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Safety is Key When it Comes to Car Shipping

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Home  |  Car Transport   |   Safety is Key When it Comes to Car Shipping

Next to your home, your vehicle is probably your most valuable asset so it’s important to keep safety in mind when turning your vehicle over to a car shipping company for transport. Not only is safety a huge responsibility for the shipping company, but also for the owner of the vehicle. It is important to take the proper measures to ensure your car is safe during the shipping process. Here are a few things you can do to ensure your car arrives safely at its destination. 

Choose a Reputable Shipping Company

Take your time looking for the right car shipping company. This decision should not be based solely on price because some companies might be cheaper but they might not follow the proper guidelines and safety recommendations. Remember that your vehicle will be in the hands of the auto shipper so you want to leave your vehicle with a company that makes the safety of your vehicle a top priority. 

Inspect Your Car Before and After Transport

Before you hand your car over to a shipping company, you want to take the proper precautions to ensure the state of your vehicle. Wash your car and give it a good clean, as this makes it easier to see scratches, dings, or dents. Make a note of any damage that you notice and even take pictures of your vehicle if possible. Once your car arrives at its new destination, check your car again for any new damage. 

Remove All Personal Belongings

Shipping companies are not responsible for any items that remain in your vehicle during transport. Don’t risk theft or damage to your belongings and take the time to remove all personal items before handing your car over. 

Check Tire Pressure and Battery

Before shipping your vehicle, you want to make sure your tires are inflated according to the recommendations. You also want to check for any mechanical problems such as your battery to be sure everything is in proper working order prior to transport. 

Check for Insurance

Although you don’t anticipate damage to your vehicle, accidents do happen so you want to be insured just in case. Check with your car shipping company to see if they offer insurance and know the terms of their insurance policy. You should also check with your own auto insurance company to see if you need to add additional coverage. 

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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