After numerous fruitless emails and a couple calls, it finally cleared customs. I thought this was going to take a few days, which turned into over two months. Apparently customs had been waiting on the Department of Transportation to approve it. I suspect that, although customs was still operating during the record-breaking government shutdown, DoT may have been furloughed.

Now I am navigating the process of scheduling a pickup in coordination with an “escort.” You need an escort because they don’t let just anyone walk into a working port. You need to be with someone who knows how things work.

In parallel, I am researching what I may need to bring to be prepared. I’m planning on renting a U-Haul trailer. The trucks are small, and this type of trailer is not a true flat bed, it is basically two planks. The width between the planks should be just enough to let the tires straddle it with an inch or so to spare on either side.

I’m also planning to bring:

  • Jumper cables
  • Tire air pump / fix-a-flat
  • Tie-down straps
  • Various tools
  • Work gloves
  • Maybe a winch (I don’t have one but am concerned if it won’t start after months of sitting idle, and I’ll need to get the truck up onto the trailer.)