Army Vehicle Shipping

An army personnel or officer is entitled to ship his or her private-owned vehicle (POV) with orders coming from his or her officers of re-assignment to other ports or bases. Army vehicle shipping is a form of special car transportation since the US army will not choose any random car shipping company.

Any POV shipment, especially overseas, must be authorized by commanding officers in charge. The main criteria is that the car shipping firms must demonstrate special honor to the country and so may in some terms give special considerations, discounts or even freebies.
A shipping company may give special price consideration since it is the United States government that is paying. Army personnel are entitled to ship one POV owned by himself/herself or any of the dependents at the expense of the government.

In the event that a soldier would need to ship additional vehicles, he or she would have to do it on his or her own. Usually, a soldier first consults with a sponsor or the Transportation Officer to check if it is OK to hire a car shipping company. When shipping overseas, the soldier may have to pay additional importation duty or other fees, which is why it is important that an army personnel first asks advice from the Transportation Officer. The officer is well informed of the local country’s transportation laws, regulations and restrictions. In some cases, even the Transportation Officer would need to ask advice from a car shipping company that has been used to transporting vehicles to the host country.

The US government will only pay to ship POVs that weigh below 20 tons. If you own a regular sedan, that is about 15 tons, while a compact car could weigh about 9 tons. Army vehicle shipping involves any motorized vehicles including automobiles, motorcycles, vans, and trucks. This does not include military tanks or any other weaponized vehicles.

POVs that are on a long term lease, for instance 12 months or more, may be shipped by car shipping companies as long as the sender can provide written authority from the leasing company. The car transportation firm will not be responsible for any leasing requirements agreed upon by the sender and the leasing company.

During the transport, a car shipping company normally allows the following items to remain inside the POV: tools but not exceeding more than $200 in value, one spare tire, baby car seats or cribs, luggage rack and other car essentials such as jacks, tire iron, tire inflator, tire chain, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, jumper cables, trouble lights and warning triangles.

But definitely, shipping firms will not allow these in the POV: flammable or hazardous materials such as oils, solvents, paints, waxes and polishes. If these items were found during inspection at the port of destination, your POV may be held and released indefinitely or after the prohibited items are removed. Army personnel may be reassigned anytime to a new post and even overseas. For this reason, army vehicle shipping as a form of car transportation is always on demand.