How Toll Roads Affect Car Shipping Services
Toll roads are nothing new. The concept of roads that travelers pay to use has been around since antiquity, and it hasn’t disappeared today. But when it comes to how toll roads affect car shipping services, there’s a lot to know and understand.
Toll roads can be a great thing for a community, bringing in important income to the area. Or, they can lead to a decrease in infrastructure use and cost travelers more than their fair share. This article is going to focus on how toll roads affect car shipping services more than anything, and we highly recommend you read it too.
Article Overview
How toll roads operate today
We have this idea of toll booths and toll roads that dates back to, really, the 1970’s. But the idea of cars lining up at booths and tossing change in a bucket is mostly a relic of the past. Today, most toll roads have electronic pay systems, and most motorists barely have to stop to pay the tolls. Many will simply get a bill in the mail each month.
This has the benefit of greatly speeding up traffic on toll roads, but it’s also frustrating for anyone who has to travel toll roads to get to or from work, or to take the kids to school, or go shopping. Toll road use can get expensive, especially if the payments are taken monthly. Some toll roads charge per mile; others charge per use; still others charge per month. Sometimes, it’s a mix of all of those.
For car transporters, tolls can be a real pain, even electronic ones. Many toll booths can be sped through, but at a reduced speed (often 25mph). While this doesn’t seem that bad at first glance, imagine having to pass through half a dozen of these in a day!
Where are the toll roads?
There are currently 26 states that operate toll roads – over half the country! Florida seems to have the most toll roads, though Texas has its fair share too. California is looking at implementing toll roads as well.
Most toll roads aren’t very long, but some, like Florida’s Turnpike, can run hundreds of miles. It’s also nice that most toll roads are not interstate highways – though some undoubtedly are. For instance, through New York, a second of I-95, running 22 miles, is tolled; however, the cost is fixed at $1.75. Consider, however, that I-95 is a heavily-traveled interstate by auto transporters. Hit enough tolls, and carriers might increase prices.
Which toll roads carriers need to run on will depend on their established routes. Most will try to avoid tolls if they can, but through Texas, New York, Florida, and California, it can be difficult. Areas such as Denver have tolled roads as well, but usually not for cross-country routes. However, if a carrier needs to operate on a toll road, it may increase your price. Your prices will still be all-inclusive, so you won’t see any added prices after you book your shipment.
How toll roads affect car shipping prices and services
It’s not just prices, either; sometimes, tolls can affect the routes themselves. For instance, if a toll is high enough (which can be an issue, especially in high-demand, high-traffic areas), services may slow down. Toll roads may cause carriers to rethink their planned routes – and, as such, their planned pickups and deliveries. Once a carrier commits to a route, it’s hard to change it, but it might make them rethink actually running that route to begin with.
It’s important to talk to an agent about potential toll roads along your route. Chances are they’ll only have cursory information regarding the carrier’s route, but they can certainly talk to them. You can also talk to your driver when they pick your vehicle up and ask them how tolls may affect your prices or services.
Get a free car shipping quote with American Auto Shipping
We can get you a free quote to ship your vehicle absolutely free of charge. Just fill out our free quote form to get started. You can also contact us any time at 800-930-7417 to speak to an agent. They can give you a quote over the phone, answer questions you have, book a shipment, and more.
Since 2007 Dave has written all the content and blogs for American Auto Shipping and during this time added the duties of customer support and transport logistics.
He currently resides in Washington with his three kids and their mom and cat. A fan of Marvel movies and good stories, when not shipping cars Dave can be found working on his novel, enjoying a good book or playing some tournament HALO.
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