You don’t have to know all the information about shipping your car across the country as there are a lot of professional transportation companies dealing with it. But to choose the right one and to make the whole process smoother and faster it’s always good to have some basic knowledge.
Main features of the transportation service
Shipping a car across the country can be performed in different ways and it’s up to you to decide which is more appropriate in your particular case https://cdlscan.com/
Open transportation is the most common and popular way to deliver your car from point A to point B. It will not be too expensive and the whole process will not take too long as there are a lot of trucks delivering across the country on a daily basis. Your car will be placed on an open platform among dozens of other vehicles.
Enclosed transportation is a more exclusive service with a full protection from weather conditions and other potential threats on the way. Your vehicle will be placed inside the trailer and will have more care from the driver’s side. Normally, there are no more than 6-8 cars in the trailer which cause a much higher price for the delivery. You can expect to pay 50 percent extra in comparison with an open-transport delivery.
You can also choose to deliver your car to a particular address or if you would like to save some money to agree on the terminal-to-terminal transportation. In the second case you will need to take care of the car’s delivery to and from terminals and also to consider that the insurance will cover only the distance between these two terminals. So, if you will need to drive a car for a long time after it’s delivered, you should think about arranging additional coverage.
A few words about the insurance itself. In the overwhelming majority of cases, it’s already included in the quote of shipping a car but can vary from company to company. All the details you can find in the contract and it’s your direct responsibility to make sure that the coverage is enough to cover the value of your car. Of course, accidents are very rare in case of a professional transportation company, but you cannot be 100 percent sure, especially when talking about a car shipping across the country. If you are not satisfied with the insurance provided you can always apply for the extended one (in case the transporter provides this service) or to find an appropriate insurance on the side.
In case you depend on the delivery period, you should check if the carrier has an expedited or express service. In most cases it’s possible to arrange the delivery in a very short period of time, but it will also cost you much more in comparison with a standard service. Normally, you can expect to wait about 10-12 days for your car to be delivered within the states.
There are some high and low seasons for the car’s transportation and if you are interested in the best quote you should seriously consider wintertime for the delivery. Basically, the best months for it are October, November, February and March but it’s also depending on the particular routes and directions. Thus, moving from the North to the South will cost you a slightly more in the late autumn as many people use transportation service to move to the warmer states before it’s getting too cold. There are a lot of such details but you can always check them with the carrier.
Shipping vs. Driving
Most of the owners when considering quotes for shipping cars may compare them with the service of hiring a driver to deliver the vehicle. But even if the price for the driver seems to be cheaper, there are some details you need to carefully think about.
First of all, the whole mileage will be put on your car. And if we are talking about the distance across the whole country it can be a very significant number. And in case you, for example, order such a service to deliver your car from an auto salon you should expect that upon arrival it will not be a new car anymore.
On such a long trip there is always a possibility of some damages occurring. Even an open transportation will protect your car much better from the random stones and scratches. By the way, considering open and enclosed transportation, you can also apply for a much cheaper but still effective soft-enclosed service where your car will be covered by a tent while still being on an open platform.
Across-the-country trips in most cases will require a big fuel consumption and the necessity of lodging the driver for a night. All these and some others expenses will be included in the price and can significantly raise it.
Insurance policy in case of hiring a driver for your car can also be pretty tricky and you will definitely need to check with your insurance company what additional measures you may need to take.
Finally, you will need to find a driver you can trust. In comparison with transportation companies there is much more risk to meet unfair and unreliable drivers.