Hello Scott. UPakWeShip does not handle USA domestic moving but we know a great company that does and have passed along your details to them and copied you in an email introducing them to you. This type of move is right up their street! I hope that helps and good luck. Cheers, The International Moving Doctor

Hello Thierry, unfortunately you / us can not ship re chargeable batteries on a ship in a container but I have heard you can courier these type of batteries using a UPS / FedEx type service and they can load them onto a cargo only aircraft so ship the lawn mower with UPakWeShip but courier or just buy a new battery at the destination. I hope that helps, anything else let us know, cheers The International Moving Doctor.

Hello Sean, I suggest either packing the items in another suitcase and taking with you on the plane or if not I have heard good things about shipmybag.com
I hope that helps and sorry we cant help you with this move. All the best in France.
Cheers The International Moving Doctor

Hello Michele, as you know I passed on your message to the UPakWeShip sales manager and due to the packing requirements I believe you were put in contact and have since booked with our full service division, EuroUSA for your move to Wellington, NZ. Thank you for trusting us with your precious items to pack and ship and wish you well in your new adventure in New Zealand.
Cheers The International Moving Doctor

Hello Leo, it’s not our most popular destination but I am sure we can ship there one way or another.
Cheers The International Moving Doctor

Hello Marissa, good questions and please see answers below, any thing else let me know, cheers.
1. Taking some herbs and spices is accepted and computer screens are no problem at all. Grains technically no but it depends if you are thinking a sack full or just a small amount in with your herbs and spices? I am reasonably confident you can get the same grains over there as you can here though so I am not sure you really need to be shipping grains.

Lastly, the duty free allowance into Europe, according to Google is as follows: Bear in mind this is based on you carrying this on the plane with you. There is NO duty free allowance in your shipping.
Hope that helps, cheers
The International Moving Doctor.

Hello Lanette, I would say normally 6-8 weeks but possibly add an extra two weeks as the ships are running full at the moment and it’s tricky getting bookings on the ships. See my summer shipping forcast video on you tube to see all the shipping problems going on at the moment. Obviously we will keep you informed and you will be able to track your shipment on our web site and also follow the ship on Marine Traffic app or similar. I would also say it depends on the time of year you are moving, if you are moving now then we try and load every week to Europe if we can get bookings on the ships but in say January its quieter so may be load once every two or three weeks. Hope that helps and let me know if I can help further.
Cheers The International Moving Doctor

Here is the link to the shipping forecast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YFaziO5Ofw&t=19s

Hello David, normal every day things should be fine. Only worry if you have a lot of books, gym weights and gold bars lol.
The easiest way though if you are worried is stand on a scale and see your weight. Then stand on the scales again with each piece noting down the weight. Then deduct the weights of you from the numbers and you are left with the weight of all your pieces. If you have something big that is awkward to hold on the scales, look up the details of a new one say on Amazon and it will probably give you the product weight.
I hope that helps and let me know if you need more help on this or anything else.
Cheers
The International Moving Doctor

Hello Marieke, thanks for the question. I have checked with the import customs requirements for South Africa and it says you have to supply a copy of your passport with the visa stamp in order to customs clear your shipments as well as the D304 and a packing list so the answer is No you can not ship your goods without having a valid visa for South Africa.
One suggestion is that you enquire with your chosen movers import agent and ask them if it’s possible to clear your shipment as a commercial cargo and declare a value and pay duties and taxes on the shipment. It’s not ideal and could be costly but it’s a way to get around the visa requirement possibly.
I hope that helps,
Cheers the International Moving Doctor.

