Relocation – Relocation… A Moving Story!

Derek Garlick , Country Manager for ALLIED PICKFORDS (U.A.E) offers a guide to the those considering uprooting family and home!

Moving internationally can be an exciting time for you & your family.  The challenge of adopting a new culture, meeting new people, exploring a new destination and trading in your old world for a new one can prove quite an enjoyable experience.

 However, moving homes can also be a particularly stressful and vital event in a family’s life with other individuals to consider, so many issues to deal with and many little things to remember.  It is important to undertake some planning and research to ensure you understand the requirements involved and an appreciation of the laws and regulations governing the importation of your personal and household goods into your new country.

While sorting through the various aspects of relocating overseas, it is suggested to research, know and comprehend the several modes involved in transporting personal effects globally as the same may assist and make a difference when attempting to achieve a successful international removal.

The vast majority of household goods and personal effects moved internationally are forwarded by sea surface aboard modern containerised vessels.  In moving goods internationally, there are several options available governing the level of service provided, the length of time taken for the journey and the reliability and frequency of the ocean carrier.  Some carriers provide a direct service in which the consignment remains on the same vessel for the entire journey, from the original port through the destination port.  Other carriers provide services that tranship the cargo en route, meaning it is moved from one vessel to another at some stage during the trip.  As a general rule, a direct sailing will be more expensive than a transhipment service.  However, this cost factor is normally offset by the transit time as transhipments are usually longer at sea.  A transhipment service, which at times cannot be prevented depending on origin and destination routing, also incorporates additional risks as the cargo is transhipped in foreign ports where there may be little control from either the starting or end location. 

There are several different container categories such as sole use where the container carries only your goods and under normal circumstances, the items can be loaded directly into the container with the same being sealed at your residence.  As a rule, because the entire container is utilized, this is the most economical method of shipping while generally providing faster transit times with no delays due to waiting for other freight to fill the container. 

The less than container load consignment method is utilized when there is insufficient cargo to justify the use of an entire container.  Shipping companies and freight consolidators provide this service by consolidating freight from different shippers to a common destination.  When shipping via LCL, the goods are required to be crated to ensure their protection during transit.  Unfortunately, due to the necessity of crating the goods and the higher freight cost involved, this can be on occasions, an expensive manner in which to forward goods overseas.

Share use container is an alternate service whereby several household and personal effects shipments are combined into containers destined to common and popular locations.  This allows the removals company to pass the freight savings on to you.  In addition and because only household and personal effects are loaded into “groupage” containers, there is no necessity to crate the goods prior to shipping.  Suffice it to say, this decreases cost but even though the alternative is economical, longer transit times may be experienced whilst awaiting the receipt of other consignments needed to complete the loading of the container prior to dispatch.

The option of moving some or all your goods via air is also worth considering.  Many prospective transferees elect to take a “survival” shipment of their personal belongings via airfreight as it generally allows quick arrival of the basic items required to commence life in your new country.  Whilst as a general rule airfreight is more expensive that surface freight, there are situations where even entire households may prove to be more economical to be forwarded via air.  As with the services offered by surface carriers, there are similar options available with air carriers, with consolidated and transhipment services being widely available depending on the origin / destination airport and the relevant airline being utilized for the transport.