Posted at 13:00h, 14 SeptemberHello Alexandra, thanks for the questions.
I’ll do my best to answer one by one.
First of all, the prohibited items list is pretty much the same as when you fly internationally. We also have this list on our web site.
https://upakweship.com/community/moving-tips/prohibited-items/
Yes you can ship your own colognes and perfumes, I suggest putting them in a zip lock bag before putting them in a box though in case they leak.
Can boxes be mixed? Absolutely, just list whatever the main item is in the box on the packing list, like bathroom bits, or books or bedding or kitchenware, nothing too specific is needed. Yes books need to go on the bottom or put them all in book cartons which are about 1.5 cubic feet so smaller so they don’t get too heavy.
I will have a video on You Tube within a week on the pallet service on my channel as well as a do not ship video soon after but you can use any type of box or heavy duty plastic / rubber crate. Find yourself a pallet locally and load your boxes onto it. Boxes stack best if they are the same size. When its all loaded, you need to shrink wrap it and put a couple of straps around and over the top of the pallet to secure it ready for us to collect it. The video is nearly finished showing you this but in the meantime you can see more pictures and info here. https://upakweship.com/shipping-services/pallets/
You can buy the boxes, tape, packing paper, straps and shrink wrap from a self storage center.
I am in the USA office so I’m not 100% sure of the transit time London to Vancouver but I would guess 2-3 months depending on how fast they fill the container. They will give you a small pallet and a large pallet price so yes you would have a reduced price for 500lbs. If you would like a quote on this and clarify the aprox transit time, you can always contact stephen@upackweship.com over there to help you. I that all helps and let me or Steve know if we can help and advise on anything else,
Cheers The International Moving Doctor
E
Posted at 16:10h, 12 SeptemberHi Mark!
I’ve inquired at several companies to try and ship a heavy (but relatively small) box from Los Angeles to Romania. Every company has given me quotes of around $1000, and clearly this is either air freight (3-7 days) or door-to-door service charges. I don’t need fast, and I’m willing to drop it off at the LA port and my family is willing to come to the Romanian port and pick it up if necessary. My friends and I have moved international many times and for these kinds of things it’s typically in the range of $2-300 and 2-4 months by boat freight, I’m willing to accept the time but I need a cheaper option. What would you do in my case?
Thank you,
E
The Moving Doctor
Posted at 09:41h, 13 SeptemberHello E, unfortunately its not that easy by boat unless you know a company that consolidates containers from Long Beach to Romania, which I do not. With us for example we would consolidate and ship all our European freight into our hub in the Netherlands and then truck to your door after customs clearance.
Also for security reasons you are not allowed to drop off or collect from the shipping ports so you are going to have to pay someone to receive the shipment into a warehouse and load it, plus the ocean freight, the unloading and port charges often called THC or terminal handling charge, customs clearance and then handover to you. If each of these steps charged $200 then that’s $800 plus a forwarders charge of $200 to organize it = $1000.
I’m not sure what the commodity is or what its packed in but maybe you could try something like sendmybag.com which is a parcel and suitcase carrier which uses Fedex and DHL i believe for airfreight.
Other than that it is best to maybe to take it with you next time you fly home?
Sorry I cant think of any cheaper way to do this.
All the best, The International Moving Doctor
Marion Chirayath
Posted at 23:16h, 24 AugustWe plan to order 2 of the 100 cu feet u-crates, and pack them in our garage. However, we measured the height of the garage door and it is only 79 inches. That leaves only one inch to spare to get the Ucrate out of the garage. Is that enough?
My husband wants to pack the Ucrates out of doors, and cover the with tarps. I do not like that idea because we plan to leave in November and live in Washington state. That means pretty much non-stop rain, and I cannot imagine how we would keep the contents from getting wet while we are packing the crates.
If we place a tarp under the pallet, would it be possible to drag the pallet to the outside or will it be too heavy?
Marion
The Moving Doctor
Posted at 16:12h, 28 AugustHi Marion, one inch should be fine, the worst case if for some reason it didn’t fit would be to take off the top lid and put the lid, cover and straps on after its out of the garage. I think having them in the garage and out of the elements is safer than having them under a tarp.
The driveway also needs to be flat and a straight shot to the truck so the driver can pull the U Crate onto the trucks tail lift.
I hope that helps and let me know if there is anything else you need, cheers
The International Moving Doctor.
Julia Graham
Posted at 13:14h, 18 AugustHi there,
Can you please tell me how to label items that are not in boxes, like a bicycle or blankets, and how to name them on the shipping list?
Thank you!
The Moving Doctor
Posted at 15:17h, 18 AugustHello Julia, just stick the label on the item with some sticky tape. You can either attach it somewhere on the bike like the wheel or seat or frame or if its draped in a blanket then just stick the label on the blanket. Talking of blankets, if you want to label blankets or bedding etc, I suggest if using a U Crate you pop them just under the lid in a trash bag and stick a label on the trash bag. If you are just putting in a loose blanket part for keeping and part for protecting something else, then I would not label it and don’t add it to your packing list.
I hope that helps, cheers The International Moving Doctor
hamid shahzad
Posted at 00:38h, 16 Augusti want to have my clothes shipped from new york to SIalkot, Pakistan
the clothes weigh 70Kg
The Moving Doctor
Posted at 15:19h, 18 AugustHello Hamid, UPakWeShip does not service Pakistan, but may be try DHL, UPS, Fedex or sendmybag.com
Cheers The International Moving Doctor