Welcome: Laizhou Machinery Group
The container is cleared, and the caravan is still not a road vehicle. With no plates it cannot be driven out of the terminal, so it reaches your yard one of two ways: on its own wheels under a temporary permit, or as cargo on a tilt tray. Distance and tow vehicle decide most of it, but two checks come first: what your road authority allows for an unregistered unit, and the loaded weight.
Imported caravans arrive unregistered: registration follows the VIN and data plate process and a local inspection, so there are no plates until then. Most markets bridge that gap with a short-term permit or trade-plate arrangement, but terms differ by jurisdiction: route, distance, daylight hours, and whether lights, brakes and the breakaway system work. Confirm them before you book; learning them with a loaded unit is expensive. Annex panels, loose accessories and jerry cans shipped inside also add to a tow calculated from a brochure.
If the distance is short and you run a suitable vehicle, towing is the cheapest route, but the limits are mechanical. The three 16ft hard-top models run a tare of roughly 2,320–2,370 kg on a 3,000 kg ATM, with towball loads of 196–208 kg and a DO35 coupling; the 21ft model lists a 3,500 kg GTM and the heavier DO45 coupling on its 21ft off-road caravan specifications page. Your tow vehicle has to carry that towball load inside its own rating, hold an electric brake controller and match the plug — 16ft export units ship with a 12-pin flat connection as standard, with 7-pin round or flat available. Check tyre pressures and wheel nuts on the 265/75 R16 rubber, and confirm the breakaway battery held charge through the voyage — it is what makes the unit legal to tow.
A tilt tray removes those variables: no permit, no tow vehicle, no plug or controller to match, and the unit is set down inside your workshop rather than on the street. It also covers the awkward cases — a unit heavier than your vehicle is rated for, a border crossing with different permit rules, or a day when nobody can leave the yard. Price it per shipment, not per unit: booking, permit research and terminal time are the same whether the tray carries one caravan or the whole first order.
Collection starts with a delivery order or release from your freight forwarder, and it starts a clock you do not control. Free time at the terminal is finite; storage and demurrage accrue daily once it runs out, and a biosecurity inspection can hold release until cleared. Settle collection before the vessel berths: know the free days, know who pays them, have the tray booked. Before it leaves, photograph the unit on all four sides and note visible damage on the delivery receipt — carrier and cargo cover responsibility both close at handover, so a later claim is hard to prove.
Put collection into your landed cost model from the first shipment, alongside freight, duty and clearance: who collects, with what, and under which permit. Importers who sell caravans for Australian dealers and in other markets treat the wharf-to-yard step as product cost, not a problem to solve the week the vessel arrives.
LZM, a China-based off-road caravan manufacturer and exporter, publishes these figures on the specification sheet, not in the quotation: the 16ft hard-top models carry a 196–208 kg towball load and a 12-pin flat plug as standard.
Send your port, the distance to your yard and the models on your shortlist; we will confirm the collection figures for that configuration. Start on WhatsApp: +86 186 6381 3961 with the port and postcode, or write to [email protected]; the range is at www.lgloader.com.
