We live in an instant world today, where your cellphone lets you order a gourmet meal to your front door in less than an hour, and you can demand overnight delivery on Amazon Prime for everything from a Halloween costume to a new bed.
Cars, however, aren’t items that you can slip into a FedEx envelope or a post office van. Shipping your automobile with a car transport company involves so much more than ordering an overnight delivery. If you feel a bit surprised (or even frustrated) that your car can’t arrive at your new home as quickly as you can when you hop on a transcontinental flight.
Take a look at some of the reasons any reputable and responsible car shipping company takes a little extra time to get your car to you safely.
Of course, you’ll do your due diligence in choosing a car transport company, screening the carrier and making sure it has the appropriate insurance, reputation and pricing. But the work of transporting your car across many states doesn’t stop there.
Depending on where you live, it may be easier or more difficult to arrange for a car carrier. On some routes, car transport companies make regular runs, so finding a spot for your car becomes easier. If a car shipping company has to make a detour of several hundred miles to reach you, however, scheduling may become a little more difficult.
Car carriers are constantly on the road, transporting cars from place to place. Because they’re always in motion, connecting with one isn’t like taking a package to the post office (which, let’s face it, always stays in one place). Imagine instead that the only way you can mail your package is to track down the post office truck as it’s making its rounds through your neighborhood. It could take you up to several hours to find that truck and hand over your package. Now multiply that complexity by the size of the country, and you’ll see why sometimes you may not be able to get immediate pickup or delivery of your car.
The speed at which your car is delivered is also a function of the type of shipping you choose and the price you want to pay. Many people shipping vintage cars or racecars choose single-car transports, which can speed the process slightly since the driver doesn’t have to stop to make other deliveries.
Weather also makes a difference. If the car carrier has to detour to avoid a thunderstorm, snowstorm or hurricane, it will definitely slow down your vehicle’s delivery. Traffic and road conditions can also be variable. In addition, the Department of Transportation limits each drive to a maximum of 70 hours on the road each week for reasons of safety, so you can’t expect a 24/7 delivery process.
When we ship your car, we make sure that we’re choosing the route that’s the combination of the quickest and safest possible paths to get your vehicle to you. We’ll help you plan ahead so your car can arrive as quickly as possible, and we’ll put your needs first at every step of the process. Give us a call today to learn how we can streamline the process of shipping your car to its new home.
