Transporting a car with a commercial carrier - Educate me; company suggestions welcome, too

In My Humble Opinion
1

Searching for relevant threads turned up nothing recent, only from 2008 or earlier.

I want to transport a classic car that I’m buying in Green Bay, Wisc., to my home in St. Paul, Minn.

That’s about a 4-hour drive, BTW, and I need door-to-door service.

It’s a 1976 Alfa Romeo Spider, with some identified issues, so I don’t trust driving it home myself.

So, I’m looking at scheduling a transport on a open-sided, multi-vehicle trailer, and that means dealing with brokers.

Here’s how a website described the process: To find a carrier for you, there is only one place for brokers to go: Central Dispatch (National Dispatch Board for Auto Transport).

Any company you work with will post your vehicle to The National Dispatch Board. On the other end, 5,000 drivers see what vehicles are available on their route and ship whichever vehicles offer the most money.

So, drivers will accept or reject a job depending on the price offered and the driver’s location and direction of travel.

The total cost to me is the broker’s fee and the driver’s fee. One must find a reputable broker who also knows how to bid out your job properly: too low of a bid will be ignored by drivers and too high a bid will likely get the job done faster, but no one wants to over pay.

What I’m seeking in this thread is advice on successful strategies that people have used so they didn’t get burned by hidden fees or shady brokers or commercial drivers.

Recommendations on good companies to check out and bad ones to avoid are welcome, too.

And finally, one complication is that I learnt that this process usually involves a “window” for pickup … that is, a 1-3 day range for when your driver will actually show up. This is problematic for me because I would have to drive to GB to oversee the loading, so a range of days instead of a specific day is not desirable. Any insight that will help me here is welcome, too.

Thanks for any advice.

2

Have you considered a Tow Dolly or Auto Transport from someone like U-Haul?

3

Definitely not an expert in this area, but I’ve done it before with my (totally nondescript, non-collectible car)… in that case, I was able to get the car to a transportation company, where it sat on their lot for a day or two before a trucker came and picked it up. A day or so before he got to the destination, the trucker called me and arranged a pickup window. The day of delivery, he found out some of the bridges en route to my place were too low to pass, so I had to meet him elsewhere in town. It was a very ad-hoc system with independent bidders who loaded the truck from the moving company and then separately contacted me to arrange for delivery… definitely not white-glove, end-to-end service.

I ultimately received the car in good shape, though. The company I used then (and several times more) was https://moveauto.com/, for both regional (between neighboring states) and cross-country moves, and I would use them again. They do have exotic car transport in enclosed trucks, but I don’t know if they can guarantee door-to-door service and a smaller pickup window.

Is the car driveable at all? If you’re able to drop it off at a car moving company’s local lot, they can handle the freight arrangements with truck drivers. Then on the other side, you can arrange to meet somewhere trucks can get to and drive it home.

If it isn’t driveable at all, or is too valuable to risk sitting unattended in a lot, I’m not sure what to do, sorry.

Edit to add: Because this is all a relatively ad-hoc marketplace, I found that things are usually somewhat negotiable. For example, normally they don’t want anything in the car, but every time I was able to get around that by offering to pay more and giving them advance warning. That way, truckers knew what they were signing up for and were happy to accommodate. Perhaps you can just call them up (the broker) and ask if they can guarantee door to door service and a more precise pickup window. Probably anything is possible if you’re willing to pay enough.

4

Like @DMC said, I’d opt for a U-Haul tow dolly or flatbed trailer. Either tow behind your own vehicle, or rent a truck from them at the same time. Four hours isn’t very far, and I’d rather not leave a collectible to the vagaries of fate. (I’m kind of a chickenshit that way - probably nothing will go wrong with a commercial carrier, but I wouldn’t get any sleep from the time of pick up to drop off.)

5

Yes, I don’t have a vehicle with a hitch capable of towing this. So, I’d have to rent a U Houl truck as well as the dolly.

But, as I investigated this process, I learnt that to use a dolly tow on a rear-wheel drive car, putting the transmission in neutral is not sufficient.

One must disconnect the drive shaft and cap the transmission, something I’m not able to do.

(Although U Haul’s website says that some locations may offer this service, I don’t trust them one bit to do this properly.)

6

Just how far is the car? Because (Googling) a Premier AAA membership entitles you to a single 200 mile tow. You might be able to pay separately if the distance is further. And you may want to request a flatbed truck.

7

DIYing the tow on a flatbed trailer is probably the way that’s least inconvenient for you and the most peace of mind that some careless goof of a trucker isn’t gonna trash your baby.

If you do want to use a transporter service I might suggest contacting a car dealership near where the car is now. They deal with this process regularly and may be able to provide useful advice like “Use local broker A; never local broker B”

Last year I bought a used car from a dealership 1600 miles away. They made the transport arrangements, but it’s not in my nature to worry about the car getting bunged. The whole system is designed to deliver brand new cars in undamaged condition. If cars were routinely being damaged by the transport industry, something would change. Sure enough a few days after it left the dealership, it showed up across the street from my house in pristine condition.

Good luck whatever you do.

8

Last time I shipped a car (done it twice) I used uship.com and had a great experience. Caveat: that was 10 years ago, more recent experience may vary.

As I recall, I just had to put in my desired dates along with a pickup and dropoff address. A number of folks bid on the work, and I was able to look at their ratings while evaluating their quote. It helped that I had some flexibility, as I discovered there were operators that had more or less regular routes, and I was able to save quite a bit by aligning my dates to an already planned trip.

