There’s some important considerations when deciding on a transport carrier for your vehicle such as your goals, your budget, and level of protection for your vehicle to name a few. You need to reflect on which of these are a priority to you.
Goals- Determine what your goal is! Is it to transport your coveted collector’s item like a ’67 Corvette or simply to transport your economy class Hyundai Accent from point A to B? If you have an expensive, collector car you may choose to use an enclosed transport over a long haul route of thousands of miles. Expect to pay though a few hundred more dollars typically versus an open transport since the transport may only carry 4 or fewer vehicles maxi cab. The added level of protection may be of interest to you else maybe price means everything.
Do Your Research- Do your due diligence in selecting a carrier. Either go through your local telephone book or go online and search for ‘auto-truck-boat transport services or brokers ‘. Call some up and see if they handle you in a professional way. Check to see if they have good reviews /references. They may even recommend you to others. Online searching can enable you to receive quick quotes.
Pricing- Be cautious on selecting the cheapest carrier. That usually means your losing out on another service. Get a firm quoted price. There should be no charge until you’re given the driver’s name and number. Never give an upfront deposit! As mentioned before, an enclosed transport will cost you substantially more for the same given distance.
Insurance- Is the transport carrier insured? Should something go wrong, who pays? Things do go wrong, accidents happen. Make sure your transport company’s drivers have insurance on the order of atleast $100k per vehicle as for an open transport carrier.
Delivery/Pickup Times- Here’s a test to see if the transport carrier is for real. Typically a transport carrier should give you a range of time for when they will pick up your vehicle. If they’re overly precise and guarantee you an exact time then it may not be quite ‘kosher’ a deal. It’s hard in this business to be exact on timing of vehicle pickup/delivery, it may be close but exact is really difficult.
Cancellation fees- Some transport carriers may charge a cancellation fee to reimburse them for administrative costs and others don’t.
Reliability /History -Go with a proven transport carrier. Read reviews, get referrals. For transport carriers, you can get these reviews from a site such as TransportReviews.com. They lists complaints/compliments for carriers. Check the safety record for accidents as from the Department of Transportation (DOT).