Choosing a shipping method
Roll on Roll off (RORO)
Roll-on/Roll-off (RORO) shipping refers to a method in which vehicles are driven directly onto and off of a specialized vessel, rather than being lifted by crane. This is the most common form of receiving a Kei car from Japan and is the recommended method.
While this approach offers simplicity and minimal handling, it is generally slower than containerized shipping. This is primarily due to the limited number of RORO vessels operating on major routes, which often results in more frequent intermediate port calls.
RORO requires the car to be operational, and only some ports receive RORO vessels; see Choosing a port to find which ports offer RORO.
Cost
RORO shipping is priced based on the volume or weight of the vehicle. The volume is measured in cubic meters (m³) and weight in kilograms. The price to ship a car is variable depending on the time of year, destination, etc. The cost can range between $900-$2,000.
Ports closer to Japan on the West Coast will be cheaper compared to ports on the East Coast.
Extra items
If shipping by RORO, you will not be able to load the car with anything. Any extra items in the car will typically be thrown away.
Container
A container is only worth it if you ship only Kei trucks, since they can be stacked, and you also load the container with extra parts or spare wheels. Otherwise, it is more expensive to ship a car through a container.
You can pack about 7 kei trucks in a container by stacking them
This would only be available if working with a direct auction, such as JapanCarDirect, MiniTrucks, or any other direct exporter. Car aggregators will not ship through a container.