How To: A Guide to Enclosed Car Transport
Congratulations! You have gone through all the time and hassle of selecting the perfect vehicle, negotiating for it's purchase, viewing it to ensure it was as described and now you are at the stage of getting the vehicle home. Through this last stage of collection, you want to ensure that the vehicle does not change materially or even inconsequentially as it makes it's journey to your manicured garage floors.
As with any industry, there is a multitude of different options to transport your vehicle, all claiming to be above reproach and exact in their execution. While that all may be true, you have to first identify what kind of transportation you are looking for. There are many... There are drive away services, open carrier transport and enclosed transport to name a few. Train, air and sea are relevant, however, not frequent when shipping domestically or between Canada and the United States.
The Cole's notes version of transport selection would be summarizing your vehicle's value and determining from there if it is high enough to justify the cost of enclosed transportation or if your vehicle is too sentimental to be put onto an open carrier and risk damage. Chances are you may have seen an enclosed transport truck and never know it. We are discrete. We don't advertise that we have your near million dollar piece of track hardware in the belly's of our tow units. This is one of the inherent protectionary systems that we use simply by employing the equipment that we do as Enclosed Carriers.
Open carriers expose your vehicle not only to the elements, but to the prying eyes of onlookers and some nefarious characters with less than wholesome ideals. This of course is not to say that shipping your Grand Caravan or Ford Explorer isn't wise using an Open Carrier; there is a time and place.
The vehicles that most commonly receive the 'tailored' treatment when requiring transport are those that are either too costly to replace or fix or have too much sentimental value and/or sweat equity to risk exposure to open air. If you fall into the category of customer that has a unit afore described, then listen up.
Any enclosed car transport provider must have a commercial cargo insurance policy and adequate protection under this policy as well. This ensures that if the truck was ever to be completely compromised, you would not be on the hook for the value of your vehicle and replacing it. There are typically maximums per unit with these cargo policies, thus you should inquire with your provider to see if topping up the insurance policy to encompass your vehicles value is possible and what costs are associated with that. Carriers can purchase something called an insurance 'rider' that temporarily bumps up their covered value to maintain 100% protection during transport of your vehicle. Depending on your vehicle's value, this can be expensive.
Furthermore, there are inherent restrictions in a provider's capabilities depending on what kind of equipment they deploy to complete their moves across the continent. Equipment can range from pickup trucks with one place enclosed trailers to semi trucks with room for 7 vehicles on an air-ride stacking car trailer with climate control. The former is typically the cheapest method of transport, but it is also reflected in the ride quality that your vehicle endures while en-route. Single place car trailers typically lack amenities like air-ride, generous interior spacing, E-Track flooring and excessive weight allowances. With dedicated car carrier equipment like air-ride equipped trucks with heavy service frames and customized multi-car transport trailers your vehicle is the least disturbed throughout it's journey. More than that, the equipment typically comes with further amenities like winches to silently and safely load your vehicle without touching the seat, E-Track flooring to secure your vehicle without touching paintwork or rim finishes and a multitude of other assets that smaller carriers typically lack.
This might be a lot to digest for a first run through, however, keep in mind these carefully considered options, as your vehicle's condition can depend almost entirely on what kind of transport you have chosen to ship it.
Feel free to inquire with further questions or to get a quote, contact us today!
