Four sedans, Tianjin to Douala, in one shared 40ft container
Racked and strapped to floor anchorage points, photographed before the doors closed, cleared at destination by our Cameroon team. Anonymised case study from our West Africa trade.
What the shipment involved
A trader in Central Africa needed four used sedans moved from suppliers near Tianjin to Douala, with a set of spare parts travelling in the same box. The buyer wanted the cars to arrive without being driven at any point and wanted one party responsible from the yard to release at the port.
The vehicles were of similar size, which made a shared 40ft high-cube viable: two on the rack floor and two on the upper rack, with the parts packed so they could not move.
Why 40ft high-cube, shared container was chosen
- The cars were not to be driven during transit, so RoRo was ruled out on handling risk
- A single 40ft high-cube cost less than four separate bookings and kept one bill of lading
- Destination clearance in Cameroon is available through our own team, avoiding a handover to an unknown agent
How it was handled
- Vehicle dimensions, VINs and photographs taken at the supplier yard
- Loading method confirmed: two on the rack floor, two on the upper rack
- Cars racked, chocked and strapped to the container floor anchorage points
- Spare parts packed, declared and secured so they cannot shift
- Photographic set of body condition and lashing issued to the buyer the same day
- Export declaration filed, container gated in before the cut-off
- Bill of lading draft issued for approval, destination clearance arranged in Douala
From the operation
Photographs are of comparable operations at the same loading ports. Client-identifying detail is not published.
Result and what it tells you
All four cars discharged with the lashing intact and the photographic record matched at destination.
The practical lesson: rack loading is only cheaper than separate bookings when the vehicles are measured first. Two large SUVs would have filled the same box that took four sedans.
Planning a Similar Shipment?
Send the cargo, dimensions and destination port. We will confirm the methods that work and the documents required.
Names, values and dates are omitted. These cases are representative of shipments we handle. They are not a guarantee of any specific result — every quotation is based on the actual cargo, the service booked and the rules in force at the time of booking.