DIY Rental Van in HK?

[kimwy66]

Hang on, the original requirement is to move some furniture which requires a van/truck for a couple of hours. Why even suggest that the OP drive the van himself?

Because the OP asked for the information on renting to drive himself? Yes, it might be easier in our view, but I know from experience it can result in a load of faff and damage to your gear getting a man with a van here because they want to be away to the next job asap.

It's good to know all the information, not just what we think is best for the OP.

[INXS]

There is no grace period. How do I know? Got pulled over in a speed check in my first few weeks in HK, and ended up explaining myself to an Inspector down at the station, threatened with being charged with Driving without a Licence and Driving without Insurance, and having my husband charged with allowing a car to be driven without insurance.

It is a myth on the internet that I fell for. But lets not perpetuate it. THERE IS NO GRACE PERIOD.



If you have a visa to reside in Hong Kong and are eligible for a HKID, you must immediately apply for a Hong Kong licence, simple process takes 7 days. If you don't, the penalty is a fine and / or 12 months imprisonment.

I had to wait 2 months to find out if I was going to be charged or not, and had to attend another interview with the inspector. I was let off in the end with a very stern lecture, for which I counted myself lucky having been so stupid as to have believed something I read on the internet without checking first.

This is obviously new. Like it or not...in 2010 I got a speeding ticket while I had an HKID but was still driving on my British licence. I also owned and insured vehicles without a HK licence...Kwiksure did write to me asking me to get my HK licence asap. I also regularly hired a van at that time as some Geo. members will attest to.

There may not be a grace period now but there certainly was in 2010.

Plus, this Hong Kong peeps. not England or the USA. Things are a lot more flexible here.

[INXS]

You can rent a van from these guys.

I used to rent mine from a place in Lam Tei near Tuen Mun....it's very local though...

[kimwy66]

This is obviously new. Like it or not...in 2010 I got a speeding ticket while I had an HKID but was still driving on my British licence. I also owned and insured vehicles without a HK licence...Kwiksure did write to me asking me to get my HK licence asap. I also regularly hired a van at that time as some Geo. members will attest to.

There may not be a grace period now but there certainly was in 2010.

Plus, this Hong Kong peeps. not England or the USA. Things are a lot more flexible here.

Please don't confirm the wrong impression that is out there.

The only reason you and I (mine was also 2010) got off was because there was no involvement of other vehicles or injury, as I was told by the Inspector.

Had the incident been an accident for which you or I were at fault they would have thrown the book at us. And there wold have been liability for an injuries caused because the insurance would be invalid.

I don't want that to happen to anyone. Not only are the penalties quite stiff, it would result in the end of the Hong Kong residence. Not worth the risk.

[imparanoic]

self drive rental, a company in hk which does it

http://www.bigunion.com.hk/zaspx/ren...catid=53&lte=f

cheaper to rent a man in a minivan at HK$200-300 per hour

minimum charge is HK$1750 for 3 day rental, no single day rental, but it's 5.5 tonne lorry(mini van will be at HK$1800)

probably be better on safe side to ask transport dept about the licence issue as I don't any company won'
t allow a hk resident to rent their vehicles (most likely an insurance issue)

http://www.bigunion.com.hk/zaspx/ren...279&subcatid=9

[penguinsix]

Avis will rent you a Toyota Hiace van for moving things. They have a branch in Hopwell Center and in TST. They also have a number of people mover / mini vans, but they are rather small and I've found moving items in them (given the odd / curved shape of some of the doors) to be rather difficult.

Man with a van is easier though. Let them worry about parking and all that sort of stuff rather than you.

[chingleutsch]

Nobody has yet mentioned the requirement for drivers of goods vehicles (including lgvs like vans) to have PR these days.
I finally got my Australian (Qld) licence converted to a local one this last summer, and despite being licensed there to drive up to 5.5 tonnes, and machinery, I was only granted a Class 1 here. When I queried it, I was told that I needed PR before I could apply for heavier vehicle classes, and to do a local course and test for machinery.

[INXS]

Please don't confirm the wrong impression that is out there.

The only reason you and I (mine was also 2010) got off was because there was no involvement of other vehicles or injury, as I was told by the Inspector.

Had the incident been an accident for which you or I were at fault they would have thrown the book at us. And there wold have been liability for an injuries caused because the insurance would be invalid.

I don't want that to happen to anyone. Not only are the penalties quite stiff, it would result in the end of the Hong Kong residence. Not worth the risk.

Speak for yourself. I was insured and have it in black and white. I still have the letter they (Kwiksure) sent me to find out if I'd changed my licence over yet.

I would guess that the reason you weren't charged is that the chance of conviction was low.

[jgl]

Because the OP asked for the information on renting to drive himself? Yes, it might be easier in our view, but I know from experience it can result in a load of faff and damage to your gear getting a man with a van here because they want to be away to the next job asap.

It's good to know all the information, not just what we think is best for the OP.

The driver being in a mad rush has never been my experience when using van companies or individual drivers. In my experience, they seem to have reasonable buffer times between jobs, and if you book them out by time instead of point-to-point, they are more than happy for you to take as long as you need.

The main limitation on hiring the driver+van tends to be that they don't provide manpower to shift furniture. For that, you can sometimes negotiate with them directly to help with lifting, but from what I've experienced it's something they tend not to be hugely keen on.

Thinking about it more, it could be harder if you don't speak any Canto. I know that some drivers have the impression that working for Westerners can be a pain in the ass because of language difficulties and because foreigners are sometimes, well, just plain ruder to drivers.

[kimwy66]

The driver being in a mad rush has never been my experience when using van companies or individual drivers. In my experience, they seem to have reasonable buffer times between jobs, and if you book them out by time instead of point-to-point, they are more than happy for you to take as long as you need.

The main limitation on hiring the driver+van tends to be that they don't provide manpower to shift furniture. For that, you can sometimes negotiate with them directly to help with lifting, but from what I've experienced it's something they tend not to be hugely keen on.

Thinking about it more, it could be harder if you don't speak any Canto. I know that some drivers have the impression that working for Westerners can be a pain in the ass because of language difficulties and because foreigners are sometimes, well, just plain ruder to drivers.

True on the language issue, they don't tend to speak English. Last time we used my husband's secretary to liase between us and the driver by phone. Worked much better. And also as this was the van company she used frequently they were much more accommodating because it was a steady source of work they didn't want to piss off.