Currency to display:

1 Visiting United States of America
2 Entering United States of America with a Car or Motorbike
3 Driving in United States of America
4 Gas and Diesel price in United States of America
5 Safety and Security Considerations
6 Camping in United States of America
7 Navigation
8 Special Overland Travel interests
9 Vehicle Maintenance
10 Buy or sell a car or motorbike in United States of America
11 References
12 Helpful External links

Visiting United States of America

Give a brief overview of what it's like to visit. How easy is the border, how safe is the country, are there great things to see and do, etc.

Entering United States of America with a Car or Motorbike

Correct as of: September 2013

Required Paperwork

List the paperwork required to enter with a vehicle, including number of copies

When shipping a vehicle to the USA from outside the country, as of mid 2013 the following fees apply:
Handling Fee: $60.00 USD
Bill of Lading: $50.00 USD
Documentation Fee: $45.00 USD
ISF 10+2: : $95.00 USD

Process at border

(To check if you need a travel Visa for United States of America, application instructions and fees see: United States of America Visa online application at VisaHQ.com)
Briefly describe the process at the border to enter with a vehicle

Cost of entry

State the cost for a vehicle to enter

Permitted length of stay

State the permitted length of entry for the vehicle

Extension of stay

Describe the process to extend the permitted length of entry for the vehicle, if possible.

Storing a vehicle and temporarily leaving the country

Describe if/how a vehicle can be stored, and for how long.
Also mention if the owner / temporary importer can leave the country while the vehicle is in storage.

Exiting with a vehicle

Describe the paperwork requirements and process at the border to exit.

Driving in United States of America

Insurance requirements

Insurance is technically mandatory in the USA for any driver. This applies to most states but not all. We've never been asked for it. The insurance really insures you to drive any car at all.

Cost of insurance

We have been dealing with the ex-pat department at AIG Insurance. Dealing directly with the underwriter so this is much easier than the normal call center staff. We have a 1 year policy with the cover we need for under $800.00 USD (UK Registered Land Rover). Some notes for those of you who also need it. You may not need un-insured and under-insured motorist bodily Injury (BI) cover as its likely your home travel policy will cover this. Ours does so don’t waste your money on that. You can also get much lower lever of cover based on the minimum requirements for some states in the USA. You can check out the lowest requirements by googling.

As an example we got fully comprehensive cover $20,000.00 USD including zero excess glass cover with $1,000.00 USD excess/deductible for collisions, property ($100,000.00 USD), bodily injury cover ($300,000.00 USD for others) for the price mentioned. This is a high level of cover for the USA which is nowhere near the cover levels in the UK !

If you only want the minimum you can go a lot lower than we have. If you just get the legal minimum and the price drops a lot !

The company is AIG and the number is 800-343-5761 There’s a few people there but if you get hassle ask for Kathy. Sometimes they are on voice mail. The will insure any car from anywhere. If you have young adults with you the premium will be higher as they insure the car for any driver including anyone in the household that might drive it, even if they do not. So if you have a 17yo with you it will be expensive. You need to give them an address but this is used for USA rating so it can be ANY address in the USA. They do not send anything there. Its all done via Email and Phone. You will need scans of all documents for the car and you.

Where to purchase insurance

As above, call AIG

Driving license

Technically you need an IDP but really you do not. Its easier if you have one but we have NEVER been asked for one. Florida changed the law to force you to have one but this is illegal under the Geneva Convention so the law was repealed in April 2013. However the law was not changed so you could get into trouble without one but it is NOT an offense any longer. Do not worry about Florida. I'd get one if you can and if not I'd not worry about it. I just renewed mine as we were passing the post office at home. If we were not passing I would not have bothered.

Driving side of road

Right.
RHD vehicles can be driven in United States of America without a problem.

Mandatory items in vehicle

State any mandatory items that must be carried in the vehicle. (i.e. safety triangle, first aid kit, fire extinguisher, etc.)

Roads

General Road quality

Give a brief description of the general road quality. Mention if one way streets are common.

Road signs

Briefly describe the overall quality & existence of road signs for directions and hazards.

Toll roads

List the frequency and approximate price of toll roads.

Bribery in United States of America

Do not even think about bribing it will only make the situation worse.

Checkpoints

The boarder patrol operates random check points with in 60- miles of the international boarders looking for people illegally entering the country and drugs. Most check points will have work dogs sniffing the vehicle for illegal drugs. The Boarder Patrol web site is at http://www.cbp.gov/border-security/along-us-borders/overview. Vehicles with foreign license plates may have to show passports and proof of legal entry, but not always.