Hello Laura, I think I would go with 2 x U Crate 100’s depending on how small you can get the furniture by taking off legs etc.
Yes we can ship the U Crates to a storage unit if you have someone there who agrees to accept them on your behalf?
Have a look at these videos to see the U Crate 100.
U crate 100
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyFovOLfTi8

Hopefully that helps. If you have any questions or need to confirm the all inclusive price by all means contact John Bonney, john@upakweship.com

Cheers The International Moving Doctor

Hello Tammy, YES Absolutely as long as you pack everything well. Pack each piece in packing paper and then bubble wrap. Place items in a cardboard moving box that is padded in the bottom with crushed paper and bubble wrap or maybe a cushion. Do the same on the top. The box needs to be full, no air left in it so everything is nice and tight and cant move. Now tape it up well. use 1,2,or 3 smaller boxes rather than one big heavy box that is too heavy to lift.
I hope that helps and take a look on my you tube channel how to pack a box. Cheers The International Moving Doctor

Hello Thomas, yes as they are small for your hobby you can take these. Please put in a zip lock bag in case one leaked before putting in a cardboard box or plastic bin.
Cheers The International Moving Doctor.

Hello Matteo, first of all apologies for my late reply. I was traveling and had connection issues or rather the blog wouldn’t recognize my password!!!
I think this will be fine if you pad around it to support the table so it cant move. You might have to put on both sides and using a step ladder add padding from the top like blankets and towels or bedding to fill in any gaps to help support and protect it before putting on the lid. I don’t think you will have any issues with the weight or weight distribution. Cheers The International Moving Doctor

Hello Sandy it depends what you mean by a lot of books. Yes if you filled it up totally with books it would be overweight and exceed all weight limits but maybe say a quarter full I think you would be ok. The best bet would be to weigh each book box on bathroom scales before putting in the u Crate to check and tally up the weight to give you an idea of the total weight. The average weight per cubic foot of household goods being shipped is an industry standard of 6.5 or 7 lbs per cubic foot. We allow you up to 10lbs per cubic foot including the weight ot the U Crate so you should be fine.
Again big apologies for the delayed reply due to me not being able to get connected!
Cheers The International Moving Doctor

Hi Lisa, technically yes but its so high it will never effect household goods. The maximum weight typically allowed on the roads in the USA is 44,000 lbs. which is about 19958 kilos or 20tons! The average weight of a 20 ft. shipment of peoples stuff is between 6,000 – 8,000 lbs. so you can see its nowhere near the maximum and unless you are shipping steel or gold bard for example I don’t think there would ever be a problem.
Good question though and let me know if you have any more.
Cheers The International Moving Doctor.

Hello Trudi, there are a couple of ways to do this. If you put the trunk on a pallet, we can collect it and ship it for the small pallet price.
Alternatively if you didn’t want to use a trunk, you can pack boxes into a U Crate 50 cardboard container which we send you.
The U Crate 50 comes with all the straps, top, bottom, sides, cover and tape. The only think you need to do is pack your things into the U Crate 50.
I know John has already quoted you and I have asked him to reach out to you to explain the quote in more detail for you.
Many thanks
The International Moving Doctor.

Hello Claire, as you probably know by now, I asked our sales manager John Bonney to contact you and explain the best way how to accomplish this.
The quick answer is if you order 3 you have to pay for 3 so you are better off ordering 2 to start with and then order the extra if you need it and we then collect all three at the same time.
Depending where you are the U Crates can take between a week to 10 business days to get to you. We would like a week notice to arrange pick up if possible please.
I hope that helps and let us know if you need anything else,
Cheers The International Moving Doctor

Hello John, thanks for the great question and sorry for the delay in my reply. I have been trying to find out a feasible way to ship your cigar cabinet! As you know the Mexican ports are notorious for extra fees, damage and generally a tough customs clearance experience. I have a feeling the costs of shipping will cost more than what the cabinet is worth. Shipping a single piece of furniture anywhere in the world is not cost effective to be honest, let alone Mexico. I think if this is a must have item for you in your new home, then the only safe way and semi cost effective way to ship it would be airfreight. You would need to have the cabinet packed and wrapped and placed in a wooden crate for protection but it should arrive safely, get through customs ok and stay within the budget that you were quoted.
Neither I nor UPakWeShip have a huge amount of experience with Mexico to be honest but if you would like we can give you a quote for packing and crating and airfreight to arrival Mexico City.
I suggest you find a local customs broker who knows the ropes to clear it through customs. The best way to do this is to ask around locals that you might know down there or other expats, an employer or even Facebook groups.
I do have an American contact that we work together with and he is based in the Lake Chapala area. If you would like me to introduce you let me know move@upakweship.com
Sorry I cant be more help but its a tricky one!
Cheers
The International Moving Doctor.

