Making a nominal partial payment is preferred by carriers but not essential. Carriers like getting paid with Cash or Money Order upon delivery, and who doesn’t? A partial credit card payment and balance due upon delivery accomplishes that. But a full credit card payment upfront also works if the carrier trusts the broker. Carriers have known Direct Express Auto Transport for nearly twenty years and the trust is there. So either method works with us.
This is one of the trickier questions in car shipping, because it’s almost impossible not to be inconvenienced at one end or the other when shipping a car to yourself. Establishing a support system of friends and family who can assist you in this process is essential, and we recommend you alert them to your schedule and find out who will be able to transport you during the time that your vehicle is unavailable. Let us know who will be driving you and when, so we can help coordinate the process. If your support system is at the shipping origin, then keep your car available until you begin traveling via plane or bus. Tell us who your contact person is, including address and cell phone number. Make your car available around the time you leave. That doesn’t mean it will get picked up right away because there might not be a car carrier ready the day that you leave. Indeed, it could be another few days or even several days (if you’re in a remote location) before a carrier is in the area to make that run. Wherever you are going, rent a car, or use a ride-sharing service until yours arrives. A good rule of thumb is to estimate that once your vehicle is picked up, the carrier will travel 500 miles per day. So depending on the distance you may be without your personal car for several days or weeks. We encourage our customers to plan accordingly. If your support system is at the shipping destination, you are frankly under more pressure. You don’t want the stress of waiting until the last minute only to find out there is not a carrier ready to load and get on the road when you fly out. So give yourself time, especially if in a remote location. Rule of thumb, make your vehicle available at least one or two weeks ahead of when you are scheduled to leave. After all, you have people at the destination that will receive it anytime. But you must get it moving before you do. Our car shipping quotes calculator does a very good job at setting the price to be successful 90% of the time within one week. But you should consider expediting your order $50, $100 or $200 depending upon your sense of hurry and urgency. You can do that yourself online or call us at 800-600-3750 to perform that task.
Over 90% of our orders ship inside of one week. That could be anywhere from 1 to 7 days. Most of the U.S. population lives in a major metropolitan area and is shipping to another well populated area, and that makes a big difference. Cars usually ship in a very regular manner, almost half within just a few days. If either your origination or destination locations are away from population centers, in other words in a remote area, then you might consider meeting a driver in a nearby big city or town to increase your chances of shipping timely. Remember, anyone you choose can serve as your point of contact, which takes the stress out of shipping your vehicle.
Delivering is final step in the process, and also the simplest part. Once your vehicle has been assigned and picked up, not too much can go wrong. Once the vehicle is picked up, you can estimate that it will take roughly 1 day of transit time for every 500 miles distance. Delivery Time Estimate Guide 100-500 miles takes 1 or 2 days 500-1000 miles takes 2 or 3 days 1000-1500 miles takes 3 or 4 days 1500-2000 miles takes 4 or 5 days 2000-2500 miles takes 5 or 6 days 2500-3000 miles takes 6 or 7 days Depending on the distance, weather conditions and population centers it could be a few days or weeks until a vehicle reaches its destination. The carriers usually estimate about 10 days on coast to coast trips, but they frequently arrive earlier.
Yes and no. The strict interpretation is no, you can’t ship items inside your vehicle. The reality is that almost all carriers look the other way on items that weigh less than 100 pounds, roughly the equivalent of 2 suitcases. We recommend placing any additional items in the trunk and out of sight. The U.S. Transportation Law states that a carrier can be fined $10,000 for hauling household items in the vehicle, but it’s rarely enforced. However, the drivers do estimate the weight of each vehicle that they carry and don’t want problems at weight scales. So they must keep the personal items to a minimum. Some drivers will accept a tip ($50-$250) for hauling extra stuff, but some won’t. Rule of thumb, don’t take advantage. The driver is there to ship a car, not move the owner’s belongings. Our vehicle transport cost calculator will not add an extra charge for additional items because it would be presumptuous of us to expect the driver to do it. If you want to add items to your vehicle, discuss it with the driver.
