HELP Export from Australia - oil to be drained??
 

Hi folks,

i've just been told that i would have to drain the oil off my bike if i want to ship it back to Germany! I've never had that before.

Does anybody have an idea how to avoid this ( i can go on the last drops of fuel to "my" ship but not without oil i guess!!) ??

Regards form Euroa north of Melbourne

I shipped with Tradelanes from Melbourne, crate from BMW (for free). Didn't have to drain oil at all.

new rules since 2010!?
 

Thanks for the quick response.

In the meantime i figured out that since this year 2010 (again) (and possibly thanks to 9-11) any vehicle is supposed to be a "dangerous good" therefore this would all be necessary. :confused1:
I will see what happens next week, maybe it's just on the paper... I will tell you what happened when i am back in Germany.

But anyway - if someone has got further information, please post it!

Firstly WHO are you dealing with?

Secondly, yes for a motorcycle you will need a dangerous goods declaration.

Thirdly, oil is not by itself as far as I am aware considered dangerous goods as it it not explosive. Take for instance cooking oil, olive oil, its the same as motor oil.

The key things to remember is that oil in a sealed compartment is not considered dangerous goods. The combination of battery and fuel is together dangerous goods.

It is highly recommended by most if not all shipping companies to disconnect and tape the battery terminals to avoid any electrical charge/conduction. AND to purge the fuel tank of all petrol.

My experience is 3 years old, so something might have changed already... but I think asking you to drain oil from your bike is just a misunderstanding of the rules by your freight forwarder, or the company, that actually ships the thing.
　
Happened to me, too, when airlifting from Indonesia to Australia: the cargo agent told me to drain oil, I said I dont think that is required (and that this same vehicle already flew from India to Thailand, with the oil inside). Didnt help. So after a while I was too tired to wrestle with them, and I drained it, because it could´ve meant unnecessary delays, if I didnt do that. I actually got a bit pissed about them and thought what are they gonna come up with next, that I took out the fuel tank, dismantled the fuel pump, and drained the tank to the very last drop, too!

If you send by air, there are specific IATA DG-regulations in a very thick book, everything should be there (and draining oil was not mentioned, when I checked, but like I said, this was some time ago).

Just contact Stewart from Tradelanes (dot com dot au I think). He'll know the details. He's got an exceptional track record for shipping cars and bikes around the world, never heard a bad word about him.

Back home
 

Just to let you know: obviously some people were not very well informed. I didn't have to drain any oil. The only requirement was to empty the fuel tank as good as possible. So the bike went into the crate with some litres fuel in and the battery disconnected. That's it. Well, and the crate got a sticker "Dangerous Good", the related sheet of paper cost about 110AUD. Lovely, it contained only my name and address and some details of the motorbike (make, model, etc).

Thanks for your support. I wish you all the best for 2011!