Lumber 61, His price, while it may seem high, is not to far out of line , if any. One thing that drives that price is the fact that it is going to the Port. That, alone can make for an expensive trip. First, the driver has to have a TWIC card to access the port. They were allowing escorts in lieu of the driver having the card. That costs and I'm not sure if they are still doing that or not. Either way, it's a hassle to arrange an escort and access the port in that manner. Another thing, you said "outside of Wash, DC". Exactly where outside of DC can also be a factor. I live about an hour west of Washington. I know a lot of local guys that move equipment locally, and they charge in the 5 to 700 dollar range for just a local move, job to job, port not involved. There are some I'm sure working for less, as everyone in business these days has had to deal with the price cutting in the bidding "wars".
That being said, I'm not sure how familiar you are with the import/export market. As a word of caution, make sure that all the paperwork is in order before sending a driver into the port with a load. If it's not in order, he may be faced with undue delays unloading, or evn with having to haul the load back to where he picked it up from or off the port property. In either case, you may then be faced with extra costs for his detention or extra move back to the p/u point. At the least , the aggravation of having to deal with the aftermath of incorrect/incomplete paperwork. Another factor to consider is what time frame you have to work with to get the equipment to the port. There's a lot to be considered with this type of move.
I have covered a few things, may have missed some, but those are the ones that just jump right out there when Port of Baltimore is mentioned.
Hope this helps. If you want to PM me with your phone number, I'll call and see if there's anything i can do to be of help to you. Not sure if I can, but I'll give it a try.
