Share container from Ushuaia to Long Beach

We have secured a 20 foot container to ship our bikes back to Long Beach California. There is room for 2 more bikes if anyone is interested or have the need to ship back to Long Beach. Please contact us via PM if interested. I do not know yet,when the container will leave Ushuaia but the broker would like to hold on to it for a few weeks to allow someone else to come on board. It will take about 2 months for the ship to arrive in Long Beach.

Who's your broker?

I was there last week, half entertaining that idea.

What is the price of the container, and are you aware of all customs charges in LB?

My friend was charged $1000 to inspect his container containing one Nissan Xterra coming from panama last year.

Containers cleared in L Beach can go all the way up to $260 for Customs SCAN (Xray) charges because of equipment, gear and bikes. Then to truck the container to a warehouse and unloading easy beyond $700 overall. This is counting not using a Broker for the clearing which can be $120 for each bike.
Be sure your freight is full paid to your destination, including the THC and Wharfage . If not expect to pay $280 or so for such charges in L.A.
Unless you don't get 4 bikes in your container, the price would be high for each one
These are my previous experiences and my 2 cents advice.

Compared to air, BA to Chicago; my bike departed BA on a Friday. I picked it up on Monday. $1700 total. From what I've read, prices are still about the same, or even cheaper.

Bananaman,

The guy above was asking for the charges in Long Beach, assuming that he is shipping a container from P.Arenas.
Containers are fairly cheap from Chile to the U.S. . If a container is shared for 3 or 4 bikes definitively is cheaper than an Air shipping from BA or Santiago. The problem also could be the amount of hands in the process.

SamX

How much does a typical total container cost?

I'm still skeptical about sending bikes by container. Like because of the trouble DaveG had when he shipped his bike from the west coast to Thailand, and his bIke was disappeared for 3 months!

Banaman,

In western civilization those mishaps dn't happens. Never seen a cargo dissapear for 3 month and not knowing where it is. Maritime lines keep an online tracking of your cargo today, like a air booking or baggage cargo.
Thailand is a complete different animal. The mother of corruption and non sense things. For sure is not in my scope of work.
How much a container cost. Imposible to say. It depends on origin to destinaiton, season, market etc etc.There also other cost inolved, such BAF, THCO , THCD , Wharfage at ports. Panama Canal etc etc...These costs are subject to change every 2 -3 month dpeending on an a specific port.
In using a container you must justify the cargo in order to make it feasible. The problem is the port , trucking and clearance charges, which are by no means cheap.
Containers could cost from $1,200 to $2,500, (20ft -40ft) all the way to $4,000 for longer routes including trans-shipment.
For example if you ship a container from Miami to Punta Arenas or Ushuaia, the ship stop a t Lirquen -Chile and then is taken by another line to P.A. , This is an expensive route and could cost $5k+ dollars. However, coming back the same outbound route it would be cheaper because there is no big exports loads or vessel to fill.

The more known or used ports ,the cheapest the fare.

Resuming, cargo shipments are like airfares, the most used airports are the cheap compare with sporadic ones. Nonetheless, ocean shipping most of the time is cheaper than air and sometimes not, when it comes to practicality.
I don't have the magic numbers but a fair knowledge. One thing is sure, the more cargo you get on one shipment the cheaper will be, talking containers.

Now it come the big secret

When people share containers from point to point , the risk is huge , because they are big time running embarking on a big adventure. They are going to confront big issues on both sides. Why?, shipping is a multi handling process and red tapes if not professionally handled and no experience is acquired. It takes time and months of experience.
I got calls from experienced forwarders because they not have help on the other end. Big time trouble at the expense of the shipped owner . Most forwarders are interested on their home business but not offering the resources on the destination. Basically is at your own risk and the size of your pocket. If you don't manage the language, if you are in a foreign place , forget it, you are done.
Some locals offer something but, nothing at your destination. They don't know who to recommend or how the law work there.
I know people paying X amounts of money for their shipping and then paying us much at their destination, not mentioning hotel and expenses and being stuck because of the 'unknown'.
It is very easy to propose a container sharing but the outcome is painful.

Ocean and air shipping are by no means easy task because of many hands and factors involved in it. It require knowledge, experience and know the country , laws and whereabouts.
Customs law and requirements are usually 400 pages of code references on each country. Procedures and way to work are particular on each country too. Agents are not familiar with each situation sometimes and that make matters more complicated.

