Shipping car cross country

[Drunk3nLlama]

I am needing to ship a car from Atlanta to Las Vegas and have no experience with the process lol. It will be a project so speed of shipping does not matter. Does anyone have a service they have used in the past, or can offer suggestions for steering clear of problems?

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[CrashOverride]

I am needing to ship a car from Atlanta to Las Vegas and have no experience with the process lol. It will be a project so speed of shipping does not matter. Does anyone have a service they have used in the past, or can offer suggestions for steering clear of problems?

I shipped a truck clear from SoCal to NoVA. It's a fairly easy process. You put up your request on a lending-tree type board. Make sure to use a google voice number and a disposable email address because you will get spammed to death by everybody and everything. Now, know that you usually get contacted by brokers. They don't own the trucking company - all they do is take what you and him/her agreed on for price, then deduct their cut, and put it up on what the broker described to me as the "Central board". It's basically a nationwide long-haul marketplace. That's where the actual trucking companies bid. So it goes like this:

I needed to ship a 2001 Dodge Dakota 2WD, Auto, Extended Cab, 4.7 V8, all stock, driveable, no more than 100# of payload, uncovered, multi-car transport.

Yes, you will need to get that detailed. I got quotes from over $2500 to about $800. I went with the $800 guy even though another broker told me that brokers make their cut no matter what. So If I agreed on $800, then the broker would get his cut (Around $300) then the $800 broker would put a bid up for my transport for $500. The brokers can see what the current and past prices are, so they have a good idea. That broker told me he'd be happy to match the $800 guy, but that in reality, the vehicle would never ship. He was right. After about a week of waiting on the $800 broker, I fired him. He called me back an hour later and told me if I could do $1100, and have the car ready in 45 minutes he could make it happen. The price was good, so I went with it.

I threw away the burner email address, so I don't even remember the outfit. But the truth is, you are selecting the broker, not the shipper. Maybe if you went direct with like Stewart or something like that, but for normal vehicle shipping, you get who you get. Could be a 3500 series truck hauling 3 cars, or could be like the 10 car carrier that picked up my dakota. They need to know about the length because they have it down to the inch. My truck was the last one on the truck, and the dud parked the cars maybe an inch apart on his bottom deck, and the last car's rear wheel was about 2 inches on the deck. So it's tight.

Took about 5 days. Worked like this for me. I signed a contract, showing my vehicle had insurance, ran, didn't have any extra craplike lifted tires and what not. Used the credit card for the broker fee, which gets charged right away. The person at the destination pays the transport company cash. Not sure if they all work like that, but this was a legit trucking outfit. The guy had a few carmax cars he was transporting. The one downside is you don't have a whole lot of wiggle room on when and (exactly where) they pick up and drop off. They picked up my truck at the end of my neighborhood, so I had to walk a mile back. No biggie. Same deal with the buyer, they had to drive about 5 miles from their house to go get it. Which obviously meant two people had to be there to drive back both cars.

They want the car almost empty on fuel. They don't want a lot of extra weight. They told me no more than a quarter tank and no more than 100 pounds of stuff in the car. So don't think you can use your mini-van as a storage "pod" LOL.

It went pretty good. Can't complain. No issues, so I can't say anything about "What if's" but it's not too bad.

Hope this helps!

 

[Drunk3nLlama]

Thank you for providing so much info!!! Knowing that i will need to provide extremely specific detail is helpful, thanks again. Sounds like quite a complicated system they have going on lol Can't wait to have my OG mustang back with me!

 

[CrashOverride]

No problem. I forgot one thing - a lot of people say to fully document the car. So I just pulled out my phone and video taped everything. The shipper had a sheet where he did the same thing. Just like at a car rental counter if you've ever rented a car. I'm not sure if the buyer verified the condition before signing or paying. They were family and I gave them a heck of a deal on the truck, and they had seen it in person before I shipped it.

If it is a custom car, I wouldn't be surprised if they want it to be weighed and measured first since they can't lookup the details on their system.

For $300 a pop, I think I might have a gig lined up when I retire. The broker probably spent less than an hour total talking to me, the shipper, and doing the paperwork. I tried to find ways to ship via rail and cargo ship since there are ports near me and the family member as well. I never could find anything. Everything I found said shipping by truck is actually cheaper.

 

[michaeljamesm06]

About two months ago, I ship my car from Newyork to Florida. I went online to a website that provides estimates for several trucking companies. Then I hired Apollo-E Auto Transport to move my car. A man they sent were extremely nice and handled my car with care. They were on time, worked fast and efficiently. They send my car in an encolsed carrier. I would recommend Apollo-E for best car shipping services throught USA.

 

[micheal_socat]

Auto Transport USA Apolle Company provides the best service across the USA. The most trusted and affordable car shippers USA service. Looking for licensed car movers in the USA? Get a FREE quote now!

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