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International Shipping


jeoh

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I'm due to start 3 months filming in the UK and am looking into the feasibility of shipping my gear from Los Angeles for the shoot.

There are 5 x 1610 pelican cases all packed with everything I need.

Has anyone ever done this before? What freight companies out there would you recommend?

Any advice would be gratefully accepted.

Julian

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+1 to using a customs broker.

For freight expediters, Rock-it Cargo comes highly recommended:

http://www.rockitcargo.com/

I've not used them personally. The companies I have used, including Target Logistics, seem to have either disappeared or morphed into something else. But Art Rochester strongly recommended Rockit Cargo to me when I was looking. That was a few years ago and things can change. But it's a good place to start. They have a division dedicated to film production and they have in-house resources for customs clearing and for generating Carnets.

David

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Or you could just bring them with you when you fly and write it down as an huge excess baggage fee. I've seen that done.

You'll still need the carnets.

Of course you might ask yourself if you have the correct work visa before you attempt this (or even doing the ship-the-stuff-ahead thing) as the Brits might not be too amiable to a foreigner (and yes, US citizens are foreigners) walking up to the immigration desk and saying, "I'm just here for a three month gig working on a movie."

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It is at my own expense for this project, hence me looking for the best deals, the production is based and filmed out of the UK they are helping me with the paperwork and some costs but not all of it. I have all the required paperwork (Carnet etc) as I am going to be bringing it all back. Please tell what else I might have overlooked/need?

Thanks guys!

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If you're flying the friendly skies with a US airline, you might be able to ask for a 'media rate' for your Pelicans and have them go on the same flight as you... I've seen rates vary from $50-75/bag. Even at the usual $100 or so/bag, you're probably beating Fedex rates that would include customs brokering

Also, since you have a carnet already, you might just be paying Fedex a customs brokering fee for a service you yourself can do at the airport.

R

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I've had a bad experience with FedEx (not an issue with the company, but local customs) where something got caught up in the customs pipeline for about 2 weeks. Granted this was Ecuador and probably worse than someplace like the UK, but sometimes you could fall prey to the local government agencies despite what the shippers estimates are. "international overnight" doesn't necessarily mean door to door.

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Julian,

Do not do this on the cheap. If you have a lot of lead time you could ship it through a company like Rockit Cargo or Packair Air Freight. If you know the airline you are flying with you can have it on the same flight. You can price the air freight cost vs. excess baggage. I'm not sure a "media rate" would apply for international flights.

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Baggage: A quick Google for American Airlines media rate gets me to their site's baggage allowance page.

http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInformation/baggage/baggageAllowance.jsp

$50/bag and have to be a member of any one of a bunch of media organizations, or 'a member of a commericial film production.' Think most of us could be described to be in that category!

Insurance: if you have a an insurance policy on your gear currently, it probably covers it while in transit...

FedEx: Quick estimate from FedEx.com shipping 6 cases weighing 50lbs each, from LA (I took the liberty of using 90210 as the zipcode, hope that didn't add to the price) to London with a value of US$40000:

Cost: $2200 - $3300 depending on expediency required...

Big difference in price. That said, I often find myself in an airport with a bunch of cases of gear and a carnet not worrying about sound, but worrying about customs.

I'd be curious to see how much Rock-it would charge...

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I am checking the insurance, and double checking!

Thank you Senator!

I will publish the full and final costs when I get them, estimates so for are around $3500.00 for delivery to the UK and return to the US ( Door to door ) this includes customs brokering too!!! Hooray!

Thanks again everyone

Julian

PS The job runs from June 4 to Sept 20, after then I'm free and available for work once again. Sad I'm missing the Summer in LA but see you soon after.

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" if you have a an insurance policy on your gear currently, it probably covers it while in transit... "

if you have a an insurance policy on your gear currently, it maybe covers it while in transit... :blink:

best to check! ::)

Time for a new hat, Michael? 'Call Your Insurer'?

A lot of us do work on location. What would be the point of having equipment insurance that didn't cover gear while in transit while we travel to location be it by plane, train or automobile?

R

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  • 1 month later...

Ok final Details are as follows.

The company we used in the end were a british based out fit called Dynamic International. They were customs broker, shipper and insurer all in one.

Total costs were - Shipping ( USA to UK ) this cost included carnet and full insurance - $3000.00

Return costs ( UK to USA ) - $ 1300

And even better, after advice from Mr Lightstone, the costs were all picked up by the production! Hooray!

Well off I go and I'l be back in the good old US of A in 3 months time! Have fun!

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