Hello Kathleen, thanks for the questions. The U Crates can be collected from anywhere that a tractor trailer truck can fit. Most cities also have smaller straight trucks that we can collect in. The truck needs space to drop down its tail lift at the back of the truck and with a pallet truck push the U Crate onto the tail lift and then the tail lift lifts it up to be pushed into the trailer. So the ground needs to be a hard surface like road or concrete, not shingle or stones or dirt. The area also needs to be reasonably flat so the U Crate once loaded can be pushed or pulled across the surface on the pallet jack. A small incline might be ok if someone was there to help push or pull but the U Crate might weigh 1000 lbs so even when its on wheels on the pallet jack its still a lot of weight to be pushing up an incline! As long as he truck has room to turn around or pull through in the cul de sac then that should be ok and the tail lift can level up with the curb to drive it straight onto the tail lift from the curb.
If you are still not sure and it can depend where you are in the USA, what gradient the incline is and how much room there is, please take some pictures and email them to your contact at UPakWeShip and they will be able to confirm hopefully a “Yes No Problem” or lets discuss a plan B….

The estimated transit time can be long to NZ. Two factors here, its a long way by ship and as its not as popular as say Europe, we only load a consolidation container to NZ maybe every 6 weeks. We would work with you and let you know if there was a pending loading date so you wouldn’t just miss a container. Having said all this I would budget somewhere between 12-16 weeks for door to door transit.

Regarding the Customs / quarantine inspection, with Australia its more likely the shipment will be loaded loose for final delivery and its a possibility with New Zealand shipments. My advice is to pack items well using packing paper and pad the bottom and top of boxes with crushed up paper, cushions, left over amazon packing from a delivery so everything is well padded and the boxes are full so they keep their shape. See my how to pack a box video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPUTyIfvdrY
Also label each box or loose item you are shipping in the U Crates and make sure the contents description matches the packing list. Don’t pack anything that used to be living and make sure everything is super clean, no mud or dirt on bike tires, golf clubs, beach chairs or camping equipment.

Will the items be safe? Yes if you pack everything well. I strongly believe the average person can take their time and pack better than a moving company and more sensibly as you know what valuable to you. The average mover probably doesn’t use bubble wrap and definitely doesn’t pad a fragile box with a cushion on the bottom and on the top!

At the time of inspection, if anything is unwrapped for inspection it will be re wrapped and re taped so this procedure should not cause any risk of damage if you pack properly in the first place. They are used to doing this down there and I have never herd of complaints that there was damages due to the inspection which by the way is done in the movers warehouse and not in the port so its all quite civilized.

I hope that helps and feel free to let me know or anyone in sales or operations if you need more clarification on any of your questions.

Cheers and Happy Packing!
The International Moving Doctor

Hello Andrea, thanks for the question. The U Crate is the best option for shipping part loads to the UK. They come flat packed and are roughly the size of a pallet and about 12 inches deep and weigh about 100 pounds. I am telling you this in case your condo has an elevator, in which case two people can carry, roll or possibly push it from where its dropped off into the elevator and up into your condo. Once in your condo you can open it up, play around with it practicing loading it and seeing how everything fits. On the day you choose for collection, you can then carry the U Crate pieces back down in the elevator to the parking lot and load the U Crate up ready for the truck to collect it.
If this doesn’t work then maybe we can deliver the kit to a friends house or work or maybe a self store and you could load it there ready for us to collect?
Lastly if all else fails we can let you know where our closest trucking terminal is for you to load it at.

