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Easy Ways to Spend Less Money While Shipping Cars, Trucks, and Motorcycles

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Home  |  Car Transport   |   Easy Ways to Spend Less Money While Shipping Cars, Trucks, and Motorcycles

It’s not everyday that someone has their vehicle shipped, so it can be a complex process for those not familiar with the industry. What many people do not realize is that it is not a ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to pricing. Shipping rates will vary based on a number of factors. Once you understand the way certain factors affect shipping costs, you can take certain steps to reduce these costs and save money. Here are a few tips for saving money when shipping a car, truck, or motorcycle. 

Shop Around

Just as you shop around for the best prices on cars, furniture, and insurance rates, you want to do the same for auto shipment. Get two to three quotes from different companies and compare them. Be sure to ask about all costs associated with shipment including any fees or additional charges. If the quotes are fairly similar, you should be fine choosing the one that is slightly cheaper. If one of the quotes is drastically different, however, this might be a red flag. Watch out for these companies as they could be a scam. 

Choose Open Transport

When you are shipping a vehicle you typically have the option to choose between an open or enclosed trailer. Unless your car is a luxury vehicle or an antique, you are fine selecting an open carrier and you will find that this is considerably cheaper. 

Avoid Unnecessary Insurance

Oftentimes car shipping companies offer extensive insurance coverage that can end up being very costly. In order to avoid unnecessary options, know the value of your vehicle and only choose an insurance option that is relevant to your needs. 

Be Flexible with Shipping Dates

Auto transport companies do not run the same routes every day and their schedules change based on demand. Due to their fluctuating schedules, carriers will typically charge more to pickup or deliver your vehicle on a specific date. Booking your shipment with flexible shipping dates can help you secure the lowest price. 

Consider the Season

Just like other industries, the auto shipment industry also has a peak season. If you choose to have your vehicle shipped during the spring and summer months, you can expect to pay $200-$300 more than you would if you shipped it during the winter months. 

There are certain unavoidable factors that will impact shipping costs such as the size and weight of your vehicle and the distance of your delivery. The good news, however, is that there are a number of ways to save money and make the process more affordable. These are just a few of the easiest ways to reduce your shipping expenses. 

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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