R-Rak Car Shipping — Up to 4–6 Cars per 40ft Container

R-Rak deploys a set of heavy-duty steel cradles inside an empty 40ft container. The lower vehicles drive in first and are positioned at angles that maximise nose-to-tail packing. Two upper platforms are then lifted into place above the lower cars, supported by adjustable side posts braced against the container's corner castings. Upper vehicles are winched up ramps onto the platforms and secured with soft webbing wheel nets.

The whole assembly is engineered to transfer load directly into the container's structural corners, not its walls or floor. Each vehicle floats on its own suspension, isolated from the others, and the rack absorbs container flex during ocean transit. Lloyd's Register and TÜV Süd have both certified the design for unrestricted worldwide container shipping.

Four standard saloons (Ford Focus, VW Golf, BMW 3-Series, Audi A4, Mercedes C-Class) fit comfortably. Three saloons plus one mid-size SUV (X3, Q5, Tiguan) also work. Six small city cars (Mini, Fiat 500, Smart Fortwo, Aygo, Picanto) is the maximum count.

Large 4×4s (Range Rover, Land Cruiser, X7), pickups (Hilux, Ranger, F-150) and full-size SUVs are usually too tall or wide for upper platforms and travel on the lower level only — limiting the load to two large vehicles per 40ft. We confirm fit per vehicle at quote stage using your registration plates or chassis dimensions.

Three customer groups dominate R-Rak bookings. First, UK car dealers and traders exporting used stock to growing markets in the UAE, East Africa, Cyprus and the Caribbean — R-Rak turns marginal-profit cars into profitable exports. Second, families and households emigrating with multiple vehicles (his car, her car, the kids' first cars). Third, motorsport teams shipping race fleets to overseas events.

If you're shipping a single vehicle, conventional RoRo or a sole-use 20ft is almost always cheaper. R-Rak's economics kick in from three vehicles up.

Shipping four saloons from Southampton to Jebel Ali (Dubai) in February: four sole-use 20ft containers cost approximately £8,400 (£2,100 each). The same four cars in one R-Rak 40ft container is approximately £4,600 — a saving of £3,800 or 45%. Per-vehicle freight drops from £2,100 to £1,150.

The savings compound on longer routes. UK to Sydney via R-Rak vs four 20ft containers can save £6,000+ on a four-car load.

Each vehicle in an R-Rak load gets its own line on the Bill of Lading, its own commercial invoice and its own customs entry at destination. From a paperwork point of view, multi-car R-Rak loads behave like four (or six) separate vehicle shipments that happen to share one container. This is important because destination duty and VAT are assessed per vehicle, not on the container as a whole.

We prepare all UK export declarations under our EORI and provide a destination-specific document pack for each vehicle so receivers can clear customs without ambiguity.

Every R-Rak load is eligible for full all-risks marine cover under Institute Cargo Clauses (A). Each vehicle is insured at its individually declared value, with no aggregation discount or shared deductible — a claim on one car doesn't affect the others. Loss ratios on R-Rak loads are statistically identical to single-vehicle shipments, so premiums match standard car-shipping rates.

Ideal lead time is 2–4 weeks. The R-Rak frames are a shared resource across the UK port industry, and we position them at the loading warehouse the day before your vehicles arrive. We can sometimes pull a slot inside 7 days if frames are already in port, but route and sailing choice narrows. For repeat dealer bookings we can hold a frame allocation against your account.