Pickup truck shipment methods and delivery costs differ widely depending on the specific shipment. With 7-8 vehicles per tractor-trailer at any given time, being dropped off in different states to customers whose needs can change last-minute, the standard truck transport service may be slightly variable. Truck hauling companies can have trouble providing very specific pick-up and delivery times.
Not only is finding a reliable car hauler challenging, but you also want a trucking quote that is affordable. If you have to transport the vehicle via a ship, costs increase, and it is more expensive than shipping it via truck or rail.
Shipping a truck is not that much different from shipping a car, though it may cost more depending on the size and dimensions of your truck. Few cars will fit in enclosed trucks, and transporting an enclosed car can cost considerably more than shipping an open one. Enclosed vehicle transportation means that your vehicle will be placed into an entirely enclosed truck.
Enclosed transport is mainly used for people who are sending a rare classic or an expensive sports car. If you are not shipping a classic or exotic car, chances are that your car is going to ship in an open-top truck. Those who own specialty classics or rare cars might prefer their vehicles transported on a closed transport carrier. Car transport companies may be able to move your car in a back carrier that is exposed to the elements (i.e., an open-top carrier) or in an enclosed, completely enclosed carrier.
You might need to ship a very large vehicle by way of flatbed trucks if it will not fit in the average carrier. In a world where the majority of vehicles being transported are smaller personal cars and such, a truly massive pickup will probably not fit onto the back of a standard carrier. Towing a pickup requires a lot of careful consideration for a variety of factors that might not be so critical when moving cars that are smaller.
As a result of pickup trucks higher versatility, pickup trucks come in a wider variety of sizes that accommodate a wider variety of cargo, which may make the process of trucking a pickup truck slightly more complex than shipping a standard vehicle. Now, most pickup trucks fit perfectly in the back of a vehicle hauler, but there are some really, really large ones that simply cannot. More often than not, the trucks that you might be buying at the dealership are going to be able to fit onto the conventional vehicle carrier. Standard car carriers are enough to carry most of the trucks that are available at a dealership.
Companies such as Intercity Lines deliver cars door-to-door using the same trucks and drivers. Contract carriers offer door-to-door service, so long as a truck driver can physically get to both pick-up and drop-off addresses.
In any event, although there are a variety of methods for moving cars–including planes, trains, and boats–the most common is an open-bed truck, the kind you may see hauling new cars into a dealership. Open vehicle transport is an industry standard that involves placing your vehicle in a truck that is open. Many big, full-service moving companies offer vehicle transportation, so a moving company that you are already working with might also carry your vehicle. While moving a vehicle by auto mover is the most popular option, it is far from the only way to move your car cross-country.
Shipping a car just a few hundred miles would probably take just one to two days, whereas shipping that same vehicle cross-country could be anywhere between one and 10 days. In general, moving cars across the Continental United States can take up to four weeks, according to moving services website Move.org, and most cars arrive within six to 12 days. Beyond distance and location, when you send your car is likely to be the biggest determinant of its price.
The costs are also affected by the vehicle size, the terminal (terminal delivery refers to a customers responsibility for dropping off a car at a terminal closest to their pick-up location, then being responsible for picking it up from a terminal closest to their delivery location), and also season. This makes the transportation process more costly, and some of these costs are passed onto you. Fittings may cost your shipping more money, and it makes it harder for us to find a carrier who can move it.
Be sure to tell your coordinator what kind of truck you are shipping, and whether or not it has a lift kit or oversize tires, because those larger vehicles might need a different carrier than we would send a standard factory pickup. Shipping companies may have to make special arrangements to secure your altered big-rig pickup, which could include things like wider tires or additional external racks. Truck transportation quotes will vary depending on the size, type of truck, height, weight, modifications, as well as seasonal needs and how quickly you need to get there.
Most pickup trucks are equipped with an overweight vehicle delivery charge, or overweight truck, which carriers charge larger vehicles carriers — this is something no one controls, as transporting vehicles larger than standard cars can be expensive and costly from a fuel standpoint, which is why they charge larger vehicles a higher rate to help make up for the extra fuel that is spent. Trucks really are not any more expensive than a car to ship, as long as we are talking about the average size, like a Toyota Tacoma or a Nissan Frontier, for instance.
When a truck carrying goods has to carry more weight, it has to work harder and burn more gas. Vehicle weight plays an outsized role in vehicle transportation, simply because it affects how efficient the truck is as well as the trailer to which it is attached.
With the U.S. Department of Transportations limit on the maximum cargo weight at 80,000 pounds, commercial motor carriers carry five to nine vehicles on average. Remember, your car will be transported in the carriers truck; a mammoth vehicle that is between 60-70 feet long, up to 13 feet tall in some cases. A vehicle mover can carry as many as nine vehicles at once, resulting in savings over private drive-away services. The transportation process for each of those vehicles, while similar, is not quite the same.
