Nowadays, it is common practice to hire shipping companies to move some stuff from one location to another. Some things you can transfer on your own using your car or any other type of vehicle. However, when it comes to shipping some bulky items, most of the time, we opt for hiring professionals to help us. When you are moving, you employ a moving company to transport all the furniture and large appliances to your new home.
The same thing goes if you want to relocate your car from one area to another. Still, if you have never done this before, it might seem like a daunting task simply because the whole process is unknown to you, and there are probably a million questions in your head about how everything works. Due to this reason, we are going to focus on the entire process, give you some tips, and tell you what you should expect.
The most common questions that can pose a problem are – How to choose the best one? How much it will cost you and how you can calculate the price? When can you ship the car and can you even transport some stuff in it? Don’t worry. We are going to provide you with detailed answers to these inquiries that will facilitate the entire process.
Let’s start with choosing the car shipping company. Depending on the area where you like there might not be many of these, but that doesn’t mean that you have to opt for the one that is located in your town. When it comes to this step of the process, there are three things that you have to do – research multiple businesses, ask about their policies, and finally, compare prices.
So let’s start at the beginning. The first advice that we have for you is to make a list of all the services you require. You might need door-to-door transport or you might even want to ship the car across the border.
Then, use this list to find the companies that offer those services. This is the best way to ensure that you won’t lose time researching businesses that cannot even meet all your needs. If you don’t know where to start the search, you can ask your friends, neighbors or colleagues from recommendations.
Now that you have a list of potential associates, you have to investigate each one of them. Firstly, start with the customer feed. Nowadays, every business has a website with the review section, and that is what you should focus on. Read all the comments and reviews and if the firm seems unreliable, remove it from the list.
You shouldn’t only focus on the bad reviews, but make sure to read the good ones also, and compare the two. There isn’t a single firm that can avoid having bad comments, so comparing them is the safest way to understand how they conduct their business and whether the customers are satisfied with their overall experience.
Another piece of advice we have for you – if, for any reason, the website looks unprofessional, meaning that there are multiple grammar mistakes, that the contact info is not listed, or if they require you to use some unconventional methods of payment, you should cross that business off of the list immediately. Also, you should look for the firm’s Motor Carrier Number.
This is something that every car shipping company in the US is required by law to have. If the number is not available on the website, you can send them an email and ask them to provide you with one, then you can verify it online. Reliable auto transport companies that do their job professionally will have all this info listed on the website.
Furthermore, the next thing you should do is to inquire about the service and also check their policies. When it comes to shipping there are three ways it can be done – via open, multi, and enclosed carrier. The first two are not only most commonly offered, but they are also the cheapest options.
However, keep in mind that if you opt for one of these, your vehicle will be exposed to numerous elements that might cause some small scratches and damages. In order to avoid this, which you should definitely do if you have an expensive, luxury car, you should opt for the third option – the enclosed transportation.
The following step is the one that you should definitely not skip. Before hiring any company, you should check the insurances plans they offer. It doesn’t matter how much they try to be careful and ensure the safety of your car, accidents still can happen. Also, don’t forget to check whether or not your insurance company will cover the vehicle while it is being transported. If they don’t, then you should buy the insurance plan from the shipping company.
Finally, you have to inquire about the prices and compare them between two or more firms in order to choose the one that is within your price range. Almost every business of this type offers the quote on the website. Usually, you can request and get one for free which means there won’t be additional fees, and also that you won’t have to go with that business.
If for some reason, you cannot find this feature online, you can always call the customer service and ask them everything you want to know. Since the cost is an important part of the process, getting a quote is something that you should do with every company on your shortlist. Then, use this information to choose the right one for you.
To sum up, if you are not in a hurry, then you should take some time to make this decision. Your vehicle is one of your most valuable possessions so you cannot just give it to anyone. Consider all your options, go over all the information you have collected, you can even contact the companies again and ask them some additional questions.
Even though this service might be quite pricy, our advice is to avoid the cheapest options. This is an important task that has to be completed, so you should invest some money in it, just to be on the safe side.
