Notes from the yard, the port and the route.

Multi-car container loading looks simple from the outside: four cars, one box, roll the door down. In practice, the difference between a clean arrival and a claim is measured in centimetres and in how quickly the driver, the loader and the paperwork agree.

How MTS loads a 40' HC with four cars

• Vehicle survey and fuel check before the container is booked — the wrong quarter-tank can rule out a car for a given lane.
• Wheels chocked, hand brake off, tyres deflated where the lane allows, soft straps at four corners.
• Wood and steel ramps built to keep bodywork clear of the container wall on entry and exit.
• Photo documentation of the empty container, each vehicle's state, and the final lashed load — shared with the customer.
• Export declaration prepared in parallel so the container leaves the yard the same day.

We can fit up to six smaller cars into a 40' HC. Which layout works depends on the mix — a Land Cruiser and three sedans is not the same problem as five hatchbacks — and it is always safer to send the VINs before the booking is locked in.

Most shipments that stall at customs stall for the same reasons: a value the invoice doesn't explain, a missing packing list, or a description that doesn't match the HS code. The paperwork is not glamorous, but a good file gets read once and cleared.

The minimum we need from you

• Commercial invoice or bill of sale, with a value the customs authority will accept.
• Packing list — one line per SKU or piece, with weights and dimensions.
• For vehicles: original registration document (Fahrzeugbrief / Fahrzeugschein), VIN and a bill of sale.
• Any country-specific certificates the destination requires — we'll flag those on the quote.

Once the file is in, we prepare the EU export declaration, book the container and share the AWB or B/L draft for you to check before it is finalised.

Rail into Central Asia is not new, but the schedules and pricing have moved enough this year to make it the right answer more often. It is slower than air and faster than sea, and for the right cargo it lands at a total cost that beats both.

When rail makes sense

• Consumer goods and spare parts to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan — sea plus onward road can be beaten on transit time.
• Machinery and industrial cargo where a fixed weekly schedule is more valuable than the cheapest per-cbm rate.
• Time-critical replenishment where air freight is the only alternative and volumes make it painful.

We book through established rail partners with departures from Hamburg and Duisburg and can quote combined sea/rail or road/rail solutions depending on the destination.

A restored 300SL and a used estate go into the same 40' container, but they don't go in the same way. Classic and premium cars need a workflow that keeps hands, straps and tools away from the paint and the interior.

• Single-vehicle container, or shared with cars of similar value only.
• Soft lashing straps on the wheels, never on the chassis or the arches.
• Blankets and covers on bumpers, mirrors and door handles during loading.
• Photo record of every panel before and after — with timestamps — shared with the owner.
• Coordination with the receiving restorer, dealership or auction house at destination.

LCL — less-than-container-load — is the right tool when your cargo doesn't fill a box, or when you want a monthly cadence without paying for empty space. Our warehouse in Hamburg consolidates weekly for the main lanes.

When LCL beats FCL

• Under about 15 cbm on lanes with a regular consolidation.
• Multiple small shipments to the same destination that can be combined.
• Cargo that needs to move before the next FCL would be full.

Above 15 cbm the maths often flips: FCL becomes cheaper per cbm and cuts a step out of handling. We'll tell you which way to go when you send us the volume and the destination.

Reducing empty container movements and matching pickups on the same truck run doesn't just save fuel — it takes cost out of the file. We keep track of a small set of yard metrics and pass the savings on.

• Container side-loader use so we lift once, not twice.
• Route matching between customers loading the same week.
• Careful matching of container type to cargo so weight and volume balance.