Shipping a Tuba to Australia from America

[FatCat]

Hi all,

I’m relatively new to this, so I’m just posting here and looking for some advice.

What has been your experience with international couriers? None of the standard services seems to be willing to ship a tuba. Is the option of putting the horn on a shipping container my only choice?

Thanks

[Ken Crawford]

For about $2000 you can buy one round trip and one one-way ticket and fly it there yourself, next to you on the plane. Worth it if it is a $XX,000 tuba. Split the cost with the buyer, well worth it. And spend a couple days there, have fun.

[Gongadin]

For international shipments I've had the best luck and the best rates using Air Cargo.
I've used Air Canada Cargo to ship a Jumbo Sousaphone in a Clydesdale flight case to Europe.
You take your package to the Airport, to the Air Cargo depot, and they weigh your package, and you pay your fee. The recipient picks up the package at their airport or pays to have a truck deliver it from the airport. It's a great option.
It's a shame that I can no longer use Air Cargo for U.S. shipments without going through a lot of hassle - 9/11 changed the way I used to ship large instruments.

[pecktime]

Also have a look for a ‘freight forwarder’. They normally operate around airports and ship airport to airport. Not as consumer focussed as couriers, but they were good when i shipped a double bass to australia and a bass sax to germany.

[Tom]

Also have a look for a ‘freight forwarder’. They normally operate around airports and ship airport to airport. Not as consumer focussed as couriers, but they were good when i shipped a double bass to australia and a bass sax to germany.

This. Freight Forwarder.

If you need the name of one to start with, talk to Rock-It Cargo. https://www.rockitcargo.com/

It won't be cheap, I can guarantee that!

[johnnydoughert]

I have had experience shipping a tuba using BRI shipping forwarder from USA to Australia. I remember buying something and it came with their service through customs and everything in 10 days, was cheap and will give you advice what service you should choose since you don't want your tuba in a container.

[Ken Herrick]

Totally forget any notion of flying over to the U.S. for some time. Even if you made it out of the country you would face at least 2 weeks quarantine when you got back - IF you were able to come back soon, plus the virus risks of being in the States for any time. You may be able to find something by checking with import agents but, with the scarcity of flights now it would probably be very expensive. now is probably just not the time to buy from out of country. What were you looking for?

[Ken Herrick]

DHL will pretty much ship anything anywhere. But again if its important to you, buying a seat on a plane is best. Plus you can practice on the plane!

Get real!! Right now it would be virtually impossible to fly between the U.S. and Australia. The Aus border is CLOSED with few exceptions - mainly repatriation which includes a mandatory, 2 week, supervised, quarantine period. DHL could be a possibility but, would be expensive and probably slow.

Except for an outbreak in Melbourne we have nearly eliminated Covid 19 here and almost all cases in the past few months have been caused by infectious people coming in from elsewhere - quite different to the situation in other parts of the world. Our total case numbers nationwide are not much over ten thousand with just over 100 deaths in a population of 25 million. and some people still think it is all a joke or hoax...........

"Good News?" The Chinese have discovered a flu strain in pigs which is transmissible to humans so there could be another pandemic on the way before this one is over.

[Lee Stofer]

My go-to option is Nippon Express, Inc. I had to do a bit of paperwork to set up the account, etc.,
but I'm about to ship a cimbasso back to Australia, and these guys are making it easy for me to do so.
It is not a lot of hassle, if the recipient is willing to go to the airport to get it. Check out a good freight
forwarder like this. I have a UPS account that I use extensively in the US, but they wanted 3x as much to
ship overseas.

[Donn]

I received two tubas (different shipments) from Germany via DHL, and I didn't have any problems. Wasn't terribly expensive, and it didn't take forever.

The one I got from Germany recently wasn't terribly expensive, but that's about all I could say for it. There was a mysterious month or two of no tracking, then it was suddenly out for delivery from the neighborhood post office. What arrived was not pretty, luckily with no apparent damage to contents but clearly had been exposed to the elements and slightly battered. For a valuable tuba, I'd look into the freight forwarder.