Vehicle shipping or auto transporting is the process of transporting
vehicles from one place to another through various
modes of transportation. To
transport the vehicles such as cars, trucks, caravans, motorcycles, boats
etc., most of the people look for cost effective professional assistance
provided by the various vehicle shipping companies.
Vehicle Shipping Services
The vehicle shipping services include door-to-door vehicle delivery,
terminal-to-terminal delivery and roll-on-roll-off deliveries.
Door-to-Door Vehicle Delivery: The
door to door relocation
services are the most popular for residential moves. However, when
door to door vehicle shipping is done, it doesn’t always mean that the
truck will make delivery right at the client's door. The vehicle is brought
as close to the pick-up or delivery point as possible in terms of law and
safety. This is because the shipping trucks may be as long as 75 feet and
the drivers need a lot of space for managing them. If the access to
customer's house is restricted by certain hindrances like trees or tight
turns, the truck has to stop at a nearby parking place from where the owner
can get the delivery of the shipped vehicle.
Terminal-to-Terminal Delivery: The shipping companies have their
offices or depots at a place in a city which is termed as terminal. The
customers, according to the final agreement, leave their vehicles at the
terminal nearest to their house from where they are moving and pick up from
the terminal nearest to their new house in another city or state. Generally,
these services are much cheaper.
Roll-on-Roll-off Delivery: Roll-on-Roll-off, often referred to as
RORO or ro-ro are ships that carry wheeled cargo like automobiles, trucks,
semi-trailer trucks, trailers or railroad cars during
international relocations. The
vehicles to be transported are driven on and off the ship on their own
wheels. There are also lift on-lift off (lo-lo) ships which use a crane to
load and unload cargo.
Types of Vehicle Carriers
A vehicle carrier is mainly a cargo trailer on which the vehicle is loaded
and transported to the new destination. One can choose from among two major
types of cargo trailers- Open trailers and Enclosed trailers
Enclosed Trailer: This type of container is covered and as such
gives additional protection to the vehicle. However, it is expensive than an
open auto transport but the value lies in the fact that it saves the vehicle
from outer elements like climatic conditions and road hazards. The varieties
of such kind include six-car enclosed trailers, four-car enclosed trailers
and two-car non-stacking enclosed trailers. Multi car trailers are also
there for over sized cars.
Open Trailer: The container here is open thereby it do not gives any
protection to the vehicles from weather conditions or other outer elements.
It is cheaper than covered auto transport. When open cargo trailers are
chosen for vehicle shipping, one must always pay added attention to the
provisions of
insurance coverage offered by
the vehicle shipping companies. A better insurance plan takes care of any
damage caused by the shipping company during the relocation of vehicles.
Vehicle Shipping Process
The vehicle shipping companies usually follow a similar process to
transport vehicles.
- When a client accepts the auto transport price quote for transporting
vehicle, the company reviews the quotes and choose an appropriate
transporter.
- The client pays either the full amount or a part of it after getting
into agreement with the selected transporter.
- After receiving the signed agreements and deposit, the company
schedules the vehicle for transport.
- The company also informs the client, through email or other means,
about the driver who contacts him/her prior to pickup and delivery.
- The driver inspects the vehicle for any existing damage and gives a
carbon copy of the inspection report to the client.
- The vehicle is loaded for transportation to its destination. The
driver stops along the way to load and unload other vehicles that are
also scheduled to be moved on the same carrier.
- After reaching the destination, the driver calls the client to set up
a time for delivering the vehicle.
- It is the responsibility of the client to inspect the car for any
damage. If any such damage is found, he notes it and gets it signed by
the driver after tallying it with the report of inspection given to him
before loading the vehicle at the originating location. The client can
later contact the auto transport company for damage claim according to
the insurance coverage.
- If the entire transport fee has not been prepaid, then upon delivery,
the balance payment is given to the driver.
That is only a general overview of the vehicle shipping process. There can
be changes in the above procedure according to the policies followed by a
company.
