What Is Vehicle Transportation?
Vehicle transportation, also known as car shipping or auto transport, is a service offered by car shipping companies that involves collecting your automobile from one location & transporting it to another. It's beneficial for moving a vehicle in various situations where you can't operate the car yourself. For instance, you might be buying or selling a used automobile online & need to transport it to another state, or maybe you've recently moved & need to ship your vehicle across the country. Auto transport services can also be extremely useful when you need to transfer your car overseas & ferries aren't available, requiring you to rely on a car shipping company to manage the task.
Luckily, there are numerous vehicle transport services available to cater to your specific requirements, which we'll discuss below.
Varieties Of Car Shipping Services
There are various car shipping services available, summarized below. It's advantageous to read through & determine the precise type of auto transportation service you require or prefer for transporting your vehicle.
The first decision you need to make is where you want your automobile picked up from & delivered to, whether it's a cross-country vehicle transport or moving a car to another state. Terminal-to-terminal car delivery is an option, where designated collection & drop-off points are used, often at the auto transport company's stores or operating bases. Terminal-to-terminal vehicle delivery is usually more affordable but requires more effort on your part to get the automobile home. However, most people require a door-to-door car shipping delivery service, where their vehicles are picked up & dropped off at their doorstep, regardless of whether it's a cross-country auto transport or just moving a car to another state. This is often preferable as it eliminates the need to go somewhere else to collect your automobile, which can be challenging without your vehicle in the first place!
Auto transport services are generally divided into two categories: having someone operate your car to the destination or putting it on a trailer & shipping it.
Have Someone Operate Your Vehicle
This is a straightforward solution to vehicle shipping that involves hiring someone to drive your automobile to the desired location, whether you need to transport a car across the country or to another state. The advantages of this car shipping method are that it's often more affordable, as trailers & an extra vehicle aren't required, & it can be faster due to the simple nature of the transport.
However, there are some drawbacks to this method offered by auto transport companies that lead some people to choose other types of vehicle shipping. Firstly, mileage is added to your car during the journey, meaning that if you're moving a vehicle across the country, significant miles will be added, although less so when transporting a car to a nearby state. Secondly, there is a slight risk of damage occurring to your automobile while it's being driven from point A to point B. These concerns are particularly worrisome for people buying or selling cars online who want to ensure the vehicle arrives in the same condition as advertised.
Put Your Automobile On A Trailer
Putting your car on a trailer is a safer way to ensure a higher level of protection than having someone operate your vehicle to its destination. With auto shipping trailers, there are several options available depending on the value & size of your automobile.
Firstly, you need to decide whether you want a single trailer for your car. These are often more expensive as they only transport one vehicle at a time but are a great choice if you're moving an expensive or classic automobile that you don't want to risk getting damaged. The safest way to ship a car is to put it in a shipping container, but this is by far the most expensive option. The other option is a multi-car transporter, which can move many vehicles at once & comes in a few variants:
Open vehicle shipping by any auto transport company is the most affordable & most common option when moving a car. Your automobile is placed on an open carrier & driven to the destination. All cars are securely fastened, but as the name suggests, they are exposed to the elements during the drive, so car shipping companies may not recommend this for highly valuable vehicles. Furthermore, while it may be the cheapest way to transport a car cross-country, long journeys in open trailers obviously pose a higher risk of damage & leave your automobile exposed to the elements for longer periods.
Enclosed car transport involves multiple vehicles secured on a carrier, but they are enclosed, protecting them from dust, weather & debris during transit. This is often preferable for more expensive or newer automobiles where the owner wants to minimize the risk of damage during vehicle shipping.
If you need to transfer your car overseas through a car shipping company, try to find a specialist service on our platform or one with experience in overseas vehicle transport, as they can provide tailored advice based on your requirements.
