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Thread: 20ft Self Packing Container Experience

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Hobsonville Point, Auckland
    Posts
    238

    Lightbulb 20ft Self Packing Container Experience

    Hey everyone

    Great to be back on the forums! A brief recap, but we’re now officially ping-pong poms after returning from AKL to UK 2 ½ years ago. We have now bitten the bullet and come back but that’s a post for another day.

    Having briefly asked around on the forums about self-packing containers and finding little information, I thought I would document our experience so that others may find it useful. So here goes:-

    Service – ImoveIntl Movers. 20ft self packed container, including 3 hour wait at pick-up, shipping LDN terminal to AKL, delivery, unloading and unpacking all for £2,850.

    Preparation
    We had previously shipped our belongings from a fully packed service and did this a day before our flight both to and from AKL. We remember the painful wait for our belongings months after arriving, so this time we arranged for our container to be delivered the day after we arrived. I’m pleased we did this as it helped the kids settle straight away, although it did mean living on camping equipment and borrowed furniture for a couple of months in the UK but well worth it!

    The driver for self-packing were a few things:-
    • To be more efficient within the storage space in our container (we were quoted a 20ft container + another third for fully packed or a 40ft) but I believed we were under this. I don’t think shipping services have an incentive to pack efficiently.
    • Slow packing; it was easier for us to slowly and carefully pack our belongings rather than our kids coming home to an empty house.
    • Confidence; having done the move before with a fully packed service, we were keen to try something different.



    Packing
    What you can fit into a container is down to preparation and execution! Upon reflection, the hours spent planning, itemising and packing make a fully packed service seem viable if you don’t want the hassle! (approx £4k+ IF they fit it all belongings in a 20ft container)

    We started by itemising every piece of furniture and generously measuring each item as a cube (HxWxD) and then calculating the volume. This gave us an idea if the total volume would fit within a 20ft container along with a 5% contingency, for which we were a little over.

    Secondly, we planned the most efficient way to stack our belongings into the container ensuring that the heavy items were at the bottom and that our belongings were tightly packed all the way to the top, with the bits MAF would be interested in at the container door.

    Next step was acquiring packing materials from a packing supplier. Here are our details below – we were surprised how much we needed and how expensive it was. It’s well worth buying boxes as they can be stacked neatly and make an efficient use of space. The below list was for a 4 bedroom house + garage:-

    1 x Wardrobe box (£7 ebay)
    2 x Sofa polycover (£10 each, ebay)
    2 x Mattress polycover (£8 each, ebay)
    1 x 20kg White packaging newspaper (£18 ebay)
    20 x Double Wall Boxes - 14x14x14 inches (£22 Kite packaging)
    20 x Double Wall Boxes - 12x9x9 inches (£10 Kite packaging)
    20 x Double Wall Boxes - 18x18x12 inches (£26 Kite packaging)
    20 x Double Wall Boxes - 24x18x18 inches (£34 Kite packaging)
    24 x Rolls of 66m Packaging tape (including gun) (£10 Kite packaging)
    1 x Kraft Paper Roll 90gsm - 600mmx210m (£24 Kite packaging)
    1x100m 1200 wide Jiffy Furnsoft (£80 Ebay)
    6x Bike boxes from Halfords (free!) – brilliant!!

    We slowly packed over 6 weeks, labelling each box (on all sides!) and recording the corresponding number in an itinerary spreadsheet which was later turned into the official list submitted for MAF inspection.

    The Jiffy wrap was great for wooden furniture and the kraft paper was a great cheaper alternative for wrapping everything else.

    Loading
    3 hours is given for loading when the lorry turns up. The 20ft container is on a back of a lorry and at least 5ft off the ground, so a loading / painters bench and ladder was used to help lift into the container.

    Our load took about 2 hours with 2-3 people, but we knew exactly how to stack it which was a great help and a massive time saver. It was planned that all content items which may require a MAF extension were placed at the doors (i.e. bikes, lawnmower, tent. Etc.)

    Forms
    Quite straightforward and very similar to the documentation completed by a fully packed service. Most are declarations as to how items were cleaned along with the box numbers to be inspected.

    Insurance
    Used Letton Percival who were very good and mentioned that self packing was no problem. They advised us to take photos of the quality of wrapping in the event of a claim.

    Arrival
    The container arrived a few days earlier than scheduled. MAF fees - $400 inspection only and nothing for additional cleaning. We took tents, bikes, lawnmower, garden tools etc. and ensured they were spotless and grouped for easy inspection at the container door.

    Delivery to the address in AKL included a moving furniture into the rooms of the house. The same spreadsheet was used to check-off the boxes as they were moved into the house.

    Watch out for
    - Fully managed services warning you that MAF don’t like self packed containers and charge higher fees. This isn’t true as MAF don’t have any relationship with UK based packers!
    - Hidden storage fees (but luckly we weren’t charged by the NZ agent) as you need to take delivery 7-10 days of container arrival date.

    I hope this is help for someone!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    37,824

    Default

    Hello again, and thank you for this helpful post.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    NZ
    Posts
    852

    Default

    Thanks! I sure hope we don't end up having to self-pack, as all our stuff is already boxed and in storage, hopefully we can find a full-service mover who doesn't mind (some organizations are really fussy about dealing with already packed stuff for insurance purposes, it seems like - one tried to tell me that New Zealand doesn't accept self-packed boxes from shippers - LOL!)

    I think all those double-wall boxes are a great idea. Right before we flew to NZ, I had to get all our boxes and whatnot moved from one storage unit to another, and I could see that some of the boxes (which had been all new) were starting to break down a little from being moved and stacked. When they go in the container, that will be the third time they have been shifted, then I believe MAF often completely unpacks containers into a warehouse for inspection? Sigh.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Oregon (Formerly Auckland)
    Posts
    345

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Juniper View Post
    ...I believe MAF often completely unpacks containers into a warehouse for inspection? Sigh.
    FWIW we had a 40ft and MAF never touched any of our belongings on arrival. We knew two couples that followed us from the U.S. and MAF never touched their things either.

    That said I have seen posts here and elsewhere saying that MAF did have a cursory look at some items before they released shipments. IIRC it was often triggered by gardening tools, lawn mowers, bikes and other "outdoor" items. They're very careful to ensure that everything's cleaned properly to avoid unwanted critters and/or plants coming along for the ride.

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