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Common Mistakes Businesses and Entrepreneurs Make When Calculating Auto Shipping Costs

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Home  |  Car Transport   |   Common Mistakes Businesses and Entrepreneurs Make When Calculating Auto Shipping Costs

The cost of shipping a vehicle from one place to another involves many factors that can affect the overall pricing. Many businesses and entrepreneurs who are new to auto shipping might not be fully aware of all of the factors that go into determining these costs. As a result, they might find that they have underestimated the actual cost of shipping or they could end up paying more due to lack of knowledge. Here are some common pitfalls to avoid when determining car shipping costs. 

Insufficient Knowledge of How Pricing Works

Many people are not completely familiar with how auto transport companies calculate their shipping costs. Many things can impact shipping costs, and some of these factors even fluctuate. There is no “one size fits all’ when it comes to the price of auto shipping. Things like the size and weight of the vehicle, the shipping distance, the pickup and delivery location, the type of transport used (open or enclosed), and extra features such as expedited shipping or door-to-door delivery might cost more. Fuel prices are also a determining factor, and since these change on a daily basis, your price could change if you book far in advance. 

Not Choosing an Experienced Shipping Company

There are a myriad of car shipping companies but few of them actually have the experience and expertise to provide quality transportation services. If you choose a shipping company with the ‘lowest price,’ you may not be getting an accurate quote. Oftentimes, these less experienced shipping companies will lure you in with lower prices, only to hit you with surcharges and additional fees upon delivery. Furthermore, these companies might not be reliable and could pose a high risk to your vehicle if you ship with them. In some cases, you might not even receive compensation if your vehicle is damaged during transport. Always do ample research and check reviews before choosing a shipping company. You also want to make sure that the shipping company has proper licensing, registration, and insurance.

Not Considering Insurance Coverage

In many cases, a reputable car shipping company will provide some form of insurance to their customers when shipping their car. That said, you will need to read the insurance policy thoroughly to understand more about the coverage. In some cases, you will need to purchase additional coverage to ensure that your vehicle(s) are properly protected. 

Not Considering the Time of Year

Many factors can impact shipping costs including the time of year. Peak season for auto shipment typically runs from spring through summer and you could pay up to twice as much during peak season. If you want to avoid paying the highest price, you should schedule your shipment during the off-season to save money.

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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