Sending a van to Africa?

[Nj]

Bit random I know but....
I'm a trustee for a charity that works with orphans, the elderly and the disadvantaged mostly in Nigeria and Kenya. I mostly help with gaining lottery funding for the work in Scotland, some fundraising and that kind of thing. We have a van (Think it's a transit sized thing) that's going to be full of donated glasses (spectacles, not pint glasses) and some other stuff and we're trying to work out the best/cheapest way to get it over initially to Nigeria and then later to Kenya. Does anyone have any ideas?
cheers
Nj

[dest]

I work for a logisitics/company, and we often send cars abroad on export trailers, the problem is that it can be very costly as they take up a lot of room.
The best thing would be to write to some companies that deal in export, and see if they could help you.
There wont be many places that export directly to Africa by road, probably easier to get it sent via Spain/Portugal.
Have you considered driving it to southern Spain? If you end up having to pay it would make the journey a lot shorter/cheaper.

If you fancy a starting point, the place I work for is www.dsv.com/uk

[dest]

Just had another idea.... it could be worth finding out how much a 20' container would cost to ship it in, you could put the van inside it and then also use what ever space (wont be much LOL) is left to add other stuff that wont fit in the van.
It would be loaded where you are, and then shipped directly to the destination

[Nj]

cheers matey, that's excellent advice. I think the idea of shipping a container would be simplest and would actually remove the need for a van completely but the destination in Nigeria isn't a main city, it's a small village. And for Kenya there aren't many companies that will attempt to deliver anything because there's a good chance it will be hijacked. Maybe driving to Southern Spain and sending it across that way would be best? But then I'm not sure what kind of shipping services are available from spain to africa and if a driver (or drivers) can go with the van. hmmm..
I can see this going from "sending stuff to Nigeria" to "driving the van myself to Nigeria". I'll need to ask the Africans how possible it is to drive from the coast to Nigeria or is this the stuff of mental Macgreggor and Boreman adventures (but without the support or the financial backing)

[dest]

You could get the van shipped in a container to the nearest town/city, unload it and drive it the rest of the way?

[Nj]

aye that's a better idea. that'll be why you're in logistics and i'm not

So do your lot send containers then? If I find out the nearest city/town can you get a rough price for me?

[dest]

Yes, they do containers, it will be classed as sea freight.
My branch does'nt deal with it, so you would have to use this link

http://www.dsv.com/irj/servlet/prt/portal/prtroot/ExternalWebGui.IntegratedInternet?content=/documents/DSV_DFDS%20Transport/Integrated%20Internet/External%20Web%20Site%20Repository/UK/ENG

Edit: link doesnt directly go to the page for some reason.... just click on Get a quote

[Beetie]

Eric Vick from gloucester do africa on a daily.........

[Beetie]

Where abouts is your depot then Dest?

[Nj]

ah cool!

[dest]

Where abouts is your depot then Dest?

Im at the Thrapston one, which is mainly a logistics warehouse, we dont deal with any export anymore

[Nj]

Of course the ultimate idea would be several vans, 2 driver's each, bit of sponsorship slapped across each van and a TV crew to cover a mad journey driving from Britain to Africa. Long Way Down on a budget and with essential supplies for the needy. Cue aftershave deals all round

[S2central.net]

Like your thinking Noel... with the shyte that is often on TV this sounds much more entertaining - especially the episode where you are being chased by guntoting hijackers thru the desert

[Nj]

sounds like a night out in certain parts of Glasgow or Belfast

[S2central.net]

Ahhh sure Belfast is a lovely quiet place now... its parts of Dublin I am more afraid of...