On February 9, 2000 (my birthday, in fact) my car arrived in the port of Oakland (it’s right next to San Francisco)–the best damn present I have ever had!!
The container ship that brought my car to America…the Norasia Savanna.
I don’t think I slept at all the previous night. I left for the pier at first light and, while waiting for it to open, I tried to read the numbers on these containers, hoping to find the one with my beloved Cerbie in it. I had no idea that there would be 1000s more of these around the corner!
My container was unloaded somewhere into this pile stretching for over a mile. I had gotten there so early, I was able to walk around in the restricted areas and take pictures.
Here you can see the giant crane gantries that unload the freighters, as well as the more familiar looking (but massive) forklifts that can move around with huge 40-foot containers.
Eventually, my truck arrived to load up with the container. Security is VERY tight here.
We waited in line for the container to be loaded onto the truck bed. Trucks are told by a computer where to go so that they are next to their container.
The crane moved closer and closer till finally it was our turn.
The gantry was 5 containers wide and 5 containers high. Of course, my container was buried right in the middle!
But I wasn’t out of the woods yet. There was a DEA and Dept. of Agriculture inspection scheduled. We had to wait an hour and a half for the inspector to show up, take a cursory look through a peephole, do a double-take at the car, and stamp the paperwork. I was really glad to have been there (even though I wasn’t supposed to be) because it allowed me to ensure that noone tinkered with the container in any way, and also answer the inspector’s questions (posing as a knowledgeable driver’s mate!). Had I not been there, he would have put a hold on it until I filled out some additional forms to satisfy that all duties had been paid and the car was being brought in legally.
Finally, we were done. As the truck trundled out, I ran back to my car parked outside. I followed my precious cargo back to the trucking company, wondering how many other people were wondering what was inside. I think I must have called everyone I know around the world as I followed that truck!
It poured with rain the whole way. The best of English cars had brought the best of English weather with it!
The truck headed to the trucking company’s headquarters in an industrial area of San Francisco.