Transporting Vehicles – 5 Tips for a Shipping Success

Your 1925 Flint needs to move from your ancestral home in Colorado to California. Problem is, you are in a hurry. If you’ve left the job of transporting your vehicle to a car shipping company, you made the right decision. You can always depend on the car transport establishments to deliver your vehicle in top condition. These vehicle transport companies provide transportation for trucks, and SUVs along with smaller cars and sedans throughout the United States. Terminal-to-terminal and door-to-door vehicle shipping delivery services are provided by US automobile shipping firms.

Car transport companies have to be meticulous and swift, but above all careful. They have to meet customer deadlines and provide updates about the car’s location at any point of time in transit. Keeping customers updated in real time is one of the key responsibilities of the vehicle transport companies.

Transporting Vehicles in the United States

When opting for car transport within the US, make a decision between open and closed transfer. Open trailers don’t provide protection against the elements of nature like rain, hail or sunlight. But they’re cheaper, making economical sense if the vehicle isn’t high value or the distance is small.

For a high end vehicle or a vintage model, it’s best to choose a closed trailer. Keep in mind this might add a 25-50% hike on your vehicle transport bill.

These car shipping companies provide door to door vehicle transport, but by “door to door”, they mean the nearest point to you navigable by a 75 foot trailer. In US restrictions on commercial vehicle movement in residential areas often makes it necessary to make the nearest school or shopping mall the pick up or delivery point.

Damage During Car Shipping

Most car shipping companies provide coverage for damage in transit and the coverage of course depends on car valuation and distance travelled. However all this must be declared in writing by the vehicle shipping company. The deductibles if any must always be officially declared by them. Your own car insurance policy will also probably in force during transit making your car “doubly protected”. However all personal belongings must be removed from the car before handing it over to the vehicle shipping firm’s representatives as these are not covered by any of the above policies.

All car shipping companies operate on cash while very few accept credit cards. Most of them demand no advance but some may require 10-25% upfront payment. Whether you make a deposit or not, you must make sure you have the required payment, by cash or cheque, ready as soon as you learn they’re ready to make a delivery.

An important point to remember while transporting vehicles is to keep a record of the car’s external and internal damages before shipment so that it can be noted on the bill of lading, so that any other damage is not billed to you.

So if you’ve changed your address or otherwise need to move your vehicle, call one of the many online vehicle shipping companies. To find cheap and reliable vehicle transporters visit CitizenShipper.com now!