Originally Posted by
STS-134
2. No use tax is due on the importation of the vehicle described above because of the following exemption:
- The vehicle will be in Hawaii for less than one (1) year before being re-exported out of Hawaii.
Then that does not explain why it costs $1500 to ship to Hawaii and only $900 to ship back to Oakland.
Supply and demand. There is more freight going to Hawaii from the mainland than going to the mainland from Hawaii; freight prices generally are greater to Hawaii than from Hawaii. Same reason it costs more to ship a car north to Alaska from Seattle than south.
I know that some of the shippers (Pasha?) used to offer a roundtrip rate if the vehicle was going to be shipped back to the mainland in less than 30 days; you might check to see if they still do.