DIY shipping anyone?

[whakapapa]

OK this is my first post - it seems we're moving (as long as the lovely people at NZ House give me a visa). Has anyone just used a freight company to ship their goods over? The difference between freight and removal quotes is huge - I know that we'll have to do a bit of leg work at the other end, just hoped someone here could help me with what they did and why!

Thanks

[JandM]

Hello and welcome. The people already in NZ are the ones who may know about this. They'll be around later.

[diogenese]

I'm in the process of sorting out the mess my shipping agent has left me in. I have a 20' container arriving in a few days and there has been no contact between the UK agent and my agent over here.
Yes it's cheaper, but do your homework first and get your agent in the NZ sorted BEFORE you ship!
I reckon I have saved myself about £1000 but to be honest I wish I had done more preparation to save me the grief now.

[whakapapa]

Hi thanks both for the reply. Can I ask which shipping agent you used? Did you get quotes for both freight and removal company because our quotes are around £4000 less if we use a freight company! I realise we may have costs at the other end but I'm not sure these will amount to £4000.

Thanks again

[mylesdw]

We dealt directly with Maersk who own the ships and will supply a container. We paid a local truck owner to collect the container from Southampton on a Friday and park it outside our house while we packed it. On the Monday he took it to Felixstowe and delivered it to Maersk. When it arrived at Timaru we cleared it through customs and MAF came and looked at our stuff while we transferred it to a hire truck. I made one trip with a truck, one with a furniture trailer and two with a transporter for the cars. We could have had the whole container delivered but chose to save some money.

The total cost was around UKP 2500 in 2002.

[veronica]

we bring more than one container a year over (business) and always use Crayford Freight, we have used them over 15 times and have been very happy with the service. they have a branch in Auckland and an agent in Chch.

http://www.crayfordfreight.co.uk/

they are in the Tilbury area just outside the M25 and if you are prepared to pack you own stuff and get it delivered there they are the best and most reasonable that we have found.

[whakapapa]

Thanks again for the replies - is it much hassle to pick up yourself in Lyttleton or do you really need an agent? Getting a hire truck would work because we really aren't intending to bring much stuff over but how does it work with customs if you do things yourself? Timescales and paperwork wise?

[mylesdw]

It's not a big deal. The easiest thing to do is take your shipping paperwork (bill of lading etc) to MAF and Customs and get their forms filled in. Both offices are out near the airport. I can't remember the exact time scales but it was days not weeks to get it all cleared through. You don't need an agent.

[diogenese]

You need an agent to collect from lyttleton, that's where I went wrong. I was under the impression I could pick up from the wharf from what my UK agent told me but it's off limits to ordinary folk!

[veronica]

its best to use an agent to pick up from, when we use Pengellys here they do all the paperwork and depending on the load we either pick up direct from them ( if its groupage ie where we have shared a container) or if its a containerful then they arrange delivery to the door.

Where in the UK are you based.