Things have been pretty busy with work but the main reason is that there just hasn't been much to report on the Airstream front.
We had a few delays on the US side with overland transport and then it seems we missed a couple of ships heading out of the port just north of LA.
The good news is that our Tradewind apparently arrived at port in Brisbane last night.
I'm in sydney for work and Ghita is booked in for the customs inspection at 2pm today. The port authority requires special clearance for access to the port and there are particular clothing requirements. Ghita needs to wear steel capped boots and a hi-vis vest : )
She has some (non-steelcapped) Blundstones and has borrowed a vest from our neighbour who says he was called a "new age trucker" when he last wore it to port in similar circumstances. I hope Ghita takes some photos.
Depending on how the inspection goes, the Airstream may be released tomorrow or it may need to be cleaned which will cause a delay of a few days.
We have some overland transport standing by. Basically a tilt tray truck that will take the Airstream 200kms down to Northern New South Wales where it will reside at the mother-in-law's place until the site is fenced and levelled at our place nearby.
I hope to update tomorrow with details of how the inspection and associated portside craziness goes. We've heard horror stories.
In the meantime, we have been watching the ship's progress from LA to Tokyo to Brisbane on a ship tracking website. Yesterday as the "Delhi Highway" drew closer to port, it seemed to do a little victory lap. Woohoo!
: )
Congratulations on your new Airstream. We renovated a 1962 Safari. You have posted some great information. In hind site, it would have been valuable for us to read such a blog. I hope to share this blog on our site for future Airstreamers! Peggy
ReplyDeleteThanks Peggy.
ReplyDeleteMatt.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteI'm originally from Ohio (Home of Airstream) and now based in Sydney. Like yourself, I am appalled with the overabundance of daft corrugated boxes traveling around Australia with 80's like graphics stuck on the side of them. ))-- Which frieght company did you use to bring your airstream over and what method did you use, RORO or Flat pack? Thanks for you blog and figures crossed the AUD will spike up again by the time of purchase.
Cheers,
Rob
Hey Rob,
ReplyDeleteThe shippers that we used were a small outfit called Kiawah Lines. They were based in WA and managed delivery to ports all over Australia.
Unfortunately, we have heard that they are no longer in business as of about September 2011.
They may pop back up again, keep an eye out.
In the meantime, the best place to look for shippers is in the back of some of the car magazines. I think "Unique Car" is a good place to start. Thousands of cars are imported every month, this is the bread and butter for shippers. Most of them are experienced with trailers / vans too. When we got quotes, prices varied wildly. The industry is very closed with deals going on between players etc. and prices set through some questionable means. It is very hard for new players to enter. Don't be discouraged though, just persevere, get quotes, speak to your shipper on the phone and request references. Make sure you follow up references.
RORO is the only practical approach these days. Flat-rack was a fad that grew up out of the gulf war logistics but it turns out it just isn't efficient for shipping cars and trailers - it works best with standardized palette sizes which airstreams rarely conform to. Additionally on vehicle transport ships they need to move stuff around during the journey as they move some vehicles off and on at varios ports and change vehicles to other ships - our airstream changed ships in Tokyo. RORO is pretty much the only method that shippers will do nowadays.
A shipping contaier is the only other option but anything over 23 foot won't fit without a good chance of damaging the sides.
Good luck. Let me know if I can help any further.
Matt.
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeleteJust found this post on the internet that you had an old Airstream caravan. I am seeking one for a professional photoshoot later this month (May 2012). It is a paid job of course.
Maybe you still have yours or if you sold it the new owner might be interested?
Worth an ask.
Regards,
Shan
Vantage Agency
www.vantagemanagement.com.au
shan@vantagemanagement.com.au
02 9999 6622