Auto Shipping Quotes vs. Estimates

When you're looking for automobile shipping prices, many of you will likely search for some estimates to get a rough idea of what it's going to cost to ship your car from one state to another. Others will start looking for quotes from some different companies and compare actual prices. But which method is better in the long run? As a quote provider, naturally we're going to tell you that getting quotes is always the better option, but it's more than just that: it really is a better idea to know how much you're going to be paying as opposed to how much you might pay.

Estimates might not be a bad idea to start, but why settle for a maybe when you can get a good range from reliable companies all at once with actual quotes instead of estimates? When you fill out our free form you'll get multiple free quotes from reputable and reliable shippers e-mailed to you within the hour. Get the true prices to ship your car from the companies that'll ship them. Don't fumble around with clunky prices - get instant free quotes on demand. All it takes is filling out our free form on every page on our site. It's quick, it's free, and ultimately it's going to get you in contact with the people you want to talk to a lot faster than calling a bunch of random companies and getting estimates.

What NOT To Put In Your Trunk During Auto Transport Services

Automobile shipping companies will usually let you put at least a few things in your trunk while your vehicle is being transported. Typically they will say no more than 100 pounds at the absolute maximum, but many will say fifty pounds only of stuff in the trunk. It depends on who you talk to. But there are a few things that they will all say, and one of those things is that you can't put a few select items in your trunk - namely firearms, bombs, anything illegal or that is illegal to transport across state lines. But more than that, you should never put anything that is inherently valuable to you or that has any sentimental value to it; likewise, you should never put electronics or anything expensive of that nature into your trunk while it is being shipped. Only your vehicle will be insured during transport, so anything you put in the trunk you put AT YOUR OWN RISK. Please understand that. Your shipper is not and will not be held responsible for any damage or loss of items you place in your vehicle.

Automobile Shipping to Tucson, Arizona

The city of Tucson, Arizona is not the largest in the state, though it is the second-largest. Sitting a bit southeast of Phoenix, Tucson sits along I-10, the main interstate that runs through the Sun Corridor, or the stretch of metro area between Phoenix and Tucson, coincidentally enough. This makes for a rather popular auto transportation location, as many people live in the Phoenix metropolitan area and along I-10 down into Tucson, so moving a vehicle into or out of Tucson shouldn't be too difficult. Generally prices will be cheaper in the winter, as more people will be moving into the area due to the influx of snowbirds, which also helps lower prices.

Why Bigger Cities Are Cheaper to Ship to and From

Major metropolitan areas are favored by auto transporters because of the simple fact that they're major population centers. People who ship their vehicles more often move from one major metropolitan area to another, and with hundreds of cities with populations over 100,000 in the United States, there are a lot of areas that shippers can easily get into and out of without deviating from the routes that they typically run. This is also why it's more expensive to ship to areas off a major interstate (or the occasional high-traffic state route, such as the 101 in western California) as opposed to areas that sit right along it, as transporters will have to spend more in time and fuel in order to get to areas off the beaten path. If you're looking to transport your vehicle to or from a rural area, you stand to save money by switching the pickup and/or delivery locations to major metropolitan areas nearby.

Why Overseas Shipments are Almost Always Pre-Paid

Whether you're transporting your vehicle to Alaska or Hawaii or somewhere internationally, transporting a vehicle overseas is an expensive and time-consuming process. It is for these reasons why many auto transport companies will demand that any shipments of vehicles going overseas will have to be paid in full at time of booking. You see, your auto transport company will work with several different auto transport companies - usually a carrier and a port shipper - to make sure that your vehicle gets picked up, shipped, and delivered on time without exorbitant prices. This isn't always easy, because they have to pay two or three different hands before your vehicle gets to you. That's why they take the entire amount up front. This gives them their portion of the payment and allows them to pay any carriers or port authorities that need payment. They don't have to call you and bug you about it, and they don't have to worry about whether or not you're going to actually pay for it - you already have. Now it just comes down to getting all that money to all the right people.

Auto Shipping to Portland, Oregon

The city of Portland is a fascinating city - but it's not the most popular of auto transport locations, to say the least. Connected to the rest of the Pacific Coast via Interstate 5, a north-south interstate that runs from San Diego to Seattle (roughly), it does see its fair share of transportation traffic, but on the whole it is not incredibly popular from a carrier standpoint because none of the Pacific Northwest is. It's too isolated. Aside from I-5 (which does allow carriers from across the country access to I-5 at various points in California, Oregon and Washington) there is I-84, which runs west from Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City is hardly a popular transport location itself, but still, it beats not having anything running to Portland at all I guess.

Auto Shipping Quotes: Transporting a Chevy Express 3500

The Chevrolet Express 3500 Cargo Van is the largest commercial van that Chevy currently produces. It is large enough to haul about as much cargo as a pickup truck and can also tow a considerable amount of cargo as well. The Express 3500 Cargo Van is a work van, to say the least, and is most popular in fleets where lots of cargo is being moved from city to city within the U.S. Transporting them can be rather tricky; because of their overall size and weight, you will likely see a price increase over the cost of a small car, though this is considered standard in the industry. Make sure to talk to your representative about whether or not your Express 3500 needs any special carrier, such as a flatbed, due to the size.