Good Afternoon,
My name is Amanda Lucas and I am the customer service manager with Sea Star Line. We are one of the companies that someone gratiously provided a link to within this thread. (Thank you By the way!) Ive been a member of this forum for some time and ran across this post and though I could be of assistance.
There are actually several ways to handle this vehicle shipment from Texas, there are benefits and challenges with each method. I hope this information helps!
First, Sea Star Line offers a door pick up within a container for a vehicle; but it can be trcky to coordinate. Here's why; The vehicle will have to be driven to a loading ramp that provides access to drive the vehicle into a container. The floor of a container sits about 4 feet from the ground and has no loading ramp like a U Haul would. These loading ramps are sometimes difficult to find but generally moving and storage companies have them. Additionally you have to be a masterful driver with good "exiting through the window skills"
(Kind of like the Dukes of Hazzard) because you will not have room to open the door fully once you drive the vehicle into the container. If this is the easiest preference for you and you feel confident in your "Bo or Luke Duke skills", we have several references for loading ramps where we can help you coordinate to load your vehicle.
Sea Star Line also maintans a relationship with many of the third party companies that provide the "middle man" service. There are benefits to these companies when it comes to moving a personal vehicle to Puerto Rico for someone who does not regularly ship vehicles or goods to PR. These companies will create the shipping documents needed and they also generally understand the logistics of the port facilities, the hours of operation, the port and homeland security requirements for persons to get onto and off of the port facilities. (Since 9-11 the ports are very strict about whom gets onto and off of the ports). So, you will pay more to go through those companies - but they do provide a service (For Vehicles) that may make the shipping of your vehicle easier for you. We would be happy to provide a list of names of some of the third parties we work with for you to choose from if you choose this option.
Lastly, You can also bring your vehicle to the port directly and take a visit to the wonderful state of Florida to visit the beach while you are here! As the gentleman stated within the posting, we drive you vehicle directly on board the ship where it is stowed nice and cozy with the other vehicles below deck. This is once of the safest ways to ship your vehicle. We have moved vehicles for the military, for thousands and thousands of personal shippers such as yourself and we even moved all of the vehicles that were used in the Fast and Furious (4) movie! (Even that super beautiful Mustang...Eleanor!) So rest assured your vehicle will be placed in expert hands.
The customer service team at Sea Star Line will be happy to assist you on providing any needed documents for shipping, we can create all needed shipping documents for the ocean transportation, we will also file the needed regulatory agency filings and file all needed information with Arbitrios (The PR Tax offices). And of course we will provide all needed information for getting onto the port through security and releasing your vehicle at the terminal in SJU.
The choice is yours! I hope this helps!
If you would like more information on your shipment; no matter whom you use to carry your vehicle to Puerto Rico, we would be happy to provide you with some helpful hints, and advice is always free!
Feel free to give us a call @ 1-877-SSL-SHIP. Choose option 2 for customer service and then press 3 to ship a vehicle. Please tet the customer service agent know that you received this post from Amanda Lucas and they will walk you through everything you ever needed to know!
Happy trails and Good Luck!
Amanda Lucas
Customer Service Manager
Sea Star Line
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Transportation of Moving a vehicle.