9

From U-haul you would rent something like this, an Auto Transport /
Vehicle Trailer:

How big is your car? If you have an SUV that is probably big enough, if you just have a small car you would need to rent a vehicle (such as a U-Haul truck).

10

He still would need to rent a truck as well according to what he stated earlier.

How do places like Cavana, Auto Nation or Joe’s Used Cars move cars? Do they hire contractors or own a fleet of car haulers. If contracted out they may be reasonable if they charge similar to what they charge dealers.

11

Good question.

I’ve had CarMax move two cars, one trans-state and one trans-continental. The price was remarkably cheap. In each case I bought the car at the Carmax way over there, and needed it delivered to the Carmax near me.

Probably they use the same central dispatch as everyone else. At least for long-haul moves. But also darn good bet they get a rather hefty volume discount.

12

Remember

And finally, one complication is that I learnt that this process usually involves a “window” for pickup … that is, a 1-3 day range for when your driver will actually show up. This is problematic for me because I would have to drive to GB to oversee the loading, so a range of days instead of a specific day is not desirable.

So if he is driving to Green Bay anyway and back, he might as well be hauling the vehicle too–or perhaps go with a friend.

Are there businesses/individual who would do this–drive you over to Green Bay and haul the vehicle back? Yes, post in uship.com or citizenshipper.com Remember to Specify “ride-along/passenger allowed” or “owner accompany” along with all the details.

13

I noticed that too but didn’t comment. I’m more curious why the OP believes they “need” to supervise the loading. What specifically needs doing there by them and only them?

But for sure if they’re going to be there for the loading, they ought to just drive, or ride along, on the return trip. That also solves the problem of the transporter’s pickup date being vague until the last minute.

14

My online research has led me to think that documenting the car’s condition with photos and videos as the car is being loaded on the carrier is a good idea in case one needs to prove that the loading or transport damaged the car.

(Also, I’ve learnt that it’s a good idea to pay a bit extra to be on the top row of these double-decker trailers to avoid damage from the vehicle above yours if it is leaking oil or other fluids.)

ETA: Thanks for all the good advice so far!

15

Agreed. In this day and age it just makes sense to get all four wheels off the ground and a 4 hour drive x 2 (rent the truck & trailer in St. Paul) might be worth it for the money saved and peace of mind.

16

No doubt such evidence would prove helpful if you had to make a claim. OTOH, did you take detailed pix before you bought it? If not, can the seller take those detailed pix now?

The question for you is whether the guaranteed hassle of supervising and recording the loading is worth the comparatively tiny chance something happens and you need to file a claim. Only you can make that tradeoff. Same with being on the top, or paying extra for a fully enclosed transporter / trailer. All of those things are safer. But how safe is safe enough for your risk tolerance and your wallet?

It does’t matter what unfamiliar service you might want to buy, from car transport to house painting to septic repairs, there will be online horror stories of it having gone badly awry. What’s lacking is knowledge of the probabilities.

Good luck however you end up doing this.

17

I thought disconnecting the drive shaft was only necessary on automatic transmissions. Automatics have to be disconnected because the transmission’s cooling system is not engaged and it can overheat. I didn’t think that was an issue with manuals.

18

I would expect it difficult for an unsophisticated auto purchaser like me to find many takers interested in offering bespoke service to move my (forgive me) lowish value, minorly interesting hulk, cross country, on my schedule and under my supervision, sight unseen, for a rock bottom price.

I’ve done similar moves using contacts in the car clubs. They today call it savvy networking but it used to be (fictitious sketch) ‘Sure, well, lessee, Terry, the Club’s former treasurer’s (1996-1997) stepson has a flatbed trailer but works weekends at the mill so only has every third Saturday off…’ So I’d coldcall Terry, learn of and express my condolences of his passing four years earlier but, luckily, it was the stepson who answered and agreed to move the car for $300 or whatever. Unfortunately, I’d expect OP’s move today and distance will be $1200-1500 unless they’re owed a big favor or get really lucky.

19

The most direct approach is to rent a uhaul truck and a car hauler trailer. Using the U haul truck will ensure that the tow vehicle has all the correct connections for the brake lights on the trailer and everything. The car hauler trailers that they offer even include the straps to secure the car to the trailer. If the car is not running it can be a bit of work to get it on to the trailer. A small car like the Spider could be done with a few people and some energetic pushing. An easier approach would be to winch it up with a bacis “come along” tool. I have rented from U haul many times. It’s easy and reasonably priced.

If you don’t want to do it yourself then the next best option for the distance that you are talking about is to use a tow truck company. This will be expensive, but the service is great. They move cars every day, all over the place. Modern tow trucks are almost all tilting flatbeds. They drive up to the car, winch it on, and strap it down. The car does not need to run. They do not need supervision, they pick up disabled cars from strange locations all the time. They are experienced at dropping it off exactly where you want it. You may have to call around to a few companies to find one willing to go the distance, but I’m sure someone nearby would do it.

I would only consider a broker if the transport distance was longer.

C.O.

20

Just chiming in to say… for about seven years I’ve been doing bookkeeping for a guy who does car shipping. I see very bank transaction that comes in and out of his business. He deals with hundreds of truckers, and in seven years I recall only twice that he had to deal with any kind of damage claims.

To reiterate what some of the above posts have said, these truckers know what they’re doing, and damage is very rare.