Shipping an RV from USA to UK/Europe

So we're back in the UK now and the motorhome has also followed us. So this video is talking you through shipping a motorhome from Baltimore in the USA to Liverpool in the UK. Did everything go to plan? Let's find out. So in order to prepare the van for shipping there are a couple of things you've got to think about. First off is the fuel. Now the shipping company only allow a quarter of tank of diesel as a maximum or gas depending on what it is. There is to be no grey water, no fresh water, all gas bottles must be completely empty. Now some shipping companies will ask you for a certificate to state that it's empty. So that's another thing you've got to think about. And obviously in terms of us we've got to empty the black waste and the cassette, all of which I've done over the last couple of days. So pretty much the premise of packing the van is if it looks empty then that's what they want in terms of the shipping company. As you can see here there's not a lot in it. Yes there are stuff in the cupboards but if you're looking through the window it looks empty with nothing in it. And you can see here again the bathroom is all completely empty as is the kitchen. And swinging all the way around to the front and the dashboard is completely empty of any electronic gadgets. And they tell you that do not take any electronics or leave any electronics in the van. So all your sat navs and your dash cams etc go with us on the plane. Now one of the other things that the shipping company suggests you do is to cover your upholstery and any beds with a plastic sheeting which you can see I've done here. Now there are two reasons for that. Firstly a ship and a port are very dusty places so you want to protect it from that. But secondly and probably most importantly sometimes the ship's crew like to use your RV as a bit of a resting place shall we say whilst they're on duty. Always best to be prepared. So here we are on Broning Highway and actually the sea bridge offices or in this case they're called Prime are at 2200 Broning Highway. So only about a mile away. You can see there the port in the distance and that's where we're heading. It's actually really light traffic considering the time of the day. It's just before eight o'clock and we're sort of turned into the port area now so you can actually tell a big difference. The last half a mile in there in the city centre almost is very chock-a-block. A Pride International are what they call the forwarding company for sea bridge who are the shipping company that we've gone with and they're based here on Broning Avenue. I'm just going in there now. What I'll do is I'll park up. I'm going to wait till nine o'clock. It's 8 30 now and at nine o'clock the laborious paperwork starts. So I'll see you guys in a bit. So here we are now. I've just been into the shipping office. Got all the paperwork done which was fairly painless and I'm now following the escort which is that guy in front there who's with American Shipping Services and he's going to take me to the customs at the port coming this way. It's not very far from the shipping company office only about a mile, mile and a half at the most until you get into the actual port itself and that's what these guys are here for to make sure that a. you know where you're going and you don't get lost but b. they know all the guys on the gate so they can just vouch for us and hopefully get through the customs etc will be a quick and easy That one there from Belgium and we're just now waiting for the guy to come and inspect it and what they do is they just take measurements to make sure it's still the same vehicle that's on all the dockets and information and then they're good to go. They give you your license back and everything else that you've given them in the customs office and here we are. Everything's ready to go so van I will see you on the other side of the pond. Good morning folks. Well it's Tuesday the 19th of December and I'm on my way to the port of Liverpool to pick up the van. Hopefully everything will be all right following the crossing. She's eventually arrived after a delay in Baltimore of about a week so hopefully everything will be fine. As you can see outside it's not a particularly great day. It's very rainy and the usual traffic that you come to expect in the UK that I really didn't miss when we're in the States. Clearly I'm not driving. In fact my dad is taking me to the port this morning. Say hi dad. Hi okay everybody. The port opens at eight o'clock so hopefully we'll be there shortly afterwards. We've got a long journey today so about 250 miles to where the van's going to be getting serviced and fixed and MOT'd for the next year so hopefully the mechanical issues that we experienced before we put her on the ship in Baltimore don't reappear so fingers crossed. But I'll get back to you once we get closer to the port of Liverpool. So you can see the docks in the distance there. Now this bit of the journey should be really simple in terms of picking up the van because the van has cleared customs. The forwarder phoned me the other day to let me know that the van has now cleared customs and it's just really picking up. So when you go to pick up the van in Liverpool you're literally just turning up to the front gate. You're giving them your ID to prove who you are obviously and then you jump on a bus by all accounts and that takes you to the customs release area where you basically take your bill of lading that you got in Baltimore give it to the sort of the clerk in the office there and she or he will then give you the keys and a slip that allows you to leave the port and then you're on your way so it's really very simple in terms of picking up the van when it arrives into the UK. So once you get to the port you basically just book in to the left hand lane on the entrance into the port and give them your ID tell them what you're here for and they send you to this little bus stop which is just here on the outside of the port and they send a little minibus to come and collect you and then once you're in there they take you around to the customs release area where you give them the paperwork show your ID and they should hopefully just give you the keys to the van and then they let you go and get it and you can drive it out and you're then on your own for getting out of the port and to go onwards to wherever you want to go. So let's hope it's as easy in reality as it seems to be in theory. So a bit of a rigmarole trying to get into the port because our forwarder couldn't make it today but he gave me instructions but those instructions were just ignored by everybody else so I've been hanging around a bit but thankfully somebody's now coming to pick me up and take me to the heavy lift area which is where the van is. I can't video in the port from this point onwards but hopefully once I've got the van and I'm out of the port again then I'll stop and we'll have a look around the van and see how it's doing. All right well here she is before I actually get in and drive I'm going to just have a walk around make sure there's no huge damage. I know there's a few scratches on the back end because I did them in Washington but it looks all right. It's fantastic to see you old girl. I tell you we've really missed this van. It's surprising how you get used to something and we have genuinely missed being in it. It's felt really weird to be in big houses but she looks great. Right I'm going to cut this video short because I'm not really supposed to be doing it but I suppose for record purposes certainly for damage etc I'm going to take the video. Looks like everything's still in. Obviously the plastic that we put on the sheeting is still intact so that's good and inside looks fine nothing looks to be missing anyway. So as you can see we're very happy to have the van back. Everything went fine but let's take a look at the breakdown of the costs. Now the shipping cost us four thousand seven hundred and fifty two dollars. The forwarder and port charges cost us two hundred and seventy five dollars. The escort cost us seventy five dollars and the marine insurance cost us three hundred and twenty six dollars. This is an exchange rate of one twenty five to the pound. So the total cost therefore in dollars and pounds is five thousand four hundred and forty dollars or four thousand three hundred and fifty two pounds. And don't forget this is one way only. Thanks for watching I hope you found this video useful. If you've got any questions pop them in the comments below and we will try and answer all those questions. If you've had similar experiences then put those experiences in the comments as well so that everybody else can share those experiences with you. Now we're off to Europe next so hopefully you'll want to tag along with us. Don't forget to like subscribe and ring that bell and we'll see you in the new year.