Guidance needed on Qantas Freight from Melbourne
 

Hi all,

I've been doing as much reading on the topic as I could find, but I was hoping for some guidance on shipping my bike from Melbourne to Bangkok via Qantas Freight.

Now as expected the guy on the phone said I need to go though an agent, but from what I understand I should be able to get the dangerous good certificate myself, and then take the bike to QF and sort it all out in a day or two?

If anyone has personally dealt with QF and can offer some guidance and advice, it would be greatly appreciated! Also and pointers for collecting in Bangkok would be a great help.

Otherwise, any recommended freight agents? :)

Thanks

Aden

Just an update, even after going to QF Tullamarine in person, it doesn't look like it's possible to use them without an agent.

They did recommend that I contact EnLog (previously DGM Australia) and so far throughout the process they've been great to deal with and have great knowledge on DG shipments. I'll let you know how it goes.

Hi, Did you get sorted with QF?

I'm trying to organise my shipping back to Europe and have the same issue with QF.

Cheers
Jaime

Check out Tradelanes in Melbourne. I used this company to send from Sydney to Helsinki by sea (this was in April 2008), and they knew their stuff. Didn´t even matter, that I was in Sydney because they had an agent there, and I could handle everything via that agent. Cost me only about 500 euros at Australian end (plus 180 euros to pick up at Helsinki), although especially here keep in mind, that it was a long time ago... oh, and it took almost two months by sea! They could handle airfreight as well.

Hi Aden:

I have never dealt with Qantas, but I'm a retired aircraft pilot who has taught dangerous goods regulations within my industry for many years, and have shipped my bike by air many times.

You don't have to 'get' a DG certificate, in the sense that anyone else 'issues' such a certificate. It's not an inspection or approval document.

It is a DECLARATION that has to be filled out by the SHIPPER (you) that states what the nature of the DG item to be shipped is, what classification it falls into, and what packing instruction you have followed to enable it to be shipped by air.

I wrote a big thread about this 10 years ago, here is the link to it: Rules for shipping motorcycles by air freight. I've been retired for two years now, but I doubt anything related to motorcycle shipping has changed in that time.

To understand the process of shipping DGs, you need to appreciate that the carrier (Qantas) is forbidden by law from filling in the DG declaration. This makes sense - it is the shipper (you) that has to declare what you are shipping, the carrier can't just take your word for it.

Shipping a motorcycle by air is simple. It is classified as a "Vehicle, Flammable Liquid Powered". That is UN class 3166. There is a packing instruction for that class of goods that tells you how to safely 'pack' it for air shipment, that is packing instruction 900.

Go to your local Qantas freight office, and ask to look at their DG Regulations book. Read packing instruction 900 to see if it has changed since I posted the image of the instruction 10 years ago. Then ask them for some blank DG declaration forms, and fill them in according to the instructions on the thread I referenced before. That's basically it.

Show up with the fuel tank 1/4 full or less (you don't have to drain it). If the battery is properly secured on the moto the way the manufacturer put it there, then that is sufficient to meet the requirement that the battery won't tip over or cause short circuits. You only need to disconnect the battery if the bike has an alarm on it.

Here's another related discussion that you can read for additional background information about the DG documentation: Shipping your Motorcycle with Air Canada. That's a long discussion (96 posts at present), but there is a lot of information in there debunking common myths and misunderstandings about air shipment of motorcycles.

Finally, a word in your ear if you plan to bring that moto back to Australia in the future: Make sure it is 'showroom clean', as if it was brand new and had never been ridden, before you ship it back to Oz. That island you live on has some really tough quarantine regulations, if the agricultural inspectors find even a spot of dust (might harbour some fungi or seed or insect egg) or even a spot of bug guts (might harbour the egg of some insect that would destroy Australia overnight), they will have a fit and you might wind up paying very high fees to have the bike quarantined and steam-cleaned. In fact, you might want to go visit Australian Customs next time you are at the airport, and ask them what to expect when you ship the bike back.

Michael

I came across this thread and was sorry to see you were never thanked for this helpful information, so: thanks Michael!