# Anyone know of a smallish Logistics/shipping company in France?



## Captainbeaky

Hi,

I am trying to ship car parts to Portugal, but the Portuguese customs are utterly hateful, borderline fraudulent and impossible to deal with.
I want to clear customs in France (Or Spain?), then ship to Portugal.

I'm looking for a logistics company that has a base in France or Spain (Preferably Northern France, but I'll take any suggestions) that I can ship my stuff to (clearing customs on the way), and once cleared, then ship onward to Portugal.

The big boys don't want to mess with me - I'm small fry, so I'm looking for a smaller company that I can actually talk to.

Does anyone know of a logistics or moving company that has warehousing / depot / storage in France?

I thought I had struck Gold when I found GO DIRECT (EUROPE) LIMITED in Rouen, but their phones are disconnected, I guess they are no longer trading.

Any leads would be gratefully received.

TIA,

Mike.


----------



## Bevdeforges

Where are you planning on shipping your car parts from? That's usually a huge part of what causes the customs difficulties in the first place. And, there is always the VAT issue to contend with, as it is not only "customs" you need to deal with.


----------



## LesFroggitts

Mike, is this private or commercial, that will be the first question. Also, where from?


----------



## Captainbeaky

It is commercial, from the UK to Portugal.

The situation is thus...

I can drive a load down, pay VAT with the customs on entry to the EU without problem, and everyone is happy (Yes, we now have the need for an transport operators licence - lets not discuss that particular can of worms right now)

I've paid my Vat, and everyone is happy.
I've done this a few times, and it's been fine - I'm presenting to customs with all my invoices etc, all the customs codes, and it gets processed nice and easily.

PT customs seem to find a myriad of issues that aren't in the customs laws, and I get invited to "surrender the items to the state" repeatedly.
These are quite "tasty" items - Land Rover engines/gearboxes.
Yes, this really is true - when I challenged the head of customs he said "do what I say, not what is in the law!" - it's most definitely "Customs" that are the problem!
Also, there are very few customs brokers in Portugal, so if you need a broker, you are at the whim of a company who knows you have nowhere else to go.
It's worse on Madeira - there is only one broker, and they are definitely "Bent".

So, I'm looking for a logistics company that can help me overcome this hurdle.
In reality, I will be shipping the items to a location in France for collection.
This company will also be the company I use to ship to Portugal, after the items have cleared customs in France.

I'm trying to legally pay my tax, but avoid the trap of PT customs.

So - anyone know of a small logistics company with warehousing in Northern France?


----------



## LesFroggitts

Captainbeaky said:


> It is commercial, from the UK to Portugal.
> 
> So - anyone know of a small logistics company with warehousing in Northern France?


That looks to be an awkward situation there, I presume that your company on Madeira is registered as an importer. 

Finding someone able to do the intra-EU movement is certainly going to be difficult, especially when you mention the limited choice of Customs brokers on the island. I would suspect potential collusion between the various parties there effectively making it a closed-shop-market on the island. The problem I see is that the French carrier would still need someone to handle the "receipt" of the goods onto the island, whether through sea or air someone has to handle the consignment and make it available for delivery/collection from the arriving depot.

Even from a trucking perspective, unless the truck from France to Madeira is a full-load (i.e. nothing on there but your cargo), it is likely to involve some handling from an agent - at the very least the shipping line's carrier as they would have to manifest your goods on the ship.

Sorry I can't recommend anyone, you are on a sticky wicket there and I wish you the best, but I feel it will be very difficult to "get around" the problems being experienced.


----------



## Captainbeaky

LesFroggitts said:


> That looks to be an awkward situation there, I presume that your company on Madeira is registered as an importer.
> 
> Finding someone able to do the intra-EU movement is certainly going to be difficult, especially when you mention the limited choice of Customs brokers on the island. I would suspect potential collusion between the various parties there effectively making it a closed-shop-market on the island. The problem I see is that the French carrier would still need someone to handle the "receipt" of the goods onto the island, whether through sea or air someone has to handle the consignment and make it available for delivery/collection from the arriving depot.
> 
> Even from a trucking perspective, unless the truck from France to Madeira is a full-load (i.e. nothing on there but your cargo), it is likely to involve some handling from an agent - at the very least the shipping line's carrier as they would have to manifest your goods on the ship.
> 
> Sorry I can't recommend anyone, you are on a sticky wicket there and I wish you the best, but I feel it will be very difficult to "get around" the problems being experienced.


On Madeira is a no-go. The local customs agents simply wont do anything until you throw them some amount of cash. Anything that needs customs brokers/agents to happen - Madeira is to be avoided at all costs.

Normally, we clear customs on the mainland - Porto for pallets, Lisbon for smaller packets, and have mostly good progress with the standard shippers. We have become adept at managing the paperwork such that the parts are literally pre-cleared. However, used parts are just too juicy for the negative elements to ignore, so have to clear customs elsewhere.

From an actual transport of cargo point of view - there are any number of pallet couriers who will do it - that's actually the easy bit. I leave the groupage etc to the pallet carriers and their algotithms. By selecting a "slow" option - it's amazingly cheap.

I just need a depot/warehouse who will accept it once it's cleared customs in France - I need a place for it to be delivered to. 
Once it's cleared customs in France, the problem has gone - its a simple pallet shipment that is internal to the EU.


----------