California has agricultural check points to mitigating the transportation of invasive species. For the most part they will ask if you have any fruits or vegetables, look at them for signs of fruit flies and send you on you're way if nothing were found. If there are signs of invasive species, they will throw the items in the trash and you are free to proceed. Their web site is http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/pe/ExteriorExclusion/borders.html

Traveling with pets

List the entry requirements and anything else required to travel with a pet.

Gas and Diesel price in United States of America

Last updated: December 2013

Currency and unit to display:

Gas and diesel prices vary across the country, and change quickly.

Gasoline Grade	Price
Regular (85)	$3.74 USD per Gallon (US)^[1]
Diesel	$3.60 USD per Gallon (US) to $5.00 USD per Gallon (US)

Link to external websites with price & quality information, if available.

Gas and Diesel Availability / Frequency

Briefly describe if gas shortages are known to occur.
Also state the approximate average distance between gas stations. This is a very rough estimate.

Gas and Diesel Quality

Sulfur content of diesel is 10ppm and winter grade is automatically introduced in filling stations. Shell seemed to do this first.

Safety and Security Considerations

Driving at night

Discuss driving at night and if it should it be avoided. Mention why.

Vehicle parking

Discuss if vehicles can be parked on the street, if they are considered "safe" at night. If vehicles can not be parked on the street, list the other options that exist.

Special driving considerations

A List of special things to be careful of (i.e. Unsigned speed bumps, abnormal road rules, people or animals on the road, etc.).
List any roads that are not recommended to drive for safety or other security reasons.

Security advisories and information

Camping in United States of America

Organized "pay" camping is as common as hamburgers and hotdogs in North America. Facilities commonly found at these campsites vary with price and location. The most expensive I have seen were $1,000.00 USD a month at big city California beach locations with full hook-ups, and swimming pool, rec room and washing machines. Middle of the road places are around $25.00 USD to $30.00 USD per night with full hook-ups or around $350.00 USD to $500.00 USD a month. Full hook-ups, is electric, water, and sewer. If they allow tents, the cost is about half the full hook-up cost.

Keep in mind RV-parks are not campgrounds. I was rudely reminded of that in Las Vegas Nevada. Because of the numerous compromised people visiting Las Vegas their rules are very discriminatory to keep things to a manageable level.

"Wild camping" or "boondocking" is officially called "Dispersed Recreation Camping" by The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management or BLM for short. A well organized web page at http://www.boondockingguide.com can answer all you're questions on "wild camping" or really just "camping."

"Roadside" camping or "car camping" or "stealth camping "is very common. You are allowed to stay at most major interstate highway road side rest areas for 8-hours. Truckers stay there all night arriving just before dark and departing before sunrise. It can be hit or miss finding a place towards midnight near major cites. Rest areas have bathrooms with drinking water, pick-nick tables and often a place to fill up water bottles. The first rest area in the state will have free state maps and tourist information. Coffee is served on major holidays to promote safety.

Over night sleeping at truck stops is very comfortable. They generally have showers, laundry rooms, food and more for the truck drivers "home away from home" over night stay.

Wall-Mart is also a common place for transit RV (recreational vehicle) traveler to park over night. Some Wall-Marts do not allow over night parking. A GPS waypoint list is maintained at www.poi-factory.com/ and http://halberstadt.macmate.me/Walmart/Walmarts.html of locations that do and do not allow overnight parking.

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), manages a very high percentage of non private land in western USA. Their main web site is http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en.html. Camping information is found in the local BLM field office web site under recreation. They have downloadable maps and end less amount of information.

The most popular BLM camping areas, by number of winter visitors, are the BLM LTVAs, short for Bureau of Land Management Long Term Visitor Areas. For a fee of several hundred dollars visitors may camp for as long as seven months. See: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/elcentro/recreation/ltvas.html and http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/recreation/camping.html

Camping guide books

List and link to books specifically for camping.

There are many campground directories for RV-parks. None of them are great at covering all camping locations. The priority of these directories is on paid commercial RV and camping locations. A internet search of "campground Directory," will give you pages of inept directories. Woodalls, Good Sam RV Travel Guide & Campground Directory are a few. They are available at Camping World and RV supply stores and some sporting goods stores.

A non commercial web site that excels in GPS GPX files of all known "real" camping locations is located at: http://www.uscampgrounds.info/