Are you looking to transport a vehicle from New England down to the southeast, like Florida, because you own a vacation home down there and you want to escape the brutal New England winter? If so, you’re a snowbird, and while that may sound kind of negative it really isn’t.
The term “snowbird” is a general auto transport term that is used to describe a particular type of customer – specifically, those that transport their vehicles from the northeast to the southeast during the late summer, fall and early winter months in order to be where the weather is a bit nicer.
Snowbirds make up a crucial auto transport customer demographic, as they are usually shipping during the time when the industry on the whole is slowing down. Fall brings crazy weather to many parts of the country, and with holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day all coming with a forty-day span or so, many customers choose to forego shipping until the new year. But snowbirds don’t.
During snowbird season many transport companies offer incentives and deals to entice snowbird shippers to book with them. This in turn leads to lower prices on the whole for you, the customer, and what’s great about snowbird season is the fact that many auto transport carriers position themselves in areas where there are going to be a lot of snowbirds moving freight.
This also leads to lower prices because carriers can quickly fill their trucks, maximizing load efficiency and giving them plenty of work for the next few weeks. They can operate primarily up and down I-95, for the most part, which is also great as that is one of the cheapest interstates for carriers to run routes along, passing through some of the most heavily populated areas in the country as it does.
There are a lot of routes that snowbirds can ultimately ship along, not just New England to Florida. Arizona is also a popular snowbird destination, particularly the suburbs around Phoenix. The Great Lakes is a region that snowbirds will ship out of as well as New England, particularly Minnesota and Wisconsin where the winters are the most brutal.
Florida is definitely cheaper to ship to than Arizona, but with the auto transport boom over the past two decades it’s been easier than ever for customers to find great transport rates to just about anywhere in the country. After October it may be more difficult to get a vehicle out of the Great Lakes, particularly the northernmost reaches of Wisconsin and Minnesota.
You’ll likely find that prices from New England to the southeast are going to be some of the lowest prices mainly because of the route – I-95 is a straight shot down the coast, whereas shipping to Arizona requires a variety of different interstates being traveled on – and a lot more distance between pickup and delivery usually.
If you have questions or concerns about the content in this article, feel free to call us directly at 800-930-7417 to speak to one of our live auto transport agents, who can explain in greater detail the information presented in this or any article you encounter on our website.
If you need a quote to ship a vehicle, fill out our free online form and you will get a free quote right away. If you would prefer a more human approach, give us a call to speak to a live agent and get your quote right over the phone. They can also answer questions, book your order, 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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