Yes, shipping folk may seem like an interesting breed, we are essentially the travel agents of the cargo industry. But the reality of the matter is, moving internationally involves a lot of resources and is costly, especially for individuals taking on a new adventure in their life. When its personal, its considered an out of pocket expense and burden, when its commercial its considered making money. I wish more globe trotters would recognize that the move itself was an investment in a potentially more prosperous life. Ofcourse, nothing is guaranteed, in shipping, and in life.

As I've said before on this forum, as an International Freight Forwarder here in Canada, I'll give free advice and suggestions on how to arrange self packed containers to/from the UK or other countries. I'm a first generation Canadian with British parents, have lived in both countries, and a dual citizen that understands.

Hi Debbie,

Couple of things....what volumes did all the company's who saw it came in with? if those that said 20ft container are on the cusp of 20/40 (how much spare in a 20 did they have?) then you will have to weigh up the risks of not fitting and make sure you have either a) budget to send the excess as groupage OR b) a certain amount of items you would be willing to leave behind.

Secondly, did they all provide an inventory of goods that they surveyed? if so check that they are all the same, and that no one forgot anything or that nothing jumps out as being way different to everyone else. If they haven't supplied a list, ask for one.

Having the inventory and the estimated volume stated will also protect you if it comes to moving day and they change their tune as you've got all the details of their offer in writing and everything is up front and transparent.

Interesting thread..

We are being relocated through my wife's work, and they are paying for the shipping. We had a surveyor out last week who told us we would need a 40 footer as our volume would be about 1200 cubic feet, and a 20 would only hold around 1060.

We have a 2 bed + box semi, with a garage half full of junk, a loft, and some boxes and a drum kit at my mum's house.

Since I wasn't paying I just said yeah, no problem, and since the company already told us they would allow a 40 I really didn't think there was an issue.

However, the relocation company called me last night requesting that they send another surveyor from another company, as they feel they had over-quoted the volume.

I must admit, I thought the guy was being a bit generous with the volume, as we really don't have that much stuff. Our house is quite small, and has mirrored wardrobes instead of free-standing, so upstairs is really just beds and a some drawers.

I would have thought we would have room to spare with a 20 footer.

If you have got 1200 cubic feet and are getting a 40ft can. I will send you a shopping list. Shame to waste all that empty space.

Good idea, can we all put in a request?

Hate to rain on your parade, but Dave & Ailsa are coming to ontario.

I know but we live on the Atlantic coast so it still has to come via us first ... kinda...

Haven't yet had to prove if they are right, but movers we've had in so far have all said our 4 bed house contents will fit (just about) in a 20 ft container. No white goods, no electrics, getting rid of most of the garden stuff. Most stuff flat packs so we have to take it all apart; biggest stuff is 3 sofas. Same advice given as has already been said - if you are ok to risk it, go ahead and mark things you could leave as "pack last".

All quotes so far are within a couple of £100 of each other - around £4300 from Scotland to Halifax.

- PSS
- Fox
- Moving Partnership
- GB Liners did a survey but have failed to come back with a quote. These came highly recommended.
- Ewepack also failed to come back with a quote.

Why would Ewepack quote as they are self packing?
Did they quote for the price of the container from UK to Halifax?
The rest is up to the customer.
I have recommended them before. They're not excellent but they still get the job done for much less than some of the others. I know it was 17 months ago but our move cost approx 2500GBP all in (insurance, freight forwarders and so on...) which is a big saving and we got so much in...

Touché

You've lost me....

They said for their cheapest price they couldn't drop the container to the ground, it would be 5ft off the ground (which makes it more difficult for us to load). BUT they would look into a price for doing that which might be about £400 more. Can't remember the reasoning behind this or what the cheapest price was - I was waiting for him to come back to me.

They also said they could pack if we wanted it, and he would look into a price for that too.

So 3 scenarios which he said he would look into and quote prices for - haven't come back to us.

The reason some freight forwarders and moving companies suggest a 40' container is to avoid the problem of it appearing at your door and 20' feet not being enough. The cost to send the balance by LCL or use another 20' is significantly more than just using a 40' in the first place. Not to mention having two separate shipment causes a headaches for everybody relating to customs clearance upon arrival.

Here is the magic number. A 40' container is almost always 20~25% more cost than a 20' but offers double to space. Many folks think its going to cost twice as much as a 20'.

Ahh, ok. We had a conversation on the phone about the options available to us taking in to account all the trees around us so there was no real need for a follow up... FYI, they charged an extra 100GBP to drop the 20' to the ground which of course was much much easier than climbing in to it.

Good luck with it all

I think he couldn't give all the prices at the time as it was b/w Christmas and New Year - needed to get hold of someone else.

I've sent him an email - might as well chase up and get a price if we can.

:-)

We had a 3 bedroom house that also packed out a 40ft container. The stuff could probably have been crammed in a bit tighter and been less well covered in bubble wrap and the like, but there's no way it would ever have fitted in a 20ft one. As you say, different people have different quantities of stuff (most of ours was my wife's I should add, I could pack all my belongings into a medium sized car I think).