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Auto Shipping Rates – How to Get the Cheapest One

 

Budget-conscious consumers will always look for great bargains. And when moving house, this includes getting bargains in shipping their cars or SUVs to another location. There are numerous moving companies that specialize in hauling vehicles and it pays to know your options. Bargain hunters can rejoice that the highly competitive industry has no lack for shipping companies that offer some of the cheapest auto transportation price estimates. It’s all a matter of knowing what to look for when shipping your car.

Know Your Shipping Options

It’s not as complicated as you think.  You only need to go online and check the many auto transport and moving companies that offer instant calculators for indicative auto shipping rates. For a given origin to destination and car model, these rates will vary depending on the shipper. Your objective of getting the cheapest one can be served by knowing the following:

  • The date when you plan to move your car. Will it fall during the peak or the lean months? You will always get cheaper rates during lean season.
  • Research your options online and be sure to deal only with moving companies directly. If you come across a site offering services from different moving companies that promise the least cost for you, you are looking at a broker. These are middlemen who earn commissions from the transport companies they contract for the transfer service you get. For many people, brokers can take out all the hassle in the transfer. But if you are looking at the cheapest cost alternative, deal directly with a moving company.
  • Transporting your car over flatbed trailers are cheaper compared to fully enclosed 20-foot container vans often reserved for the really expensive exotic sports cars and luxury vehicles. If you are transporting regular bantams, sedans and SUVs, consider open trailers instead.
  • Consumers who are not in any hurry to get their cars transported should go for multi-car two-decker 18-wheelers to provide the most significant savings. You must have seen them on highways transporting anywhere from 8-12 cars from manufacturers to dealers in a single haul. Consider this your car’s mass transport mode that costs cheaper than single or individual car transports.
  • On individual car transport, you can get cheaper auto shipping rates using terminal-to-terminal transfer rather than a door-to-door option. In addition, some neighborhoods or villages may not be able to accommodate large trucks. Terminal-to-terminal may be your best option. Here, you drive your car to the shipper’s terminal yard to get it loaded. Similarly at the other end, you will need to retrieve the car from a designated terminal.
  • When shipping you car by sea to Hawaii or the US territories of Guam, Saipan or Puerto Rico, you can get the cheapest auto shipping rates with RORO shippers who can simply drive your car from the docks directly to the designated cargo holds of RORO vessels.

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Know how to Compare Quotes

Get at least 3-5 moving companies in your short list, and compare their respective auto shipping rates. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Some quoted rates are basic while others are inclusive of insurance one-off charge. If you are planning to get a separate third party car transport insurance, be sure to know what the inclusive insurance covers so you don’t duplicate it. In addition, be sure to compare rates and find out exactly how much to ship a car will cost in the same mode, like open-bed trailers or multicar transporters.