Whether you are a specialized garage restoring classic vehicles or a manufacturer exporting automotive components across the globe, knowing how to securely ship car parts internationally is essential. Automotive components range from small, dense gears to large, fragile body panels, making standard shipping methods insufficient. To send car parts safely and cost-effectively, businesses need a reliable auto parts courier network. In this guide, we cover the best practices for packing, measuring, and shipping complex automotive freight, ensuring your parts arrive at the workshop in perfect condition.
Chantal has been writing about logistics topics for almost two decades and has worked for major international carriers.
Whether you are a specialized garage restoring classic vehicles or a manufacturer exporting automotive components across the globe, knowing how to securely ship car parts internationally is essential. Automotive components range from small, dense gears to large, fragile body panels, making standard shipping methods insufficient.
To send car parts safely and cost-effectively, businesses need a reliable auto parts courier network. In this guide, we cover the best practices for packing, measuring, and shipping complex automotive freight, ensuring your parts arrive at the workshop in perfect condition.
Engine shipping is one of the most complex tasks in automotive logistics due to the extreme weight and the presence of hazardous materials. When shipping a car engine, safety and compliance are your top priorities.
Follow these strict B2B guidelines for engine transport:
Drain All Fluids: Before shipping, the engine must be completely drained of all oil, fuel, and coolant. Residual fluids can leak during transit, causing severe damage to other cargo and violating international transport laws.
Clean the Exterior: Wipe down the engine to ensure no flammable grease or residue remains on the outside.
Secure to a Pallet: Use a heavy-duty, heat-treated wooden pallet. Bolt the engine directly to the pallet or strap it down using industrial-grade ratchet straps.
Crate the Engine: For international air freight, building a custom wooden crate around the palletized engine is highly recommended.
Because engines exceed standard courier weight limits, you will need to utilize specialized pallet shipping services.
Expert Insight: If your auto parts contain any residual hazardous liquids or airbags (which contain explosive charges), they must comply with strict international safety standards. Always refer to the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) to ensure your shipment is legally compliant for air transport.
Body panels are notoriously difficult to transport. Car bumper shipping and car hood shipping present unique challenges because these items are lightweight but have enormous volumetric weight (the amount of space they take up in a cargo hold).
To prevent dents, scratches, or bending during transit:
Edge Protection: Car hoods and bumpers have fragile corners. Apply rigid foam tubes or specialized cardboard corner protectors to all edges.
Wrap Thoroughly: Wrap the entire bumper or hood in multiple layers of heavy-duty bubble wrap.
Custom Boxing: Do not ship body panels wrapped only in plastic. They must be placed inside a double-walled, custom-fitted cardboard box. Fill all empty voids with packing peanuts or expanding foam so the part cannot shift.
Because these items are oversized, shipping costs will be based on their dimensions rather than their actual weight. You can easily calculate shipping costs on our platform by entering the exact length, width, and height of your packaged body panels.
For B2B operations, relying on a standard postal service to send car parts often results in delays and damaged goods. A specialized auto parts courier network offers express delivery times, customs expertise, and advanced tracking. Whether you need an urgent component for a broken-down commercial truck or are exporting a batch of custom exhausts, utilizing our heavy parcel delivery network ensures your automotive freight is handled by top-tier carriers like FedEx, TNT, and DHL.
For safe engine shipping, you must completely drain all oil and fluids, clean the exterior of grease, and bolt or strap the engine securely to a heat-treated wooden pallet. We also recommend enclosing the engine in a wooden crate for air freight.
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No. Car bumper shipping requires the item to be heavily wrapped in bubble wrap, fitted with edge protectors, and placed inside a sturdy, double-walled cardboard box to prevent severe damage and bending during transit.
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The most cost-effective method is to pack the parts as compactly as possible to reduce volumetric weight. For heavy or multiple items, consolidating them onto a single pallet and using a B2B freight courier offers the best balance of price and security.
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Yes. Auto parts like engines, transmissions, and shock absorbers must be completely drained of fluids. Additionally, parts containing compressed gas or explosives, such as airbags and seatbelt pretensioners, are classified as dangerous goods and face strict air freight restrictions.
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Car hood shipping costs are almost always calculated based on volumetric weight due to their large size and relatively light weight. The carrier will measure the length, width, and height of the box to determine the billable weight.
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You can instantly check the shipping costs through our rate calculator. Enter the weight, dimensions, and destination country of your shipment, and you will see all available shipping options along with their respective delivery times. The calculator can be used to compare shipping rates for both export and import shipments.
If you need help calculating a shipping rate, watch the video below. Click on the 
button to play the video and the 
icon to view the video in fullscreen.
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Shipping costs are calculated based on dimensions (LxWxH in cm), weight (in kg), and the destination country. Both the actual weight (as shown on the scale) and the volumetric weight are considered.
The volumetric weight is the weight calculated based on the space your shipment occupies in the plane. The higher of the two weights (volumetric or actual weight) is used to calculate the shipping rate. You don't need to calculate this yourself; our calculator does it for you.
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You can use the discount code PP10 for 10% discount on the transportation costs of your first shipment. You can apply the discount code during the checkout process (instructions).
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Whether additional costs apply depends on whether your shipment stays within the European Union or is sent to/from a country outside the European Union. Below, you can see the additional costs for each situation.
Within the European Union
If, for example, you send a shipment from the Netherlands to Italy (within the EU), there will be an additional 21% VAT on the shipping costs.
Furthermore, if your shipment stays within the European Union, you won't have to deal with any import duties or customs clearance fees because your shipment doesn't go through customs. Please note that the European Union is not the same as Europe.
View here all the countries that are part of the European Union. For example, Switzerland is part of Europe but not part of the European Union.
Outside the European Union
If, for example, you send a shipment from the Netherlands to the United States, there will be no VAT (0%) applied to the displayed shipping rates.
However, there might be import duties levied by customs in the destination country if you send a shipment to/from a country outside the European Union. Typically, customs costs are charged to the recipient. This is known as Delivered At Place (DAP) in logistics terminology.
Customs is a government agency that levies import duties in certain cases to protect the local market. As a company, you can also ship using Delivered Duty Paid (DDP), which means any customs costs will be charged to you as the sender.
If you have any questions about this topic, feel free to contact us. Additionally, you can read everything about import duties, VAT, and the customs clearance process in this blog.
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A customs invoice is a form where all the goods you want to ship are specified. This invoice includes an English description of the goods, along with their corresponding value and weight.
The contents of your shipment must be specified per type of product you're sending to avoid delays at customs. A customs invoice is always prepared in quadruplicate in accordance with customs guidelines.
When is a customs invoice required?
A customs invoice is only required for shipments to/from countries outside the European Union (e.g., Netherlands - United States). If your shipment stays within the European Union (e.g., Netherlands - Italy), your shipment will not go through customs, and therefore, a customs invoice is not required.
Additionally, document shipments are not subject to customs, so if you're sending a document to a country within/outside the European Union, no customs invoice is needed.
Please note that not all goods can be shipped to every country. You can find a list of goods that cannot be sent via ParcelParcel on this page.
Do I need to create a customs invoice myself?
If you're sending a shipment to/from a country outside the European Union, it's mandatory to include a customs invoice with the shipment. We provide free support in creating a customs invoice.
You can easily generate a customs invoice through our shipping platform. The customs invoice will be automatically generated based on the content you specified during your booking.
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You can import just as easily as export via ParcelParcel.
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You can find a list of goods that cannot be shipped via ParcelParcel on this page.
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