Auto Shipping FAQ: Why Does it Take So Long To Get My Car Picked Up?

Car shipping is much different than many other forms of shipping things. A car is not a small envelope, after all, so shipping it is going to require jumping through a few more logistical hoops.

One of the biggest complaints that any auto transportation company receives is \"my car hasn't been picked up yet!\" Which, to be fair, is an okay point to raise. You're shipping a car, and you need it picked up.

But the thing is that shipping a car is not like delivering a pizza. In this blog post, we're going to discuss why takes the amount of time it does to get a vehicle picked up. We'll discuss factors that impact how quickly your vehicle is picked up and talk about things you can do to make your pickup go faster if you need it. An overview of how auto shipping works Some people don't realize that it can take a while to get their car picked up because of how auto shipping actually works. And that's okay - if you've never shipped a car before, of course, you wouldn't know how the process works.

That's why we're going to lay it out right here. Moving forward, you should have a decent understanding of what to expect when shipping a car. You can also read our auto transport process from start to finish page for more information.

Shipping a car does not have to be complicated. You start with getting some quotes from different auto transport companies, decide which one you want to book with, then book your shipment. Payment terms, including whether anything is due at booking, come from the company you book with (you never pay us anything), and once you've booked, that company starts lining up a carrier to pick your vehicle up.

This can take anywhere from a few hours to a week or more, depending on a lot of different factors (and we'll get to those in just a bit). Once your vehicle is assigned to a driver, they'll make their way to your pickup location, and then load your vehicle. From there, you just have to wait until they arrive at the delivery location, they'll deliver the vehicle, and any balance due is usually paid at delivery, on the terms of the company you booked with.

There are some things that might be different for some shipments, but the vast, vast majority of them are handled in the way outlined above. So it can take weeks to get my vehicle picked up? Why? \"Weeks\" is a bit of an overstatement. Most vehicles are picked up within about a week of their first available date. For example, say you book your shipment on the 6th of the month with a first available date of the 7th, the next day. On average, it'll take anywhere from 2-5 days to get a carrier out to your vehicle for pickup. This is wildly simplifying the process, and there are a lot of factors that will impact the average pickup window, of course. But it's a good estimation.

This is just an average, so your actual pickup windows and pickup dates will vary. But for most shipments, it won't take weeks to get a carrier out.

Here at American Auto Shipping, we have 27+ years of experience helping customers ship vehicles. In all that time, we've seen our fair share of weird things. We've seen cars get picked up within an hour of booking, as well as cars that have waited weeks because they are in poor condition or in a poor pickup location. We've seen just about everything there is to see in the car shipping industry. We've seen a thing or two in our day. So we know a thing or two about how this all works.

However, it's important to understand some of the things that will play a role in how long it takes to get your vehicle picked up. So keep reading. Factors that can impact how long it takes to get a vehicle picked up When it comes to factors that impact pickup windows and how long it takes to get your car loaded onto a truck, there's a fair amount of them you need to be aware of.

For starters, what route is the vehicle traveling along? Busy pickup and delivery locations, such as major cities, often see faster than average pickup times due to the popularity of the locations and the route. Less popular routes and pick-up locations may see longer wait times for pickup as well, as there are fewer carriers servicing those routes.

Another factor that will go into the time it takes to get a vehicle picked up is what kind of auto transport carrier you need. Open haulers are by far the most common and are the fastest and cheapest to find. Enclosed carriers are great for expensive, rare, or luxury vehicles, but are more expensive and not as common. Flatbed trucks are used only for the largest vehicles and are seen only on an as-needed basis. For the record, its vehicles requiring a flatbed hauler that often take the longest to get picked up.

Another major factor that plays into this is how much you're paying for the shipping service. The car transport industry runs on a delicate balance between what customers want to pay and what carriers need to earn to run a route. Carriers want to make as much as they can per vehicle; customers want to pay as little as possible. Where those two meet decides how quickly a truck shows up.

This means that, sometimes, vehicles are priced too low. If there are 50 other cars on the same route as you, that's 50 other customers vying for a spot on a truck. If there are only a few trucks on the route but lots of demand, prices skyrocket because carriers can take the highest-paying loads first, causing lower-paying loads to sit and wait for prices to drop.

This can be a problem. That's why our estimate ranges come from a published formula, so you can see what it realistically takes to get your vehicle picked up when you need it picked up. What you can do to make pickup faster While there is no guarantee that your vehicle will 100% be picked up on the date you need it, you can do a lot to make your odds better. And before we go further, we need to assure you that most vehicles get picked up within the standard window. 1-5 days to find a carrier, and 1-7 days to get it picked up. That's standard.

But sometimes that's not good enough, and sometimes it doesn't work. When that happens, the easiest answer is more money. But NOT more money to a middleman! If vehicles aren't moving within the standard window, it's almost never about anyone's fee - it's because the carrier won't earn enough to move it. This is, by far, the most common reason vehicles sit - the carriers just don't see the load as worthwhile.

This can be because of other vehicles on the route, or the demands of the route, or the distance between the pickup and delivery locations. Regardless of the reason, if this is why the vehicle is sitting and not moving, more money to the trucks will get it moved. Every time.

If your vehicle isn't moving fast enough, ask the company you booked with what it would take - often a modest price increase or a more flexible window gets a carrier to commit. It's not common, but it happens. Ship a car today with American Auto Shipping The companies making offers typically have multiple levels of service that will get your vehicle picked up when you need it. Standard, of course, as well as priority services (for those that need a 1-3 day window) and even expedited services (for a 24-hour pickup window). Each level of service comes with its own pricing structures, with priority and expedited being more than standard.

And once it's picked up, how long does delivery take? Carriers can only drive so many hours a day under federal hours-of-service rules, and they stop along the way for other pickups and drop-offs - that's how a truck carrying several cars pays for its fuel. Our estimates use a simple rule: roughly one day for every 500 miles at the quick end and one for every 350 miles at the slow end, plus a day or two for loading and the stops in between. A 1,500-mile trip works out to about 4 to 7 days in transit; coast to coast, about a week to ten days.

Weather, traffic, inspections and the occasional breakdown can each add a day here and there, and rural deliveries take longer than metro ones. If your timing matters, build a buffer into the delivery side too - not just the pickup.

If you want your vehicle picked up when you need it, start with an honest price. Get your free estimate online, compare offers from licensed auto transport companies, and pick the one whose pickup window fits your plans. You can also call us at 800-930-7417 to talk it through with a live person.