Air Freight UK Registered Bike from KL to Vancouver - Canadian Customs Charges
 

Hello everyone,

I'm in the process of arranging the air freighting of my UK registered bike from Kuala Lumpur to Vancouver, Canada.

So that I can best work out my options, I'd really like to have an idea of the likely costs and charges of getting the bike out of Vancouver Airport customs.

Has anybody done this recently or know the likely costs? Or perhaps someone in that area knows a phone number or person I can call to get a good idea.

Thanks in advance.

Hello, anybody out there? Feels a little lonely, here all by myself.

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These are the contact details for SWISSPORT in Vancouver


General Manager Cargo YVR:Name: Earl BennettPhone: +1 604 273-8856Fax: +1 604 273-3903E-mail:earl.bennett@swissport.com Sales Cargo North America:Name: Barry LienPhone: +1 404 767-8785 ext. 6228E-mail:barry.lien@swissport.com Our services (Cargo Services)

• Bonded Warehousing
• Cargo and Mail Handling
• Full Freighter Ramp Handling
• Full Export & Import Document Handling including AWB Check & Data Capture
• Mail Handling
• ULD Control and Management
• Cargo Screening

• Back Office Support
• Planning & Disposition
• Ready for Carriage Service
• ACI reporting
• Dangerous Goods Handling, including Radio Active
• Live and Perishable Cargo Handling

For information about our services please contact:

Earl Bennett
Phone: +1 604 273-8856
Fax: +1 604 273-3903
earl.bennett@swissport.com


If you airfreight your bike then it will end up in one of the airport warehouses until local customs allow entry into Canada. Swissport costs will be typical but the actual warehouse may well be different depending on which airline you use to transport the bike. They will give you an idea though.


To get an accurate idea of costs then you will need to know the weight and dimensions (the chargeable weight on the air waybill) and then email
them over to Swissport and ask. Watch out for storage charges....they can add up if you don't collect quickly.


Hope this helps


Dave

Hi Dave,

I've just pinged them an email so let's see what they say.

Is this something you have done yourself? This is my first air freight into a country so it's all new to me. Can a lot of the paperwork and leg work be done by myself, as oppose to using an agent? Any way to keep the costs down is good in my book and true to my Yorkshire roots.

Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

I am in the airfreight business based at Heathrow so I know the basics
but there are always small differences at each airport/country.


What you buy with air cargo is a shipment to an airport of destination on a particular airline. So you will select an airline and fly your bike into YVR (Vancouver)


Upon arrival at the destination airport the carrier will have its own warehouse or (most likely) a contracted warehouse operated by a third party such as Swissport. They will charge for their services and you will have to pay some costs for handling PLUS costs for customs clearance.


Customs clearance can be done by yourself (so long as Customs have a physical presence and its not all done electronically like the UK these days) or you can appoint a customs clearance broker (also know as a freight forwarder in some places) to perform the clearance on your behalf. You will have to pay for this service but sometimes this can be cost effective. Google Customs Clearance Brokers at Vancouver for a selection and drop a couple of emails off to get an idea of their charges.


Make sure that everyone knows your bike is just a temp import into Canada ( you can get one year before it needs to be exported) and it should be pretty straightforward.


Be prepared to pay extra costs on export from BKK for dangerous goods declarations as your bike is officially classified as such. It may be advisable to declare the bike as 'Personal effects' and 'One yam/hon/suz/bmw motorcycle registration number ***** ) and show yourself as the shipper and also as the consignee with a notification that
"To be collected Vancouver Airport" is stated.


No hard and fast rules to this game, choose a carrier and have a chat with them. Use a local freight forwarder to help with the export if you want, they may be able to negotiate a cheaper deal with the airline than you can.


It will be fine.......if I can answer any questions fire away


Regards Dave

Cheers Dave

I've fired off emails to about 5 different brokers so now we play the waiting game.

Maybe our paths will cross on that fateful day that I finally ship the bike back into the UK.

Got some replies back and it was an across the board consensus that a customs broker cannot help with doing a one off temporary import. Which is fine by me.

You going to do your own then? No reason why not and normally Customs are pretty helpful when its a personal job like this will be. Good luck and let us know how it goes

Got the bike through Canadian customs today, very straightforward and took no time at all. Contacted customs yesterday, they went and inspected the bike by poking a hole in the plastic and looking for mud on the tyre. I went back to the airport this morning and got the cargo company paperwork stamped by customs and they released the bike. Total cost to the Canadian cargo company $83Can, customs tried to charge for the inspection but I pointed out that previously they had told me it was free, and they waived the fee. Result.

well done