Shipping POV (Privately Owned Vehicles) for USA Military.

Are you in the military and need to ship your car, or a dependent’s car, to your new command? Your 1st shipment is paid for by the US Military, but the 2nd one is not. Whether free or paid, you will need to have a few things prepared before your car is shipped.

We will use an example for a person in the US Army who is stationed in Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas and is being transferred to Germany. The car will need to be put on a ship in Galveston, TX and arrive in Bremerhaven, Germany. So how does car shipping from Texas to Germany work?

 For these vehicles to be exported the following has to occur. The vehicles have to be exported on a Title of Ownership. If this is not available because the bank has a lien on the vehicle, then the following has to be obtained.

  1. Copy of Military Orders
  2. Letter from Bank or Lien Holder Authorizing shipment
  3. Notarized Copy of Title of Ownership, Back and Front from Bank. If this is not available the Bank must apply for an Electronic Print out from the Department of Motor Vehicles

Following our example, these documents will have to be presented to USA Customs in Galveston, TX for export. The military member can take the car to Galveston, TX or have it transported from El Paso to Galveston at an extra charge. Each port in USA has there own peculiarities and it is strange that there is NO uniformity with all the ports (Galveston, Miami, Newark, Long Beach, etc). Some ports require Bills of Sales with the Titles if the vehicles are three years old or less while other ports require a Notarized Power of Attorney for export.

Collection at Destination in Europe or other Countries.

The procedure here is that Military Members and Government Workers have to contact the Officer in charge of Transport at their Base at their new command. Advise him that you are importing your vehicle. He will give you some documents to complete and then issue you with the equivalent of Military Tags, which you can attach to your vehicle.
This will exempt you from paying import taxes. The only charges that you will have at the ports of destination will be Terminal Handling fees which in the case of roll on roll off vessels be E150.00 to E250.00, depending on country and size of vehicle. Exclusive or shared containers are more than this and pricing for charges are dependent on the volume of freight in the container.

If you need military car shipping rates, click the green “Free Quote” button and fill out the quote form for pricing.

If you have questions or comments, ask below!

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