Motorcycle shipping today is a very common process. People ship their
motorcycles for various reasons that include vacation motorcycle tours,
Internet motorcycle purchases, vintage motorcycle displays, motorcycle
auctions, motorcycle events like club rallies, and
residential relocations.
Motorcycle Shipping Companies
Motorcycles and other motorized recreational vehicles including ATV
(All-Terrain Vehicle) and Trikes are very high value items. They need
specialized
packing and moving
services. As such, many motorcycle shipping companies have come into
being who handle the motorcycle shipping in a very professional manner just
like
car carrier services offered by the
car shipping companies. Most of these companies have trailers that can
accommodate 30-40 vehicles depending on vehicle type, make, model and how
the load is configured. Standard floor space per vehicle is generally 4 ft
wide and 9 ft long. Many companies charge an oversize fee based on
measurement for vehicles larger than the standard allotted size, including
sidecars, trikes, snowmobiles and jet-skis etc.
Motorcycle Shipping Options
There are four general types of packing and moving done with regards to
motorcycle shipping- Crated Shipping; Pallet Shipping; Uncrated Shipping;
and Container Shipping.
Crated Shipping: Here the motorcycles are packed in a crate. Packing
can be done by the client as well as the shipping company (if it provides
such service). There are many other companies too who provide separate
motorcycle crating services. They usually do motorcycle packing in their
warehouses. However, many of them do it at the client's location too. When
using crates for packing, the cycles are secured with motorcycle straps and
all connection points are protected with soft straps. When motorcycles are
packed by the clients themselves, they can crate the bike, drop off and pick
up the crated bike at the crated shipping company's terminals. Based on the
services provided by the company, they can avail
door-to-door-services
too. When crating, fluids should be drained from the bike and the battery
disconnected. The bike needs to be fully enclosed.
Pallet Shipping: The pallet shipping involves the motorcycle to be
pushed onto a custom heavy duty wooden pallete and securely strapping it
down with the help of soft tiedown straps on the front and rear of the bike.
Palleted motorcycles are generally protected with a cover that is provided
for free by most of the companies. After packing or rather palleting the
bikes, they are forklifted safely onto the tuck.
Uncrated Shipping: Here pallet or crate is not used for motorcycle
packing. The shipping companies who provide uncrated shipping services for
motorcycles have trailers that are rigged for transporting bikes. Most of
these trailers have tracks in the floor for fitting the wheels into them.
Soft tiedown straps are also used to secure the bike's front and rear. In
this case, most of the motorcycle shippers charge by the number of miles and
not by the size of the bike.
Container Shipping: In the terminal to terminal container shipping
option, the shipping company provides a heavy duty metal container
specifically designed for transporting bikes. The clients bring their bikes
to the origin terminal and pick up the bike from the destination terminal.
Terminals are generally located near the main airports in each city where
the shipping company serves. Here also the fluids from the bike have to be
drained and the battery disconnect before loading the bike in the shippers
container. The wheels of the bike fit into a track in the floor of the
container. Tie down loops are there on the inside of the container for the
tie downs to be hooked into.
