Opting to ship your car instead of driving may sound counterintuitive at first. You bought your car to drive it. Why put it on a truck and have someone else drive the truck to transport your car? Driving around your neighborhood, your city, or even to another city, may be simple. However, driving across the country is a whole different level, or in this case, road. Shipping is a practical solution. How do you do it, though? Do you know the car shipping quotes? With the right knowledge, you can get a reliable and reasonable car shipping company to safely transport your car. Click here to compare rates.
Book Your Car Ahead of Time
Just as you would book for an appointment with your doctor, you would book a shipping schedule for your car. How busy a car shipping company is can surprise you. Dealerships, wholesalers, and rental companies are the major markets of the car shipping industry. Private sellers and people moving across the country also rely on car shipping. If you are planning to ship your car, schedule it as soon as possible. Time is a factor in determining car shipping quotes. If you book ahead of time, you will get not only the schedule you want but also a great price. If you book during peak season, the prices might spike. If you need to expedite the shipping because you booked too late, it will cost you more.
Closed or Open
The truck that will transport your car can have a trailer that is either open or closed. Open containers have lower prices, but as the name suggests, your car is open to the environment. It is prone to bad weather, road debris, and even theft. An experienced and reliable car-shipping company can bring the risk of damage to a minimum, though. Some security measures they take include chains that are strong enough to keep your car secure but will not strain your car. They will also carefully handle your car as they load or unload it.
The downside with an open trailer is the shipping company cannot do much about external factors like weather conditions, stones and debris that winds carry, and bird excrement. When it comes to theft, the best you can do is to have your car on a top-loading spot to make it hard to reach. These anxiety-raising situations are where a closed trailer can come in. Yes, it can raise the car shipping quotes, but you get further security and peace of mind during your car’s journey.
Can You Go the Distance?
You will be paying for transport. Just like with a cab, the distance will influence the car shipping quotes. This concept is simple enough. Thankfully though, some companies offer lower overall all shipping costs per mile for extended distances. Check with the company on this. If you need international transport, then the prices will be higher.
The Car Itself
Your car will also determine how much it will cost to ship it. Shipping bigger and heavier cars like SUVs can cost more since they will have different shipping requirements than a sedan will. Custom cars like the ones you see on Fast and Furious will also have different shipping requirements. Lastly, if your car is inoperable, then transporting it will require more work and thus more costs. People should at least be able to roll, steer, and break the car so they can work with it.
Driving can already be tough. The roads can have bumps, potholes, road works, and detours. Not to mention, you also have to deal with bad weather and bad drivers. If you need your car across the country, shipping it instead of driving can save you a lot of time, money, and energy.
