A Beginner’s Guide to Car Transport

To protect your classic car from damage during transport, choose enclosed auto shipping.

When you are moving across the state or even across the country, you will no doubt need to use the services of a proficient and reliable car transport service to move your car along with you wherever you go. Therefore, this guide to car transport may come in handy for the task at hand.

Navigating through all of the information that is readily available regarding vehicle transport can seem tricky, and even overwhelming at times, but with a little guidance you can easily ship your vehicle with ease.

This guide to car transport was created to give you a little insight into the automobile transport industry, and to help you better understand the auto shipping process and the many benefits that come with using a professional car moving company.

Car Transport Trailers: Open vs. Enclosed

There are two main choices when it comes to transporting your car: shipping it via an enclosed trailer or having your car transported on an open trailer. Both options each come with their own pros and cons, an explanation of which is essential to any guide to car transport.

A pro to open car transport is that the cost is significantly lower than enclosed vehicle transport is. The downside to shipping your vehicle on an open trailer is that it is exposed to elements beyond the transport driver’s control, such as heavy rains, sun, snow, and road debris, such as rocks flying off of the tires of other cars on the highway.

The greatest benefit that comes with enclosed car transport is that your car is protected from all of these elements. The trailer is enclosed so that your car stays in the same condition that it was in when you handed your transport driver the keys to it.

The downside to enclosed car transport, however, is the cost. Enclosed auto transport can be expensive, normally costing up to two times more than it would cost to ship a car on an open trailer.

If there weren’t enough choices already, you also have the option to have your car transported on a single trailer. Keep in mind, though, that single trailers are generally reserved for those who need their cars quickly and don’t mind paying a premium fee in order to do so.

Car Transport Pickup and Delivery Options: Terminal-to-Terminal vs. Door-to-Door

When it comes to pickup and delivery locations, there are plenty of options there as well. The two most common are door-to-door and terminal-to-terminal car transport. Each one of these pickup and delivery options comes with pros and cons too. Most car transport guides will recommend door-to-door car transport for its convenience, though there are many reasons to choose terminal-to-terminal shipping.

When door-to-door shipping is chosen, the auto transport driver will pick up and drop off your vehicle at the locations that you specify. If these areas are not accessible, the driver will arrange with you to meet at a location nearby, such as a mall or shopping center parking lot.

Door-to-door car transport is a very convenient service to take advantage of, which is a pro. The downside to the service is cost. Having your car shipped door-to-door will usually cost you more than if you had your car picked up at a terminal and delivered to a terminal.

Terminal-to-terminal shipping is less expensive than door-to-door shipping and could be a convenient option for you if you do not have time to wait around for a car transport truck to pick up or deliver your car.

You simply drive your car to the terminal, where it will await pickup by the car transport driver. When your car arrives at the receiving terminal, you will be contacted so that you can make arrangements to go by and pick it up at your convenience.

One drawback to terminal-to-terminal car transport is that, if your car sits in a terminal for too long awaiting pickup either by you or the transport driver, you could incur extra storage fees. If you plan on using this service, make sure that you discuss these fees with your carrier.

After reading this guide to car transport, hopefully you have a general idea of how automobile transport works and what options you have available to you when shipping a car. You should feel more confident the next time you decide on shipping a car.