Vehicle shipping logistics
We move cars between North America and Europe by the method the car needs: RoRo, container, enclosed truck or air. We run the filings that decide whether it sails on time.
- United States, United Kingdom and European Union
- Agreed-value all-risks cover via a regulated broker
- Licensed customs brokers instructed and managed
Method
Four ways a car crosses an ocean
A quote engine sells the cheapest of the four. The car decides, not the lane.
RoRo — roll-on, roll-off
Driven aboard and lashed to deck rings. Cheapest per unit, with sailings from Southampton, Liverpool, Bremerhaven and Antwerp-Bruges. The trade-offs: the car must start, drive and steer, the keys stay with the terminal, personal effects are prohibited, and a modern car carrier's decks are enclosed but ventilated, so the crossing is made in sea air. Right for a robust modern car, wrong for fresh paint or a non-runner.
Container — 20ft sole-use and 40ft shared
A 40ft container takes three or four cars on steel racking, usually the best value of the four. A 20ft sole-use box holds one car, with full control of loading and timing. The car can be non-running and the keys stay with you. The binding constraint is the door aperture. A standard 40ft opening is roughly 7ft 8in wide by 7ft 5in high, narrower than the interior, so a wide car can fit the box and not the doors.
Enclosed and covered transport
Covered carriage at both ends, and supervised loading. In the United States enclosed multi-car carriage runs at roughly USD 0.90 to USD 1.80 a mile against USD 0.60 to USD 1.20 open, and a single-vehicle load adds 30 to 50 per cent again; in Europe, two to three times an open carrier's per-kilometre rate. Check the carrier's cargo limit: enclosed operators commonly hold USD 250,000 to USD 1,000,000, below the value of many cars we move.
Air freight for exceptional vehicles
Rational when the date cannot move: a concours, an auction week, a race meeting. Scheduled main-deck carriage runs in the order of USD 8,000 to USD 16,000 per vehicle transatlantic; a full freighter charter is commonly quoted at EUR 150,000 to EUR 250,000. Three to ten days door to door, and a charter can be assembled inside 72 hours.
Comparison
Choosing a method
Read the exposure column first. It usually settles the answer before cost does.
| Method | Best for | Vehicle must be | Typical cost position | Exposure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RoRo | Robust modern cars, daily drivers | Running and free of personal effects | Lowest | Ventilated deck, sea air, keys held ashore |
| Shared 40ft container | Most collector and modern-classic cars | Within racking tolerance | Low to mid | Sealed box, shared with two or three others |
| Sole-use 20ft or dedicated 40ft | High-value, non-running or wide cars | Able to clear the door aperture | Mid to high | Sealed, braced under our supervision |
| Air freight | Hard-dated events, auctions and concours | Prepared to the air carrier's conditions | Highest | Least handling, shortest exposure |
Relative cost between methods on one lane, not a quotation. Actual cost turns on lane, season, dimensions, condition and value. As at 2026.
Process
How a shipment runs
Six stages. Documents are named at each one, because paperwork rather than the vessel costs a client a sailing.
Survey and quote
We start with the car, not the lane. Dimensions, ride height, weight and running condition decide the method before price does. We take a dated photographic condition record, then set out route, sailings and costs in writing.
Collection and inland transport
Covered collection from seller, dealer or auction house, with a second condition record at handover. Cross-border road movement in Europe runs under CMR liability and needs its own customs regime — T1 transit, temporary admission or returned goods relief. Cars bound for the United States are steam-cleaned: CBP requires the undercarriage free of foreign soil.
Export documentation and clearance
Where sailings are missed. For a used vehicle leaving the United States, Electronic Export Information is filed in AES. The ITN, VIN and title then go to CBP at least 72 hours before export: the original title or a certified copy, plus two copies. A financed car needs written lienholder consent on letterhead, with the VIN, originally signed. Out of the UK or EU, an export declaration runs against the exporter's EORI, with the commercial invoice.
Loading and sailing
CBP requires the Importer Security Filing, ISF 10+2, on US-bound ocean cargo at least 24 hours before lading. The carrier then issues the bill of lading, the document of title that releases the car. Port to port typically runs 8 to 26 days — eleven nights Liverpool to New York, around twenty-four to the US West Coast.
Import clearance
We instruct and manage a licensed customs broker; we do not file entries ourselves. Into the United States, a CBP entry summary on form 7501, with EPA form 3520-1 and DOT form HS-7 declared. Into the UK or EU, an import declaration, with duty on the customs value and import VAT on the duty-inclusive total.