I hope these ideas give you an option that might work for you. Don’t forget to apply for your transfer of residence, (TOR)

If you haven’t already seen the all inclusive prices, then feel dree to look at the rates here: https://store.upakweship.com/product-category/us-shipping/?_ga=2.128351436.1350842738.1717528282-664822900.1717528282
or complete the quote or contact request form on our home page http://www.upakweship.com

Cheers, The International Moving Doctor.

Hi Tim, sharp Kitchen knives are fine. We have moved many chefs with all their knives no problem. You can just list them on the packing list as kitchen items. I have found the simplest and safest way to pack knives if you don’t have their sheaths is push them into a roll of paper towels.
I hope that helps,
Cheers & happy packing.
The International Moving Doctor.

Hi, yes we can move you from Germany to Thailand. I will ask our EU sales manager to contact you via this email to see how we can assist.
Cheers The International Moving Doctor.

Hello Andras, thanks for the great questions!
The container will come on a chassis / trailer so it will be about 4.5 -5 ft. off the ground so you need two people stationed in the container and 2 or 3 people taking things from the house and handing stuff up to them, or a ramp.

You are allowed two hours free to load and then after that the wait time if you take longer is about $100 per hour.

The same is for the delivery, two hours free then about Euros 100 per hour wait time.

So the important thing to cut down time is have all your things, packed, labelled and positioned downstairs in the house or garage ready for loading. At the time of delivery, get everything unloaded out of the container first and then worry about where everything goes exactly in the house once the container is unloaded and gone.

I hope that helps, my advice if you think it might take all day to load the container which could cost an extra sat $600 is instead hire a local mover to help you load which will probably cost you about the same and it saves breaking your back!

Lastly, have a look at our You Tube channel to see containers being loaded and get a better idea of how it works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OC6ziJoRBg and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3tl3R2YCEU

Hi Rob, a very common question and to be honest no clear answer! In the USA moving boxes are not standard sizes like some countries so every manufacturer or store sells slightly different size boxes. I would just buy two sizes of boxes like a book carton and a larger carton say about 4 or 5 cubic feet and just for for it. I have found if you have a gap of a few inches spread the boxes out so you have the gap in the middle and slide in awkward things like a step ladder, folding table, beach chairs, keyboard stand or keyboard, guitar case, picture boxes for example.
Regarding the robust Rubbermaid tubs, they are fine if you don’t make them too heavy as they can split open if the bottom one has a lot of heavy tubs stacked on top. The other thing is they are not rectangular and normally the top is wider than the bottom so when you put them in the U Crate you are wasting some volume space between the tubs. The advantage though if you have them already is you can use them at home for your Christmas decorations etc.
May be a mix of each? and always put the heaviest on the bottom and if using carboard cartons make sure they are well padded and totally full so they hold their shape.
I hope that helps and if you find the perfect measurement box or anyone else does, please let me know,
cheers The International Moving Doctor.

Hello Del, thanks for the question and apologies for the delayed reply while I was traveling to see our European team in the UK and Netherlands. As you know but for the benefit of others reading, I put you in touch with John Bonney our sales manager to assist answering your questions as I thought it was easier to chat about the different options and answer the questions.
For anyone else reading this questions, when shipping furniture you have three main options with UPakWeShip.
1/ load a 20 foot shipping container at your residence and unload at your destination. The container will be shipped to the nearest port so either Le Havre or Fos sur Mer. Containers arriving direct in the EU country need the correct paperwork for moving so check our resources to see the full list of documents you would need to ship into France direct.
2/ load a U Units container on the ground at your residence and it gets shipped to our shipping terminal near Charleston SC where we tranship the load into our consolidation 40 foot container that ships via Rotterdam. Its then trucked to France by moving van and delivered to you. Simple documents needed like just a packing list and passport copy.
3/ Hire a truck and bring your things to us near Charleston where we will help you unload and load it into our consolidation container via Rotterdam with the simple customs clearance as above.
Each option has pros and cons which John will explain to you about.
Hope that help and let us know if you need anything else,
cheers
the international moving doctor.