We ship ocean freight out of the office all the time. Lots of products going to South America in particular (Argentina seems to like us for some reason), as well as a good number of items that go to Poland and other places around Europe.
It took us a couple tries to find a good freight forwarder. This is a person, or company, that handles all of the import/export documents. We crate and package the machines for shipment. Get them dimensions, weights, special handling (this side up, no fluids, no forklift, etc) instructions, and they seemingly take care of the rest. They have us sign some documents, and then a truck shows up. We load, and away it goes. They handle all the communications with the customer on status, pickup/delivery, etc. It's not absurdly expensive either. Like we just sent a $400k machine to Poland last month. Air freight was $26k, freight forwarder cost us $3.5k to handle the logistics. I can get their name/number if you want to reach out and see if they handle personal logistics like what you're looking at.
Secondarily, I've imported a vehicle from Canada to the US. While there isn't the freight portion (I flew into the selling location and drove home), the logistics of getting the paperwork were, generally, pretty straightforward. It started with some phone calls to the local DMV where I had to escalate to find a manager, or supervisor that knew the process. From there I got a list of documents I needed. Then I called the border crossing office and got an understanding of that process and what documents I needed. I assembled all the documents I needed and made like 6 copies of each. Then, just follow the process they told me. Had one minor hiccup I wasn't expecting during the registration process, but it was quickly solved with a 3rd party (sheriffs department) inspection of the vehicle.
I've read several stories of how people have imported things from China (like Kei trucks, or little EV's, etc), and the process sounds and feels largely similar to what I've seen and experienced. It's not really difficult, but it's very specific and not immediately clear on how it works to someone that's never done it before. Lots of research ahead of time seems to help grease the wheels. Speaking of which, I wouldn't be completely surprised to see you have to "grease some palms" along the way. I've heard stories of other companies having local "fixers" they keep on the payroll to ensure smooth and easy transactions at border crossings.
Good luck brother!
