There are a number of reasons why one may need to move a vehicle from one location to the other. These reasons include purchase of a car from an out of state dealer and relocation. Due to the relative ease of moving vehicles from one location to the other, one can now order a car from their preferred dealer no matter the location.
Most often when you buy a car from a dealership, they’ll handle shipping and all the logistics. However, there are cases where you have to handle your shipping arrangement by yourself. One occasion where you most certainly must arrange a car transportation in Texas or any other state in the country is relocation.
When relocating from one region to the other, barring the sales of your car, you must arrange for auto transport. In this article, we will discuss some factors to consider when shipping a car to or from Texas or any destination in the country.
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Auto Shipping Options
There are many options to consider for shipping a vehicle from one location to the other and they include the following:
- DIY – You can drive the car by yourself
- Employ a driver – The person may be a professional or a family member or friend who is proficient in driving and loves to drive long distance.
- Use a cargo service – This can either be air or sea cargo or rail freight services.
- Use an auto transport service – These are companies that ship cars from one location to the other.
All these options have their merits and demerits. It is therefore left for the car owner to consider all these options and choose the one that most suits him/her.
Factors to Consider when Making a Choice
No matter the option you choose for shipping your vehicle, there are still a number of things to consider ensuring that the move is hassle free. However, our focus here will be factors to consider if you choose to use auto transport service. Let’s discuss some of these factors below:
Type of Carrier to Use
There are basically two types of carriers that are used for auto transportation and they are open and enclosed carriers. Open carriers are trailers on which the vehicles are attached in single or multiple levels. The vehicles are attached securely to the trailer to ensure that they remain immovable during transit.
This mode of auto transport is the most popular and also the most cost effective. The reason for its cost effectiveness is because of the number of cars that open trailers can carry at once. This is also one of its biggest advantages.
One major disadvantage of this option is that the cargo is susceptible to damage from debris on the road and inclement weather. Visit https://edition.cnn.com/ to learn more about the dangers posed by road debris.
Enclosed carriers on the other hand are trailers with enclosed walls and a roof. These trailers are often limited in the number of vehicles that they can carry. Some can carry only two cars while others can carry more. However, enclosed carriers cannot carry as many cars as open carriers. Its inability to carry many cars at once makes it a costlier option than open carriers.
Additionally, the operational cost for enclosed carriers is not the same as for open carriers so that also accounts for the difference in price. However, enclosed carriers offer additional protection from bad weather and damage from road debris.
Delivery Method
There are 2 major methods of delivery in the auto transport industry and they are terminal to terminal delivery and door to door delivery.
With door to door delivery, the shipping company picks up the car from your home (or whatever address you give them) and drops it off at the designated destination. This method of course provides the highest level of convenience. However it may not available to everyone due to either municipal laws or inability to access homes on narrow streets and other similar factors. It goes without saying that one has to pay extra for this service.
With terminal to terminal service on the other hand, the customer has to drop off the car at the pickup terminal and also go pick it up at the delivery terminal. This option is no doubt cheaper than door to door but not as convenient. Some issues to consider before choosing this option is the distance of the pickup and delivery terminal and the shipping timeline.
This option is great for those who are not in a hurry to have their cars shipped so they can work with the shipping timeline of the company. Others are those who do not live very far away from the terminals and do not mind the drive and also do not want to pay the extra cost for door to door shipping.
Conclusion
These 2 broad categories are part of the major issues to consider. Although there are some other factors to consider, these 2 categories we have discussed here is a good start. You can consult a shipping company to start negotiations bearing these factors we discussed in mind.