Auto Transport Tips: Preparing Your Vehicle For Shipment
There are a lot of different things that a vehicle owner who is trying to ship their vehicle needs to know before the carrier arrives to load the vehicle onto the truck needs to know – it’s not just about getting a car loaded onto a truck. Okay, maybe it is, but there’s some prepwork that you need to do that, if you do it correctly, still won’t take you more than probably twenty minutes – more if you do it wrong, most like. Preparing a vehicle to be shipped is surprisingly easy, assuming you’ve been honest and up front about your vehicle with your shipper from the get-go. What we mean is only that your shipment will be a lot easier, and likely happen faster, if you disclose all the secrets about your vehicle (though you can probably leave how that stain in the back got there out of your recounting). Here are a few pieces of information and tips that can help you prep your car to be shipped and make things easier in the long run for you.
For starters, clean it out. Not only is a dirty car tacky, but in some areas of the country there are laws on the book that require you to have some type of garbage receptacle in your vehicle. Something like a plastic bag on the floor, behind the passenger seat, works well in this capacity. But even if you don’t need or want a garbage bag in your car (which you seriously should, they’re so much more convenient), you’ll still need to clean your main method of transportation. Auto shippers are not licensed to carry household items, and while a few things in the car might not seem like a big deal, if a car shipper gets caught by the man and they see a bunch of stuff in their cargo, they’re going to be none too happy, and will likely toss your stuff out of your car in order to reduce weight and force the carrier to comply with all rules and regulations.
Once it’s clean, you want to ensure that it’s in proper running condition. Check your spark plugs and your starter, make sure your tires and wheels are inflated properly and aren’t flat. Ensure that the battery is charged and the car can be shifted into gear, be it a manual or an automatic, and make sure it can actually roll and brake and steer properly. These are important factors because that’s how your vehicle is loaded onto and unloaded from the transport truck. Your shipper literally will drive the vehicle onto the truck, maneuver it into place, then park it and secure it. If your vehicle is not running properly or cannot roll, brake or steer, it makes the carrier’s job harder and may require them to use specialty tools that aren’t a part of the standard carrier truck, namely a winch. If you can get your car running enough to drive it onto and off of a transportation truck, you could probably save a pretty penny.
Now that you your vehicle is clean and you know it runs, the next thing you should do to prepare your vehicle to be shipped is not to wash it. A lot of customers are concerned with how their car is going to look when it’s loaded onto the truck – something to do with pretty things making them feel more important, no doubt. But ironically this can actually damage your vehicle during transport, which would be funny if it happened to someone else, surely, but if it happened to you you’d likely be howling. A thin layer of dirt and grime on your vehicle will help protect your vehicle from a lot of the minor hazards that can affect vehicles on the back of a transport truck, namely rocks and dirt clods and other debris that gets kicked up into the back of a transport truck while it’s hurtling down highways at speeds of 60+ miles per hour. A layer of grime will deflect most of these minor annoyances, and while they’d result in little more than a minor ding or small scratch, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
So clean the inside, make sure it runs and don’t clean the outside – these seem like minor things but they can make all the difference in the world when it comes to getting your vehicle shipped. If you need more advice or information about the car shipping industry, give us a call toll-free at 800-930-7417 to speak to one of our live agents, who can answer your questions, give free advice and also get you a quote to ship your vehicle.
You can also fill out our free online quote request form to get a free quote emailed to you. Our form is also completely free to use and submit and we work with only the best auto shippers in the industry, and we clear them all before we start working with them so you can rest assured they are fully licensed and insured. So call or go online and see what American Auto Shipping can do for you.
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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