Understanding Vehicle Shipping

Generally speaking, we don’t hear very much about something like car transportation. Let’s face it – vehicles aren’t easy to move if you don’t want to drive them.  Admittedly, that might sound a bit strange at first glance. Why wouldn’t we be driving them if we’re trying to get to a destination? 

Well, there could be periodic explanations for that. Perhaps the most common one is if we’re moving – specifically if we’re moving a long distance away from where we currently are. Think about it.  How could we feasibly drive ourselves to Hawaii or Alaska? Although these are some extreme examples, they’re still worth taking into account.

Even if you’re just moving one state away, it can be rather difficult to handle the transportation part if you’re not looking to embark on a pretty long road trip. Obviously, although that’s not the worst thing for some of us, it’s hard to say that they’re much fun when you’ve got the whole family in tow as well. It can be a pain to plan, and most of us are already stressed out enough from everything else going on (as you can see on this page).  

With all of this said, you’re probably starting to see why vehicle shipping is so appealing. Although it may not seem necessary to a certain extent, it’s also quite convenient. In addition to that, it can end up saving you some money along the way. If you’d like to learn more about how it all works, then stick around!

The Details: How Does it Work?

When you’ve decided that you’re going to transport your car this way, there are a few things to keep in mind. Notably, think about your vehicle itself before you get your quote. Be familiar with things like the year, model, and make of it, and try your best to have the registration paperwork on hand. All of this will help generate an accurate quote for you from the company you go with.  

Typically, that will be your first step once you’ve selected your depot. You’ll provide them with your information, including where you’re planning on picking up your car. Obviously, you’ll probably want to search for something like “vehicle shipping company near me” when you’re trying to pick one out, so that you won’t have to make a huge trip to drop it off.  

They may ask for the weight of your vehicle, or at least an approximation of that. More often than not, that will be the main way that they calculate your final bill, so it will be helpful to have as accurate of an approximation as possible for your quote. That way, you can have a good idea of what you’ll be paying once the move is completed!

On a final note, for this section, you will also need to choose whether or not you want to have your car shipped in a closed container or an open one. A lot of this really is down to personal preference. That said, the closed one will keep your vehicle cleaner, while the open one will be less expensive. It is up to you which you would choose.

A Cost Breakdown

To close out today, let’s discuss how pricing works in general when it comes to this process. We mentioned this above, but in many circumstances, transporting your car like this can actually save you some money when compared to driving yourself.  A lot of that comes down to the fact that gas prices are quite high right now, and while some reports like this one, https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=56220, say that they might dip again, it’s still not cheap to drive long distances.

In that sense, you’re definitely going to save yourself some cash. However, you can make the process of car shipping even cheaper for yourself by doing a few things beforehand. For one thing, be certain to plan this very far ahead. Never go to the company the day before unless you want to face some steep fees for such short notice.

Additionally, though, you can also reduce the weight of your car before you drop it off. Try your best to reach that approximate weight by removing any items out of it that aren’t necessary for shipping. At the most, an air freshener or something like that would probably be okay.

While it may not seem overly cost-effective to transport a vehicle at first, you can see that under the surface, this really isn’t the case. There are plenty of ways to make it less expensive, and the typical pricing model isn’t overly high in the first place. If you’re moving or need to move your car otherwise, then this might be an option to check out!  Hopefully, this deep dive helped you to understand it a bit better.