Shipping your car for the festive season Book early — slots fill fast

Every year before Raya, Kaamatan and Gawai, our WhatsApp fills with the same question: "Can it arrive before the holiday?" The answer is almost always yes — if you book early. The catch is that most people wait until the last minute, when everyone wants to ship within the same window. Here is how to plan a peak-season shipment.

⏱️Short Answer

For major holidays (Raya, Kaamatan, Gawai), lock a slot 3–4 weeks ahead. Shipping to Sabah & Sarawak takes 10–14 days overall, and slots are tighter in peak season — so a last-minute booking risks slipping to a sailing after the holiday. Outside peak periods, 1–2 weeks ahead is plenty.

📅When Are the Peaks?

These are the windows that usually send demand spiking — especially on routes to Borneo:

Pesta Kaamatan and Gawai are unique because they are "Borneo peaks" — not just ordinary balik kampung, but Sabahans and Sarawakians across the Peninsular shipping their cars home in the same week. That is why slots to Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Sibu are tightest from late May into early June.

🚢Why Slots Tighten in Peak Season

• 📆 Sailings run on a fixed schedule — the number of sailings per week is limited, so RORO deck space cannot simply be expanded when demand rises.
• 👥 Everyone ships at once — the window before a holiday is packed with customers who all want their car to arrive at the same time.
• 🔁 Two-way demand — heading home before the holiday and back to the Peninsular after — both directions get busy.
• 🏭 Busier yard — more vehicles waiting for a sailing means yard time tends to run a little longer.

🗓️When to Book

• 🎉 Raya / Kaamatan / Gawai — lock a slot 3–4 weeks ahead with a deposit. This is the most competitive window.
• 🏫 School holidays / year-end — 2–3 weeks ahead is usually comfortable.
• 🗓️ Normal season — 1–2 weeks is enough to get a good slot.
• 📄 Financed car? — the bank release letter takes 3–7 working days. Request it earlier in peak season so you do not miss a slot. See the full document checklist.

🔒What "Locking a Slot" Actually Means

"Book early" is easy advice to give and hard to act on if you don't know what booking actually involves. It is two things: a signed booking form and a deposit.

Once you accept the quote, we send the booking form by email or WhatsApp. You sign it electronically and the vessel slot is reserved against your name. The deposit is 50% of the quoted total, by bank transfer or secure online payment; the remaining 50% is settled before the vessel discharges at the destination. From the moment the deposit lands, your booking is firm. The carrier confirms the exact sailing date and vessel afterwards, and you get a notification with the vessel name, sailing time and estimated arrival.

That distinction is the one that matters in peak season. An enquiry is not a slot. A quote is not a slot. It is entirely possible to make your decision four weeks before Raya and still miss the sailing you wanted, because the deposit only went out three days before pickup. If you have decided, close it.

And if plans change, a booking is not a trap. Cancel before the vessel-booking stage and 80% of the deposit is refunded; after that stage it is 50%; once the car has been loaded the deposit is non-refundable. In practice that means booking early carries far less downside than booking late does.

🔁If Your Preferred Date Is Already Full

It happens — especially in the week before Gawai or Kaamatan — and it isn't the end of your plan. The first thing to do is ask for the alternatives rather than the one date you had in mind. Our written quote comes back within 24 hours and includes the next two available sailing dates, so you're choosing between real options instead of hoping.

What "the next one" costs you depends on the route. RORO sailings to Kuching and to Kota Kinabalu are mostly weekly, so missing one usually means catching the following week's departure — tight before a holiday, but often still workable if the rest of your paperwork is ready. Bintulu direct runs on a longer cycle, so a missed direct sailing leaves a wider gap; routing via Kuching is the alternative there, at the cost of a longer sea leg.

If it is genuinely urgent, say the word "urgent" when you request the quote. We can't make a vessel leave earlier — the sailing schedule is fixed and that is exactly why slots are the constraint — but we can prioritise the yard processing between arrival and loading so your car makes the very next sailing rather than the one after it.

One extra timing note for year-end travel: monsoon weather between November and February can add a few days to transit. Your vehicle waits safely at our Klang yard, at no charge, until it sails, and we notify you as soon as the carrier confirms a delay — but it is far better to build that margin into a December arrival date than to discover it in December.

Finally, plan the return leg in the same conversation as the outbound one. After a holiday, everyone travels back inside the same few days, so the Sabah/Sarawak → Peninsular direction tightens exactly the way the outbound direction did before the holiday. Locking both dates while you are already talking to us costs nothing extra and saves the scramble.

💡Festive-Season Tips

1. 01

   Book as early as you can

   A deposit locks your slot. The earlier you lock it, the higher the chance of catching a sailing before the holiday.

2. 02

   Ship before the rush starts

   If your schedule is flexible, ship a week or two before the peak — the yard is clearer and your car is ready at the destination early. See the transit timeline breakdown.

3. 03

   Prepare documents first

   Grant, IC, valid road tax & insurance, and the bank release letter if needed — all ready before your slot date so nothing causes a delay. Road tax and vehicle registration are regulated by the Road Transport Department Malaysia (JPJ).

4. 04

   Book the return leg early

   Heading back to the Peninsular after the holiday? The return direction is busy too — lock your return date as early as your outbound one.

❓FAQ