Boomhauer

Is the $500 refundable?

I want to get a special Mercedes T2 pickup from Germany to the US or to England and then the US. It is 25 years old so no DOT/EPA regs to conform to. Has a 3.5ton payload capacity. Gross vehicle weight is 7.5 tons.

steveq

Just be aware that if the buggers decide to go "full-inspection" on you, you can be looking at the fat end of $3000 + all that's gone before. And there is SFA you can do. :-(

Boomhauer

Can you elaborate?

Inspection of what, the vehicle or Cargo or both?

What would warrant $3000 for either? The vehicle would be a 25 year old vehicle not worth more than $3000 in Germany and the personal items/machinery (from the 60s and 70s) is also used stuff, really old stuff at that.

ottotheboar

As explained in your other post you can not mix cargo and RORO, better to separate the shipments.
Wallenius Willhelmson ship from Bremerhaven to Baltimore RORO and ACL were shipping from Hamburg.
Personally I prefer Wallenius as collection as the Mid Atlantic terminal is easier than the ACL depot.
It takes about 15 minutes to do the paperwork with them. You will need an escort to get on the docks and take a spare battery. I will PM the escort company I recommend.
At 7.5 tons you will need a good size trailer to haul it out, if you can keep the German plates you can drive it out.
My payment estimate on this side was $700 I estimated $500.

Boomhauer

7.5 tons is gross vehicle permissible weight with cargo. Vehicle weighs just shy of 3 tons. Only has 2 axles.



Similar to below. 1992 model year. Modified Mercedes 809D chassis.

Einsatzfahrzeug: Rotkreuz Westfalen 01/74-04 - BOS-Fahrzeuge - Einsatzfahrzeuge und Wachen weltweit

https://www.machinio.com/listings/13...ttgart-germany

So shipping would be under $1500?

ottotheboar

My price was based on the weight and dimensions of a soft top 110 Land Rover the truck you are looking at looks heavier and larger so is probably me more expensive.
Do not for get to include transport to the docks this can be expensive.

tom169

It does look pretty cool! Especially in that color!

Boomhauer

How much did it cost you to take the Defender to the Dock, and did you do it yourself or did you have a shipper do it?

Going off on a tangent: Back in the mid 1990s when I was living in London, I looked seriously into bringing a Defender 110 to the US but gave up on the idea because the cost to comply with EPA/DOT was around 15K, which was too much for me. Fast-forward 10 years I ended up buying a NAS-spec 110 over here.

steveq

When we did it, our two came in two shipping containers. We had a local garage to where we used to live carry the landies to Bootle and drop them next to their containers. THe backs of both were stuffed with the right engines for the vehicles, and a bunch of workshop and spare parts.

Cost for us to get them to Bootle was about 100 quid.

Boomhauer

I probably won't be getting the Mercedes truck because it is on Ebay and ends in less than a day and I don't have the quotes from Wallanius and ACL yet plus I will first have to talk with US customs and find out if they will charge me 25% duty for bringing the vehicle in. But in the near future I do want to bring 1 in as I sorely need this kind of vehicle to move my heavy machine tools.

When I talk to US customs on Monday, should I tell them I need this truck for personal moving or for business reasons? Are they more likely to smack me with a 25% duty if it is for business reasons rather than moving personal property?

--

How much did it cost you to ship a container to America? Because there is a 2 ton machine tool in England I am interested in that I want to ship over here. The seller says he can deliver the machine anywhere in the UK. So I can get him to deliver it to a port. So how much would it cost to put it in a container and send over here?

Any recommendations for shippers ? Machine will fit inside a container.

steveq

The duty is on the resale price, after however many years. What's it worth now ? I don't remember what duty I paid on the landies, but it wasn't a lot, in the scheme of things
Dunno.
We used Future Forwarding in Manchester/Leeds. I'd guess about 1500 quid, for a 20 footer, but that's exclusive use. You can get consolidated rates that are lower.

Pulaski

If you bring it in as a business asset you may find yourself trapped into registering it as a business vehicle, which in many (most?) states attracts a higher rate of tax each year than a private vehicle would.

Without getting into the rights and wrongs of duty and taxes on business v personal assets, I would recommend that your story should be consistent so you don't trip yourself up.

Boomhauer

The only value I can show for the Mercedes truck is the price I pay for it in Germany. It would be a 1992 model year or earlier.

Would I get better rates if I shipped it from Plymouth or Portsmouth instead of Dover or Southampton? I would ideally need a port in Southern England. Do all these ports routinely handle cargo for the US?

Boomhauer

It's for personal use but I did wonder if I could start a business on the side moving stuff for other people but most likely I wouldn't do it since that would require insurance incase the Item I am moving gets damaged.

ottotheboar

The duty is calculated on the value on the bill of sale.
You will need a bill of sale as part of the documentation needed to make the booking.
Shipping from Germany to the UK then to the USA will be more expensive as you will be paying more in road haulage fees for the same RORO price.