Adventure touristy for export is an specialized and rare item for many in the shipping world. However, there is dedicated people in the world on this particular niche . As always, there are good architects and bad ones , good lawyers and horrible professionals.

B-man
I too was concerned about shipping by container because of what happened to DaveG. But then he shipped an individual item, not a whole container. Shipping one item by boat is comparable to one suitcase on an airplane. They get lost all the time, every day. But whole containers do not disappear, not regularly anyways.

I can vouch for Gaston and the service he provides on BOTH ends of the shipping process.Top notch and completely honest. He stayed on top of the process even though he is in Florida, my bike left CA in a container with three other bikes and arrived in Chile on schedule. Three days later I was riding. Can he control the costs and charges all the way through the process? NO, impossible for anyone to know or predict what a customs agent in a foreign country is going to do on any given day.

On the day I was to get my bike out of customs in Chile, the agents had just gotten orders to inspect every container being EXPORTED, not something they normally due. All because a load on contraband wine from Peru had been illegally shipped out as Chilean wines the month earlier. So their workload suddenly exploded and no new agents were added to help. Could Gaston have anticipated that happening? No one could. Nevertheless, my bike was processed out with only a few hours delay.

Those agents on the other end have the power to say no at anytime they feel like it.You have to bite your tongue and hope he/she is in a better mood the next time you meet. All you want is a quick smooth access to your bike so the adventure can continue. The customs agent doesn't really care about your wants and needs, and there is not much Gaston or anyone can do to fix that. For you the shipper, a smile, a gracious attitude and patience works wonders in making things go smoothly and quicker. If you can get the agent to smile or laugh, things will go better for you. But then you know that, having dealt with bureaucrats in Latin America over the years.

Riding up to a border crossing after 65 miles of ripio, the agent asked if I had any fresh fruits, vegetables or meat. With a straight face I told him I thought the two dozens eggs I had in the pannier were probably scrambled by now. :eek1
He did a double take, I cracked a smile. He started laughing, waving me through without opening anything. Guess I made his day.

Airlines don't lose motorcycles. Motorcycles aren't quite like suitcases.

Gaston might be able to save you a few dollars, but not much; meanwhile, we have to endure an awful lot of his vendor-pimping. There's a sticky for shipping, but he and quite a few others ignore it. Wtf?

B-Man

First of all, my respects to CCJon for his words for his comments above. I also understand B-Man your trauma against shipping, containers, David, etc.. including those against me and the pimps,pimpings (???) whatever language you use.
CCJon and I , both are in different position on this forum, mainly trying to leave something positive and helping this community for the sake of adventure. Yes is true, we must live and work hard too. Your position is nothing else but criticism and hammering the other. Now you are saying that other shipping vendors are awful. I bet you, you don't know any of them . Yes I work with them in a reciprocal way. LYNCARGO, for example , a well known forwarder in Bogota for air shipping mainly BOG-MIA and connection. They are wonderful people which I recommend and keeping close commercial relations. They are not one of those awful as you say. They are hardworking people man, honest and reliable. That's what's count, those are the one I keep for me.
My vendor section, it has all kind of awful comments from you, which is clear malice in there. I am not sure if CCjon saved money on his shipping with me but, one thing is true, their bikes were safe , secured all the time. The attention he received from Chileans and my people was excellent. I was with him all the time and managing whatever problem arise, because there are always situations that we must confront. Live is simple like that. Perfection doesn't exit. and much less on shipping matters.

Yesterday, we were loading a Container in Santiago with several bikes. A crew and a forklift did the work, all secured, latched protected and bound to the port. Guess what, I recevied a notification that perhaps Customs could make unload al the bikes for inspection and verification. What!, Have you an idea the liability involved on that? Well , after severals calls and talk with them and the port people, most probably won't do it, hopefully.! Chilean Customs as any other Customs in the world have their right and total power on their decisions.
These are those things that make life marvelous and we do whatever it needs to confront situations. Good thing, Chileans are educated, polite, gentleman and they perfectly understand situations. They help.
CCJon could give you an speech on that particular.

Talking about crated bike. They go as a baggage, tagged , secured and protected. The cargo is loaded inside a container as LCL with other cargo. Nobody touch that, a container is sealed. Ports are today a high security area, most of them privatized and high tech installations. You are notified form day one , container # , seal # , etc.. , you cna keep truck of your cargo , the vessel , etc. So I don't see the problem there. If the cargo is too big well it goes on a vessel compartment. Again we are in the Western World, and much of the L.A. countries are today technological up to date wit h good installation and well trained people.I can't complain.

