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5 Reasons to Ship Your Car Instead of Drive It

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Home  |  Car Transport   |   5 Reasons to Ship Your Car Instead of Drive It

If you need to get your car from one part of the country to another, you will have to decide whether to drive it or ship it. While there are certainly advantages and disadvantages to both, hiring a shipping company is the safest and easiest way to move your vehicle a long distance. Driving hundreds or even thousands of miles across the country is simply not a plausible option for everyone. When it comes to cost, convenience, and safety, car shipping makes more sense than driving the vehicle. Here are a few reasons why hiring an auto shipping company is the smartest choice for transporting your vehicle across the country. 

1.Protection for the Vehicle

Long distance travel puts a tremendous amount of wear and tear on a vehicle. Some vehicles, particularly luxury and antique vehicles, cannot even bear this kind of mileage. Car shipping is a great alternative to driving your vehicle because your car is safely transported to its destination without accumulating high mileage and wear and tear. This helps protect your vehicle from possible maintenance and repair costs associated with such long distance travel as well as protecting the overall value of the vehicle. 

2.Save Money

At first thought, you might assume that driving your car is the cheapest option. However, most people fail to realize all of the costs associated with driving your vehicle across the country. You will have to account for a number of expenses including food, lodging, and gas. The more time you spend on the road, the more money you will be spending. Car shipping can actually be cheaper than driving, especially if you factor in that the reduced wear and tear prevents the need for expensive car repairs. 

3. Safety

Driving a very long distance can be a dangerous undertaking. Road accidents can and do happen, and the risk increases with a longer distance. Driving for long hours can also be exhausting and drowsy driving can be a very dangerous situation. Not to mention rain, snow, and ice can make for even more hazardous driving conditions. Hiring a shipping company allows you to avoid the potential risks involved with long distance driving. 

4. Save Time

If you have ever driven coast-to-coast, then you probably know that it takes roughly five days to complete the trip. When you are in the midst of dealing with a move, working, and handling family responsibilities, this might be time you just don’t have. Furthermore, this lengthy trip will require you to take off work or take kids out of school. For those who don’t want to take time off work or have a lot going on in their personal lives, paying for a car transport service is the fastest option. 

5. Reliability

It can be risky to drive your car across the country. You have the potential to deal with car trouble, maintenance issues, weather damage, or even an accident. Shipping your car is easily the most convenient and reliable way to transport your vehicle across the country. Reputable shipping companies only work with qualified and experienced drivers who understand the logistics of moving large loads. In addition, these companies are insured in the unlikely event that something happens to your vehicle during transport. If you are looking for the most convenient and reliable method of transport, car shipping is the way to go. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Honest Answers to Your Car Shipping Questions

Yes, we always ask for your specific pickup and delivery addresses, if the carrier can get right to the addresses you provide, they will. If the addresses that you give us are not safely accessible for a Multi-car carrier, however, you will need to make arrangements with the driver to meet at a nearby location where the carrier can safely get in and out.

People do it all the time (rarely for free) but the official answer is no.

Not what you wanted to hear, we know, but that is the honest answer.

We are not licensed to broker the shipment of household goods and, likewise, no car carrier that operates in the USA is licensed to transport them from state to state either. Despite what you might be being told by other car shipping companies you may speak with.

Remember, at the end of the day we're all salespeople, and the true answer to this question is not a great selling point.

You will hear a lot of companies tell you that you can put up to 100 pounds of items in the trunk, but that is not entirely true. That fact is that items of that amount are fairly common and the department of transportation is probably not going to split hairs and fine the trucker over items of that amount, provided they are not over their weight limit. They could fine them, however, if they see a vehicle stuffed full of personal items so the car carrier will most likely try to negotiate something with you to cover themselves against any costs they could incur. It's not something we can build into your contract though.

We have a short and helpful video on this topic in our user videos.

Only in rare cases and car carriers will usually charge a premium to make it happen.

All dates given by car carriers are typically estimates and projections.

For this reason (and to keep your cost down) we ask that you build in some flexibility and give us the earliest possible date you would be WILLING to release the vehicle, even though it may not be your preferred date.

We'll put you in direct contact with your car carrier and the driver will also typically call you the afternoon or evening before your pick up and delivery (they won't just show up unannounced, and if they do we want to hear about it). However, car carriers are out on the road battling traffic, weather and any number of other factors that can and do throw them off of their pickup and delivery projections from time to time.

If the projected dates we give you come and you are unable to make contact with your carrier, please call our office immediately so that we may help resolve the situation.

The average transit time from pick up to delivery on any vehicle going coast to coast will average 7 to 10 days. From there you can figure your transit time based on how far your vehicle is traveling, i.e. from either coast to the Midwest might average 3-7 days.

Yes!

Even better, we do not even ask for payment until we have you confirmed for pickup by a safe, reliable, fully insured, direct car carrier. If for any reason you do not ship your car with the carrier that we arrange for you, there is no fee.

The fees paid directly to the carrier however, (in most cases, their fees are not paid until your vehicle is delivered) are not directly controlled by us, so any requests for a refund of the carrier's portion would need to be addressed with the carrier directly.

Of course! And you are always backed by our Damage Free Guarantee policy.

Part of what you pay us for is to verify that the car carrier that we put you on is covered by the proper amount of insurance and that everything is up to date.

There is never any additional cost to you for this coverage, and their insurance is always primary.

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