International Removals
As with national and European removals, a surveyor will be sent out to your premises to view the items to be shipped and discuss with you your requirements. At this point we will discuss all shipping options and services that we offer. We will take a detailed inventory of the items to be packed and shipped therefore it is critical that you have a good understanding of what goods you require shipping as this will determine the overall volume of goods and have the biggest bearing on the price of relocation.
Our international service is a door to door service, with helpful staff at either end to carry out your overseas removal. We offer air freight, sole use containers, groupage containers and LCL's 'Less than a container load'. All services that we provide will require the goods being export wrapped and packed for their protection and customs clearance.
Dependant on the volume of goods that you require shipping, we will advise you of the most cost efficient service to get them from A to B.
Air Freight
If you require quick access to some or all of your personal possessions at the destination country, air freighting is the only option. This is because shipping by sea will take anywhere between 4-12 weeks depending on the destination country and the volume of goods. This premium service comes at a high cost, but can be a god send for some customers, for example, if you need some extra suitcases sent out to your new home because they take you over and above your baggage allowance for your flight.
We will arrange to have the goods collected from your premises, alternatively they can be delivered to our warehouse. At this point they will be wrapped and inventoried as required in order for us to ensure they get out to their destination address safely.
In many instances it is not always possible to give a final accurate price of the consignment until it has been collected and weighed. This is because the airlines charge on either the final volumetric weight or space; whichever of the two is the greater. Your goods will be forwarded to the airport for onward consolidation, weighing and measuring. At this point, in order to comply with current air freight security measures your goods will either be placed in an X-Ray machine or decompression chamber prior to being prepared for onward movement.
When the items have been sent, we will be allocated with a unique air waybill number that will allow us to track the consignment throughout its journey.
Upon arrival of the goods at the destination airport, some customers choose to collect them which can speed up the transition and reduce costs. This is possible, but we do suggest that you make use of our customs clearance services. Alternatively we will clear the goods through customs with all requisite paperwork completed and then we will have our overseas partners crew collect the goods and have them transported to your new property, where they will unwrap and remove all packaging debris. The normal radius for delivery is 0 - 50 miles from the airport, but it is possible to get special rates for destinations further afield.
Export Wrapping and Packing
When dealing with International shipments it is a requirement that all goods are wrapped adequately and sealed with no exposed edges.
This is in order to protect the goods and satisfy various customs authorities that the load has not been tampered with.
Furniture and large goods will be export wrapped using a specialist bubble wrap and card. High value goods or those with sentimental value can be protected using custom
made plywood crates for added protection. Examples of where these are used are pianos, statues and fine art. All other personal possessions
will be packed into suitable cardboard boxes and will be protected with paper and flo-pack if required.
Once packed, all items are marked with the clients name, the final destination and a sequential number.
At the time of loading, all goods placed into the container will be noted on a detailed inventory and 3 copies of this will be generated.
One will stay with the driver, one is for your reference and one will remain in our possession.
Shipping
All goods to be sent by sea will be loaded into steel shipping containers, either 20ft or 40ft. Before goods are loaded into any shipping container, the integrity of the container is checked by our staff. One crew member goes into the container where he/she checks for any possibilities of leakage. This will be indicated by any light finding its way into the container. If this is the case, then the container will be sent back and a new one will be requested.
There are three ways to transport your goods overseas:
- Sole use container(s)
- Groupage container
- LCL (Less then a container Load)
A sole use container will probably be the most appropriate method if you are taking your complete household to your new residence. This is usually loaded at your premises, subject to access, and can be pre-booked onto a vessel. This offers greater control of how and when your goods arrive at their final destination. Upon completion of loading, the container will be sealed and transported directly to the docks ready for shipment.
In the event that your goods do not completely fill a container but your preference is to keep the goods separate from other customers goods, we will offer the most appropriately sized container as a sole use option. In this situation, a wooden bulkhead will be fitted within the container to stop the goods moving whilst the container is in transit.
A part container or groupage service is usually appropriate if you elect to take either just personal effects or part of your household. This will usually offer a considerable financial saving but offset against this, it may take longer for your possessions to arrive. Most of the popular migrant routes around the world do have regular services for shared/groupage containers so you can still be sure that your possessions will arrive in a reasonable time. When the goods are collected, they will generally be loaded into wooden storage containers at your premises and held at our secure storage depot until they can be joined with other goods going to the same destination, eventually filling the shipping container. When the goods are transferred onto the container, each clients goods will be clearly separated from others and checked off against the initial inventories to ensure all items have been loaded.
Finally, for those moving a part household to a more unusual destination or where you simply cannot wait for a groupage container to consolidate, there is the option of LCL or 'less than container load'. This involves placing your goods into a case and in turn into a container which, once shipped, is distributed in the case from the destination port. Full case-making facilities are available for this service.
For sole use containers, wherever possible, the container will be delivered directly to your new premises and unloaded on site. This minimises handling of goods and therefore reduces the risk of damage. Depending on the access at the destination, it may be necessary to unload the container onto smaller vehicles in order to deliver (this is commonly known as transhipping).
All groupage or LCL containers will be unloaded from the shipping containers at the docks or at our agents' depot before delivering out to your final destination.
Once the goods have been unloaded at your new premises, all furniture and large goods will be unwrapped and the packaging materials removed from site. The furniture will then be positioned in the appropriate rooms. We can offer an unpacking service where goods from within the boxes will be unpacked onto flat surfaces. (Please mention to the surveyor at the point of quotation as to whether you require an unpacking service.)
