Air Freighting my Motorcycle from Japan to Cambodia

Air Freight the Motorcycle from Japan

This section is going to be long winded but I thought I would include it for anyone else freighting their motorcycle.

Here are some links to similar updates – Airfreight motorcycle Australia to Chile – Airfreight motorcycle Colombia to Panama – Airfreight motorcycle Canada to South Korea – Ferry motorcycle South Korea to Japan

I did not have a lot of time to get to the Laos China border to join my China motorcycle tour, so airfreight was my only choice.  Although I think air is preferable to sea freight, when it is done well.

After investigating the rules for bringing a vehicle into the South East Asia countries, I decided Cambodia was the easiest.

I found a freight agent in Tokyo that organised the shipment.  The bike went with Eva Air from Narita Airport to Phnom Penh, via Taipei.

One costly mistake

The shipment went very smoothly, but there was one crucial mistake made with the crating that cost me dearly.  Simply put, the crate was built too big.  It should have been picked up by the shipping agent and myself, before it was collected from the crating company.

Until the crate is finished you never know exactly what you are paying.  I had received an indicative quote that I knew was fairly high on a chargeable kilogram weight.  But I was in a hurry and I knew it was not going to be a very competitive route from Tokyo to Phnom Penh.

I did not pick up the crate dimension problem until I saw the Air Waybill and it was too late by then.

Here is a brief explanation on how air freight costs are typically calculated.  You are charged a per kilogram rate (maybe the US airlines use pounds?).  The chargeable number of kilograms is calculated as the greater amount between the actual measured weight and the volumetric weight.  For air freight the volumetric amount is the crate length x breadth x width x 1.6. 

My motorcycle in a crate with my gear would typically weigh around 300 kilograms.  The air freight volumetric weight though would typically be around 500kgs.  So, the 500kgs is the chargeable weight.  You might then pay somewhere between a few and several USD per kilogram to send it.  Plus the other charges and fees associated with exporting and importing – crating, transport to airport, Custom fees both ends, security screening, storage and handling fees at destination.

I knew the volumetric weight on this shipment was going to be high as I had chosen not to disassemble the motorcycle too much.  See my Canada to South Korea update for my smallest and cheapest shipment.

For this reason I had removed the soft panniers when I dropped the bike to the logistics company doing the crate building.  I had a discussion with their contact about tucking the panniers in next to the bike and building the crate as small as possible.  I am assuming the person I spoke to had nothing to do with the crate building and did not pass on the instructions.  On reflection I should have kept it simple and left the panniers on the motorcycle….

I should name and shame the crate building logistics company but that is not my style.  To me they were incompetent or negligent in building the crate excessively large.  Every logistics company knows space is money.  And it wasn’t as though they had anything to gain by doing this, they had nothing to do with the freighting of the crate.

The shipping agent knew it was bad.  He did get the freight rate reduced a little and did not charge me one cent for his work, which was very good of him.  The crating company never took any responsibility for their incompetence.

So I paid the bill and moved on.  The lesson is not to trust anyone in the process.  I should have required a final quote before the motorcycle was collected from the crating company.  That way I would have become aware of the problem, before it was too late.

Customs in Japan

Once the completed crate was delivered to a bonded warehouse at the Narita Airport, a freight forwarding company prepared the draft Waybill.  I received the Waybill number and was told to visit the Japan Customs office at the Narita Cargo Terminal.  I had to present my original Temporary Vehicle Import paperwork that I received when I entered Japan by the Camellia Line ferry at Hakata.  Japan Customs processed the exit of my motorcycle, stamped and signed the exit section and gave me back my original copy.  It took about twenty minutes.

I left Japan a couple of days later and the motorcycle left a day after that.  I did not see a copy of the Waybill until I was in Cambodia and then realised the problem with the crate size.

Collecting the Motorcycle in Phnom Penh

The crate arrived at Phnom Penh on the scheduled Eva Air flight.  I tried the Eva Air office at the passenger terminal but it was closed as they were getting the plane turned around and back to Taiwan.

So I decided to walk the short distance to the Cargo Terminal.  Luckily it is a small cargo facility and it seems all of the cargo passes through the Cambodia Airports Cargo Office. 

They already had my motorcycle and gave me the original Air Waybill to take to the Cambodia Customs office next door.  I needed to get a Temporary Import Permit for the motorcycle.  I had already visited the Cambodia Customs website and completed their online Temporary Vehicle Import application.

As it turned out I was a little too different for them.  Customs at land borders are used to processing foreign vehicles across borders.  But lets face it, what crazy person would bring their vehicle into Cambodia at an airport.  They didn’t know what to do, so they sent me to the Customs Head Office in the city.

So, ordered a ride share car through the Grab App and headed into the city.  I used the Grab App quite a lot for shorter tuk tuk rides around Phnom Penh also.

After some explanation I ended up on the 16th floor of a government building.  The people there understood what I wanted to do and rang the Customs office at the airport and explained what they had to do.  So I ended up back at the airport and they completed my Temporary Import paperwork.

I then walked next door with a Customs employee.  He handed the paperwork back to the Cambodia Airports Cargo people who completed their paperwork.  I paid them about 70 USD for their efforts and then walked to the warehouse to collect the bike.

A Cambodia Customs officer just had to inspect the motorbike and check the VIN etc before they would sign off my Temporary Vehicle Import.  So I borrowed a hammer and started tearing down the crate.  There is always a curious crowd when I do this.  With the size of the crate I think they were expecting to see some huge Harley or similar.

Customs checked the bike and finished the paperwork and I was free to take the motorbike.  I hooked up the battery, loaded my luggage and headed across the road for some fuel.  It was 7pm, dark and still about 39 degrees.  I had first arrived at the airport at 12pm.