Shipping

Standard truck freight or if you don't like the prices take a road trip and go get them yourself!

Are there companies that would pick it up at this dock, and bring it to Wisconsin?

Check out FedEx freight. They deal with the heavy stuff above and beyond the normal things most associate FedEx with.

They may not be the cheapest but they are easy to deal with and reliable when it comes to dealing with the average guy needing something large shipped cross country.

As SE and Savvy said, get an import agent. Getting it through customs can be a deal breaker.

I've imported headset cables and other items from China. (20 years ago) It adds to the cost, but is the only way to go.

The freight/shipping is the easy part.

How much inbound freight to you have within North America? If you are shipping/receiving often, you can negotiate rate discounts with many LTL (less than load) carriers. Most have "partners" that can get freight delivered anywhere in North America, and some cover all of the area.

If you don't do that much inbound, you will be stuck with the carriers rate structure which is usually based on what the commodity is and the weight. Steel and iron parts are the cheapest rates. Generally speaking, the less dense the material, the higher the rate. Watch out how the rate is calculated as well - best to get a direct quote for you goods. And based on your location, might be up to 4 days once the skid gets offloaded from the boat.

As for the parts themselves, better check that the production parts are as good as the samples. Watch out for the bait and switch. It wouldn't be the first time.

Better to just go through an agent....

For the domestic portion google freight forwarding companies and you should find a lot of them.

Did you ask the Chinese source about this? They deal in HUGE volumes and you are not the first to have this problem.

I agree with SolarEagle, look into a freight forwarder to figure this out for you. If your stuff is in its own container, it could likely be sent on to you via train or truck.

At the bottom of the Wikipedia page I listed above they have a section for USA where they link to some accreditations you will want to consider.

I think DHL ships worldwide. No doubt there are other companies.

But before you commit fully, do some more research. I hear a LOT of complaints about inferior quality of goods made in China. Those samples you got may be the equivalent of a 'loss leader' - high quality initial samples, but followed by low quality volume production.

Luckily,

in my final product I have a few places where if a bad part quality was to be found. I could use it anyway, because of a cosmetic reason it is not visible anyway. So I could still use thee cheap inferior balls in those locations anyway.

I've said for a long time, the quality from China is constantly improve. There still is low quality items. The thing I have against China, is how they poach ideas and patents.

As far as shipping, we had fabricated a dairy plant process equipment and shipped to China in pieces for them to assembly, it was a headache.

Then we teamed up with a export agent that specialized in exporting dairy equipment, even shared a booth with them at the McCormick Place in Chicago. That is the way to go.

I don't know if any companies in Wisconsin export goods but if they do; their trucking company may be looking for 'back freight' from the port to Wisconsin. They often ask for less, just to cover fuel and wages.

Jim

That has worked well for me in the past. A load of bagged lime would depart from the works on a flat back lorry, the lorry would return with engineering parts. As you say, to the haulier it was a bonus.

I had to use lorry instead of wagon, I'm English

More commonly know as a "back haul", at least in Canada.

We do, we'll get a couple of quotes and the companies always say we can get a cheaper rate if they aren't hauling empty on one of the legs.

You're sowing the seeds of your own destruction.

China is nothing but a state-backed organized crime syndicate run by the goons and thugs in Beijing.

And you're worrying about freight problems?

And that differs from us in the in the US how?

Maybe not differs, but adds to.

Instead of one just bunch of crooks screwing you at every turn you now have two state-backed organized crime syndicates run by goons and thugs screwing you at every turn.

Is that better?

Many ways!

Are there companies that would pick it up at this dock, and bring it to Wisconsin?

UP-DATE

The manufacturer suggested a company they have used before, ( A Company in Chicago ) The bring them from L. A. to me here in Wisconsin.

UG! ya gotta be kidding me!

I can BUY 20K balls, and ship them from China to L.A. for $418 USD

But to get these same balls from L.A. to Wisconsin, will cost another $600+ dollars just in transportation costs. then add in any possible duties fees, and bunch of other fees that add on another 100 bucks.

wow.