The Benefits of Using Shiply for Vehicle Transport in Hazen
Time-Efficient - Rather than filling out a quotation form each instance you desire an accurate cost from a business on Hazen vehicle transport, on our site you complete a single quotation form & can then obtain estimates based on the information you supply from several companies. This can conserve you hours of effort you would have needed to invest phoning businesses and completing forms. Communication with these businesses is also feasible via our platform, allowing you to store all of your vehicle shipping details in a single location.
Cost Comparison - Ultimately, the price of the vehicle shipping estimate is the most crucial factor in choosing which auto transport company to employ to transport your vehicle. The challenging aspect is that, while most businesses are willing to provide average prices & rough estimates, you won't actually receive a definite vehicle transport quote without having to give information & complete details. While this is reasonable, it does mean that cost comparison and obtaining a vehicle transport quote isn't precisely a simple task. Utilizing Shiply enables you to acquire genuine, final cost estimates from vehicle shipping businesses & compare them in one place, offering the capability to message them individually to ask any questions you may have & ultimately decide on the optimal company for you.
Affordable Vehicle Shipping - Auto transport businesses on Shiply are usually able to provide their services for a lower cost than if you went directly to them. This is because they are frequently seeking to fill space on trips they are already making & have already invested the cost for. For instance, if you were relocating from Los Angeles to New York & needed to move your vehicle there, on Shiply, a business may already have a multi-car transporter making that trip with 5 of the 6 spots filled, & they are just looking to ensure they are not squandering any space. As long as the dates, times, & pick-up/drop-off locations are suitable for you, you can often save up to 75% on auto transport by using our service.
Environmentally Friendly - Not only is using Shiply for auto transport more affordable, but it is also more environmentally friendly. In the above example, if your vehicle didn't get on that multi-car transporter & instead you arranged transport from a separate vehicle shipper, then the emissions into the atmosphere would have doubled as another entire trip would be needed just for your vehicle. Similarly, many vehicle transporters return from a delivery empty-handed, which is not only expensive for them but also for the environment as there are many people who could have used that transporter to move their vehicles in the opposite direction. Many of the auto transporters on Shiply are looking to fill their trailers on return trips too, meaning even less wasted CO2 is being released into the atmosphere, as well as continued affordable transport for our users.
Preparing Your Vehicle for Shipping
If you have chosen an auto transport business to transport your vehicle & feel confident using them, then it's time to ready your vehicle for shipping. We suggest following these steps:
Documents - It is crucial to ensure that any documents you may require are available at pick up or drop off, especially if you are selling your vehicle.
Cleaning - You should take care to remove all personal belongings from your vehicle prior to shipping, for the obvious reason that you don't want to risk them getting lost or damaged in transit. It is also highly recommended that you clean your vehicle before transport as this will allow you to determine its condition & notice any damages that may occur during delivery.
Running Condition - If the vehicle will be driven at any point during shipping or driven home from the drop-off location then you should ensure that it is in running condition. This means ensuring that there is enough fluid, as well as checking battery charge & tire pressure levels. Again this can also help you better assess the condition of the vehicle upon arrival.
Photographic Evidence - One very important thing to do when preparing your vehicle for the vehicle delivery service to pick up is to take high-quality photographs of all parts of the vehicle. This provides you with evidence of the vehicle's condition before shipping should anything happen to it during transport.
What to Do After Delivery
Once the vehicle shipping business you selected has completed their delivery, there are a few things you should do:
Check Vital Signs - Lights, brakes, & engines should all be checked immediately to ensure that the vehicle is in the expected condition, as well as enable you to immediately raise concerns with the vehicle delivery service should anything not be working as it should.
Exterior Condition - You can compare the exterior of the vehicle to the photos taken of it before to determine whether any extra damage has occurred. Shipping a vehicle can, in rare cases, cause damage, & you want to be sure your vehicle transport service has not done so.
Check Mileage - This is more relevant to vehicle shipping services where the vehicle is driven to the destination but it can help to check the mileage to ensure that it matches up with the trip taken.
We would greatly appreciate it if you could also leave a review for the auto transport business you used through Shiply so that others can browse vehicle shipping services with the same peace of mind.