Delivery and registration
Covered delivery to your address, with a final condition record. In the UK, HMRC must be told through NOVA within 14 days of arrival, and registration runs on form V55/5. In the United States, federal release is not a title: the state authority wants the stamped 7501, the filed HS-7 and 3520-1, and often a VIN inspection. More in our USA to UK import guide.
Documentation
Documents we prepare or collect
The set differs by direction; we confirm at survey which apply and collect them before booking. Requirements are as published by CBP, HMRC and DVLA, as at 2026.
Bill of lading
Issued by the carrier at loading. The document of title that releases the car.
Bill of sale or commercial invoice
Evidences the declared customs value at both ends. CBP assesses duty on the price paid or payable.
Title or foreign registration certificate
Establishes the ownership chain and, on older cars, the date of manufacture.
AES filing and ITN
For a used vehicle leaving the US, filed by a US resident, 72 hours before export.
Importer Security Filing (10+2)
Lodged at least 24 hours before lading, for US-bound ocean cargo.
EPA form 3520-1 and DOT form HS-7
Emissions and safety declarations filed with the US entry. See the 25-year rule.
Lienholder or lessor consent
For a financed or leased US vehicle: a letter on the lender's letterhead naming the VIN, signed in original.
NOVA notification and DVLA V55/5
HMRC notified within 14 days of arrival; NOVA cleared before DVLA will register.
Cover
Marine cargo insurance, and what a liability limit is not
A carrier's liability is not insurance. A bill of lading, trading conditions and the CMR convention cap what a carrier owes, usually by weight, and put the burden of proof on you. Enclosed carriers commonly hold cargo cover of USD 250,000 to USD 1,000,000, below the value of many cars we handle. That gap is the owner's unless insured separately.
Institute Cargo Clauses (A) is the all-risks standard, excluding war, inherent vice and deliberate damage. Clauses (B) and (C) are named-peril and narrower. A total-loss-only policy pays when the car is destroyed or the vessel lost, and nothing on a crushed corner. All-risks is the starting point for a collector car.
Then valuation. The default wording values cargo at invoice plus ten per cent — wrong for an appreciating asset with no comparable. A valued policy fixes an agreed value at inception and pays it on total loss, without arguing market value. We place all-risks cover at an agreed value through a regulated marine broker, settled before the car moves. The premium, commonly 1.5 to 2.5 per cent of insured value, is its own line. Exclusions and a deductible apply, and we set them out.
Corridors
The two transatlantic corridors
Each direction has its own sequence, its own deadlines and its own failure modes.
United States to United Kingdom
East Coast, Gulf and West Coast origins into Southampton, Liverpool, Bristol/Portbury and Sheerness. Title and AES first, then the sailing, then NOVA within 14 days and the DVLA file.
USA to UK shippingUnited Kingdom to United States
Southampton, Liverpool and Tyne against Brunswick, Baltimore, New York/New Jersey, Charleston and Port Hueneme. Brunswick is the largest US vehicle gateway on 2025 volumes. ISF at 24 hours, EPA and DOT declarations at entry, and the state titling question we ask before you buy.
UK to USA shipping
Questions
Shipping questions, answered plainly
Three to six weeks, door to door. The ocean leg is 8 to 26 days by port pair — the visible part, and rarely the part that slips. Collection runs two to four days; the export cut-offs sit at 72 and 24 hours; clearance and delivery take 5 to 14 days. Air freight compresses the whole sequence to three to ten days.
Container, on almost any car bought for what it is rather than what it does. The sealed box answers the four things RoRo asks of a vehicle in one move, and it accepts a car that will not start. Full comparison in our RoRo versus container guide.
Not on RoRo — carriers and terminals prohibit it. In a container it is possible, but anything inside joins the customs declaration at destination, usually falls outside the marine cargo policy, and raises the odds of an examination. We advise against it.
Not by the carrier. A bill of lading or CMR note caps liability and puts the burden of proof on you. We place separate all-risks cover at an agreed value through a regulated broker, subject to its clause set, exclusions and deductible.
A licensed customs broker, instructed and managed by us. Filing entries is regulated work; we do not hold ourselves out as brokers. We assemble the file, brief the broker and hold the classification position. One contact throughout, as set out in how we work.
We quote per shipment rather than publishing rates, because a rate on a website is a promise that expires. The structure: freight, origin collection, export formalities, terminal handling, documentation, brokerage, duty and import VAT or applicable tariff, federal user fees, marine premium and delivery. Drivers: lane, season, dimensions, running condition, shared against sole-use, declared value.
Next step
Tell us about the car and the deadline
Give us the vehicle, both addresses and the date that matters. We come back with the method, the lane, an honest timeline and the cost structure. If the car is not bought yet, vehicle sourcing and shipping run as one engagement.