Hopefully CCJon and I could go together this year on our way to Tierra del Fuego or a nice delivery. Keep in touch Jon for November December. We are preparing something interesting .

B-Man could you please clean my vendor thread please, it looks awful , I need space for the good things. Thanks

You act like you're the only vendor on Advrider.

I have a job, too, but I only bitch about it in the basement, usually in the Inmates forum.

The shipping broker in Ushuaia is Osvaldo Lavado. He charges $500 per bike to take care of everything once he has a notarized authorization to act as our agent. He is holding on to the bikes until May 1 in hopes that he can find someone else that needs something shipped to Long Beach.
The quote from the shipping company, Hamburg SUD, was $2900 for the container. We expect unexpected charges when we pick up in Long Beach.
We realize that it is expensive to ship back but felt that it will be cheaper than riding back considering cost of hotels, meals and gas.
But, then if we had any financial sense we would never own a motorcycle, let along more than one!
Carl and Jonnie (back in Long Beach! and good to be in the USA)

Whoa.... You're paying US$4000 for two bikes plus whatever port charges in LA? I'm impressed. It's cheaper to fly the bikes from B.A.

Hope you find a few more bikes to fill out the shipment.

Mark

Mark,

He is paying 2900 for the container, which from Ushuaia is considered cheap. If they have 2-3 bikes, divide between 2 equal $1,450 or $980 each for 3 bikes. By all means it is good.
Try flying a bike from Ushuaia and you'll see . You cannot fly a bike form Ushuaia anyway.

If the broker charge $500 as local cost, it is ok.

L.A. cost could be around $700 to clear and unload that container. Divide that by 3 and figure out. Not bad.

As I said, " It's cheaper to fly the bikes from B.A." I said nothing about air freight from Ushuaia

Two bikes in a $2900 container plus $500 per bike for the agent plus $700 in L.A. is $2300 per bike. Less if more bikes, which is the point to posting the thread in the first place. For one or two bikes, I'll repeat: it's cheaper to ship by air from B.A.

Faster and more predictable, too.

Mark

In first place the Thread is from Carl from Ushuaia and you are doing comments to Carl dreaming in B.A. .
Your math is fine. $2,900 +$700 = $3,600 /2= $1,800+$500 = $2,300 total unloaded in LAX. Considering from Ushuaia good cost. Add 1 more bike and much better.

Carl is shipping from Ushuaia , not from BA. Look in the map and there is a huge distance between both cities. Add a ground transport from Ushuaia to B.A. and probably they are going to charge you $1,000 or more , giving the gas prices today . So, you keep saying that from B.A. is cheap, well it could be but you must add the ground transporting cost then.

I think you didn't say nothing after all, just trying to regulate the thread only. Most probably you flew your bike a long time ago and got a quote. Fine, but that was you quote and that specific moment and market price. I don't know about today with gas going up. Anyway I rather fly a bike from Santiago than Buenos Aires today. Argentina is doing really bad lately, controlling money etc .etc.., frankly messy.

I'm pretty sure Mark doesn't have to look at a map to know where Ushuaia is; he's actually ridden a motorcycle from the US to Ushuaia. It might look far on a map, but it's a pretty easy ride. Given gas prices today, maybe from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires it could cost about $180 per bike. Hotels are good and inexpensive, and the food is amazing. Two hotel nights, at $35 each; $70; if they need three nights, hotel would still only be $105.

I don't have an exact $ for flying from BA to California, but I do know that Sandra at Dakar Motos has been able to get it done for less than $1,500, sometimes closer to $1,000, depending on how much the bike weighs and how it can be broken down. Since the airlines charge based on volumetric weight, they could have some real savings if they can get both bikes onto one pallet. What kind of bike is the OP riding? I'm sure you could have put two KLRs on the pallet that I used for my BMW, and it would have been the same price.

So, on the high side, riding from Ushuaia to BA could cost a total of $180x2+$105=$465. Air freight at $1,500x2=$3,000; high side total $465+$3,000=$3,465, or $1,732.50 per bike. On the low side, given air freight costs of $1,100x2=$2,200, plus riding cost of $430; $2,200+$430= $2,630, or $1,315 per bike.

Edit: it looks like they're on KLRs. Flying them back to the US wouldn't cost much at all. Of course it doesn't matter, since the OP is already back in the US, and they've already made the decision to hire the container.

Quoted for posterity and because Gaston likes to post something, then change it and say he never said it.