Canada USA Cross Border Shipping
How To Ship Your Heavy Equipment Cross Border
Where To Start?
Shipping your Heavy Equipment cross border from Canada to the USA or the United States to Canada is not as tricky as it might first appear. We’ll give you some insight on what to expect and who can best help you.
Custom Brokers
In first instance you’ll want to find out if you can actually import or export your heavy equipment. Custom Brokers, also known as Border Brokers are a great starting point.
What’s A Customs Broker?
A Customs Broker is a professional agent licensed by the Government to act on the behalf of an importer or exporter.
These experts can guide and advise you and ensure all the necessary paperwork is completed in advance of a trucker hauling your equipment cross border.
What Paperwork Do I Need?
Here are some examples of what you can expect a Customer Broker to ask of you.
- What type of equipment you have? Different types have different rules.
- What age is the equipment?
- Ensuring your motorized equipment has an EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) sticker or the DOT sticker
- Ensure you have an invoice for the equipment you need to ship.
The broker will walk you through exactly what you’ll need to do. You might find this resource useful if your looking for a Customs Broker.
Shipping Quote, Finding a Trucker
This can be equally as daunting. So many Carriers and Owner Operators. Where to start?
Start with Trusted Dispatch. It’s a digital loadboard that connects available loads to drivers that have free capacity and that are, or will be, passing through the area. Including those that have running authority to carry out cross border shipping.
The platform is automated and uses leading edge technology and algorithms to accurately quote, post and match drivers to these loads. And it’s all done quickly.
The rates are fair to the drivers and the shippers. The shipper can save up to 30% on average and the driver is getting extra revenue.
All of the drivers are vetted and have full cargo insurance. The best part about this platform is the ability to review the driver that accepts your haul before you confirm. You get direct contact with the driver so it’s easy to make final arrangements and send information to your Customs Broker.
Getting Your Shipping Quote
It’s really easy. Visit the site, www.trusteddispatch.com or download the app through the Apple App Store, or the Google Play Store.
If you’re on the website click the “Get Your Instant Shipping Quote“
Now all you’ll need to do is enter a pick up location, drop off location. Then enter the model of the equipment. The platform has a built in equipment specification search tool. It will pre-populate the dimensions and weight for you. You can also enter these manually or make changes if needed.
The rate is then displayed after you enter an e-mail address as a first time user.
Pretty straightforward. If you like the price you can then post the load to the driver database.
The website has some useful how to guides and videos that walk you through the process and also information on shipping cross border.
Get Your Equipment Clean
Perhaps your shipping a piece of Farm Machinery, or it’s a piece of Construction Equipment. You’ll want to make sure it’s cleaned and ready for export/import. For example, ensuring you’re equipment is not soil contaminated!
There are professional cleaning and even refurbishment services available.
If the machine just needs a through clean before shipping take a look at this resource with some more tips on getting your equipment ready to ship.
