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Towing vs. Shipping a Car

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Home  |  Car Transport   |   Towing vs. Shipping a Car

When you need to get your car from one place to another, you generally have three options: drive it yourself, tow it, or ship it. In many cases, driving your car a long distance isn’t practical or possible so you might need help moving it. This leaves you with the decision of whether to tow your car or ship it. For most people, this isn’t something they do every day so there is a lot of confusion about which option is best. In this article, we will discuss the differences between these two options so you can decide whether shipping or towing will work best for you. 

Towing Your Car

Depending on how far you need to move your car, towing can sometimes be the most affordable option. However, this method certainly doesn’t come at no cost. Not to mention, towing requires special equipment and there are several factors to consider when towing a vehicle. For starters, there are three different methods for towing your car: flat towing, a tow dolly, and a vehicle trailer. 

Flat Towing: Flat towing refers to pulling your vehicle behind another vehicle with all four wheels on the ground. It is popular for pulling cars or four-wheel drive vehicles behind large trucks or motorhomes. This is one of the most basic ways to tow a vehicle, since it doesn't require setting up a dolly or trailer. However, it is not an option for every vehicle. Only certain vehicles are meant to be flat-towed. In addition, it puts a lot of mileage and wear and tear on your vehicle, so it's best for short distances as opposed to a cross-country haul. 

Transport Dollies: You can rent a transport dolly and hook it up to a personal truck or moving truck. During transport with a dolly, the front tires of your vehicle are secured to the dolly while the rear tires remain on the road. During transport, the rear tires spin just as they would if you were driving, meaning that the same mileage is being put on those rear tires. Renting a dolly is fairly inexpensive, but it's not ideal for long-distance transport because your car is still subject to a lot of wear and tear along the journey. 

Vehicle Trailer: You can also rent an auto transport trailer in which the vehicle is strapped to a trailer for the duration of the trip and will not make any contact with the ground. While it certainly provides a safer option for your vehicle and prevents wear and tear, a vehicle trailer is a more expensive option and still requires a driver to pull it. 

Driving with your vehicle being towed behind you might save you money, but it is not necessarily the best option for a long-distance drive. That’s because dollies and flat-towing still put a great deal of mileage and wear on your vehicle. Furthermore, all of the towing options make driving much more difficult. Driving a long distance across the interstate presents dangers on its own, and towing a vehicle that is difficult to maneuver and break quickly only magnifies those dangers. Towing is usually a great option for short distances, while shipping is definitely safer for long distances. 

Shipping Your Car

Shipping a car is by far the most convenient way to move your car across the country. The biggest advantage of shipping is that a reliable transport company can handle all of the logistics for you and there is absolutely no wear and tear on your vehicle. You can even choose between open or enclosed carriers, depending on the level of protection you want for your vehicle. Furthermore, you can enjoy the convenience of door-to-door delivery so the process is simple and hassle-free. While it can cost a bit more than flat towing or dolly towing, it costs about the same as it would to rent a vehicle trailer. Plus, unlike towing your car, shipping is a worry-free experience and the safest way to transport your vehicle a long distance. 

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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