When I inquired about Sterling Freight, I got a response from Daniel Roth,
[email protected] phone/fax 011-501-92-2496 This is what he had to say:
Our rates are based on cubic footage and rates start at $8.30 BZ per cu. ft. Note all prices are in BELIZE DOLLARS. Cubic footage is calculated by multiplying length x height x width and dividing figure by 1728. For example a box with the dimensions of 18" x 24" x 49" would be 12.25 cu. ft. If your shipment exceeds 250 cu ft. then a discount to $7.80 BZ would apply. After 500 cu. ft. the price drops to $7.30 BZ and so on.
We try to make the shipping of your goods down to Belize as painless as possible. We do your brokerage for you, and clear your goods through customs. Any duties and sales tax incurred will be your responsibility of course, but we usually pay them and reflect them in your bill. You will receive copies of the Belize entries and there is no profit in these charges to us. What we pay to the Government of Belize for duties and sales tax is what you get charged for. Brokerage charges will be based on the amount of lines on the entry, and will not exceed $200.00 BZ for a normal entry. If you are moving down and are exempt in paying duties and/or sales tax we would need this informtion beforehand. Some people move down under the Retired Persons Act or are excmpt for other reasons, but you have to inform us of your status.
Our Houston warehouse can receive your items on normal working hours from 8:00 to 5:00 Monday to Friday. Your goods need to be at our warehouse by the 28th of any given month to make it down on the shipment. Example: If your goods are at our warehouse by the 28th of May, they will be available on June 15th. The actual date may vary a day or two, but this is a good general rule of thumb. We can arrange for your goods to be shipped to San Pedro as well. This will be an additional charge as well, this portion of the freight is contracted out because we do not use our large truck for local deliveries.
For customs purposes and to facilitate travel through Mexico, a list of goods we are carrying is needed. You will need to label boxes and the corresponding list must describe the contents. Example: Box 1... silverware and frying pans. Box 2... VCR tapes and family photos, etc., You do not need to go crazy with the descriptions, but a thorough list is essential to avoid delays.
Finally, to get your goods to Houston would be up to you on how they reach us. Depending on the amount of goods you have, you may consider a U-Haul, moving company, or trucking outfit. If you are bringing a car or truck down, we can arrange for that to come as well, but you need to inform me soon if that is the case.
subsequent e-mail stated: Your used goods will not need an invoice, but you would need to give a basic value for them.
subsequent e-mail: All goods pay import duty and sales tax unless you have a special exemption. Computers and refrigerators and a few other goods are import duty free. It is not based on a grand total value, it is based on each item individually. Duties range from 5% to 35% on average and sales tax is a fixed 8%.
That's it folks. Mr. Roth was quickly responsive to my e-mails. As far as I know, Sterling Freight has an excellent reputation. In the end, we chose not to ship anything. Hope this helps.
kathy
[This message has been edited by KC (edited 09-01-2001).]
[This message has been edited by KC (edited 09-01-2001).]
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