Managed Freight vs. Tropical Shipping

Search some of the older message threads. The cost of moving a vehicle and the process is discussed in detail on almost a weekly basis.

If you hire someone to handle the process it is going to cost you $200 - $300. Im' sure Joe's uncle Fred knows someone who will do it for less, but do you want to turn over you cars and several thousand dollars to an unknown?

Jim

Taxes are based on value if foreign, should be around 3.4%. Registration and licensing are one in the same around $75 including the title. There is a road tax rated at 14 or 16 cents per pound. Not sure if the personal tax applies to cars. The local services that do the work for you seldom, if at all, touch your car.

Isn't Managed Freightthe ones that shipped SteveN's car to St. Croix?
Should be simple enough just to take the car to Tropical or Crowley and ship it yourself and then get one of the local services to do the job on this end. It just bothers me to no end to read comments like the one above about turning a car over to an unknown. Comments like that make no sense. You are moving to an island where you know no one. There are many honorable people here that their reputations depend on their being sucessful and I don't think anyone would recommend anyone that wasn't.
Ronnie

Ronnie:

If you are hiring someone to import your car you have to pay in advance the fees and taxes in cash or by wire transfer. Depending on the value and weight of your car this can be several thousand dollars

In addition your agent has a power of attorney and the title to your car.

My point is be sure you know who you are dealing with and their reputation. As with everything you oftern get what you pay for.

Also the tax on cars is 4%.

Jim

Thats not how it was with us. We shipped two cars last August. We did give them our power of attorney but never paid a dime until we picked the cars up on STX.

I can't argue the cost/benefit of either way of shipping, but we were very happy with Tropical.

Paying the car tax and getting the cars out of customs is a multi step process. But it was kind of like a treasure hunt. We started at Tropical. Tropical told us where to go next. The next office told is where to go, etc.

It took us about half a day to get the cars out of customs and get them to an insurance agent. The agent had a guy, who for $40 a car got them registered.

We picked the cars up on Monday morning and by Tuesday afternoon had tags and were ready to drive.

So we paid for shipping, taxes, insurance, registration and an extra $80 for the registration service.

Jim,
The people here do not require money from you until the car is here. Don't know of any that do it otherwise.
It's very simple to ship a car.
If someone in Florida has found it's a good way to make a living, then good. I don't know what those in Florida require you to pay up front. I would be cautious too.
It seemed to me you were talking about the local expeditors.
Ronnie

Managed Freight and Tropical are two totally seperate entities. Tropical is the actual shipping company with the docks, cranes,carriers, ships, captains, etc. Managed Freight (Lee) guides you through the process and handles the registration process in VI. With him you have someone to call directly about anything. Can you do it without him, sure. It depends on how much involvement you want to have. For me, after reading the threads about the local DMV and the stresses involved, I decided to go with the low stress route. When I travel, and especially on vacations, the first things that I have to deal with when I get off the plane I want to make sure are not a hassle. It just kills the motivation right off the bat when your first interactions are bad. Just think of it this was, there are people out there who pay other people to walk their dogs. It kind of puts things in perspective.

Steve

Oh yea, Tropical was the one who made the mistake on the shipping of my car to the wrong island. It wasn't even a VI (bad worker) issue. It was the people in West Palm, Fl who made the mistake. Who would of thunk it.

So, this Managed Freight guy is located where? Have not heard of him before around here.
Ronnie

His name is Lee and his phone number is 1-340-277-4504. I think steve mentioned in a previous post that Lee lives on STX, which may explain a little.

SailAway wrote:

Lee lives on STX,
> which may explain a little.
Ain't touching that one!!

Have never heard of any of the guys over here taking your money in advance, other than the registration money when the car gets here. Things are different in STX!
Ronnie

We just confirmed that we'd work with Lee at Managed Freight to ship our car as well. I too share your confusion Amanda. One thing I'm concerned about is that when I confirmed my interest in having Managed Freight handle the whole transaction, e.g. customs, DMV, etc., the price immediately went up about $200. I'm concerned that this is a trend. I know there is info. about this regularly on the Board, but I'm still confused. I'd like clarification on the pros and cons of using Managed Freight, or another broker. Obviously convenience is a major pro and cost is a con. I don't want to be gouged for convenience sake. I was quoted $150 for DMV fees, for example.
Thanks for all of your help!

Does anyone have the numbers or websites to managed freight or tropical. We are trying to decide how we are going to get the cars down to STT from MIA. Thanks,.

managedfreight.com

They (Lee) have been extremely helpful!
Nioka, y'all will probably have to ship from West Palm Beach, Fl. I highly recommend Managed Freight. We just sent them our info and confirmed that we will be using their services. Call and talk to Lee.....there is an 800 number! He's very nice.

Bnk,
Lee sent us a detailed breakdown of the costs. We oppted to do a lot of the leg work ourselves which brought costs down to something we could afford. He'll work with you!! We are using Managed Freight, but the actual shipping is through Tropical....does that make sense? From what I have gathered, it's easier to go through Managed because WE aren't dealing directly with tropical.......they weren't very helpful over the phone and their website is a nightmare.....okay, I hope I have been of some help to y'all.
CHEERS!!!
Amanda

Ok.. Time to add my two cents worth. I went through this process about a month ago bringing my minivan from MIA to STT and it went extremely well. I too had the same scepticisms about using an expeditor, but I'm glad I did. From the time my vehicle landed I had it delivered to where I am staying, road-ready, in under 3 days. Mind you, you will have to insure the vehicle yourself and give them a copy to clear the vehicle.

You won't begin to appreciate the time (and money) it saves you if you aren't on island to experience the delays and snafoos you can encounter. I used Managed Freight and am happy I did. Can you deal directly with Tropical? Sure you can, but they only ship not clear your stuff. Managed Freight is also handling my personal effects as well as my vehicle and the information flow is current and accurate. They give advice and know how to tweak the systems to get maximum free storage, etc, before incurring demurage.

I elected to prepay both Tropical Shipping and Managed Freight based on their quotes so as to avoid delays on arrival. I came here to STT because of my job so spending precious time in various offices to learn the ropes was not something I had on the top of my "to-do" list. If you have the time, fine. Just post your experiences so others may benefit.