Have you been considering shipping your vehicle any time soon?  There are tons of reasons why a person might do that, be it moving across the country (or a few states away), taking a long business trip, or even selling a car.  The process involved isn’t overly difficult, but there are plenty of things to keep track of during.

We’re here today to look at some of the things involved in that process, analyze them, and offer you some pointers on how to navigate it.  While it’s really not that hard to figure out, there are some secrets that can be a pretty big help.  Stay tuned if you want to learn more, but feel free to check out resources like this one to get some background information as well: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gas-prices-national-average-august-oil/.  

Why Do People Use Car Shipping Services?

Something that confuses some folks is why we would decide to ship a car in the first place.  After all, can’t we just drive the vehicle ourselves to whatever destination we have in mind?  The answer to that is yes (unless you’re moving it to Hawaii or Costa Rica).  However, the costs involved in road trips are immense.

The resource above points this out, but one of the biggest roadblocks is how expensive gas is.  Those prices just keep rising, too, meaning it’s not going to get cheaper any time soon.  Now, the length of your trip will play a part in this.

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While it may seem totally reasonable to drive for shorter trips, like if you’re just crossing Washington if you’re entering the state from far away, or if you’re looking to transport a car a long way away from the state, suddenly the costs of driving start to really add up.  Factoring in rest stops and hotels can potentially put you at thousands of dollars in expenses which you can read about on this page.  

While this may sound surprising, you might actually save money by using these services.  For something like selling a used car, utilizing shipping is basically a no-brainer.  Why would you want to drive out all that way only to have to take a plane home, right?  However, for a big move, you’ll want to compare the price of shipping versus what you’d spend on the road.

how to Get Ready for Car Shipping

Now that we’ve covered why you might decide to ship a car, let’s look at how you can get yourself and the vehicle in question ready for when a driver comes to pick it up.  To some extent, it’ll depend on what auto transport in Washington you’re using, but there are a few things that will be pretty much the same no matter where you go.

For instance, you’ll almost always be asked to provide some proof of identity.  This will likely be a photo ID, be that a driver’s license, a passport, or something else.  Really, this is just to ensure that the transit is being requested legally, so proof of ownership of the vehicle might also be needed.

If you’re selling the automobile, the shipper might ask for some details on who’s receiving it as well.  That’s just something to keep in mind, of course, and won’t always be applicable.  Insurance information about it might also be requested. 

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The other big thing that you’ll want to do is make sure it’s clean before it gets transported – yes, even if you’re moving and will be the one receiving it.  There are a few reasons for that, one of which is pretty straightforward: you probably don’t want your personal belongings to get lost.  While that doesn’t happen often, it’s a possibility and one that most of us would prefer to avoid.

As far as the other reason goes, it’s also not that hard to understand.  You see, often, the main way that shippers calculate what customers get charged is by doing so based on weight.  The lighter your vehicle, the less you’ll pay.  In turn, the more stuff you remove from inside, the less you’ll get charged. 

Is Car Shipping Worth it?

Here in Washington, we’re off in our own little corner of the United States.  It’s quite peaceful here, but it’s also a bit harder to travel – especially to somewhere far away like the East Coast.  However, now that car transport is a viable and reliable option, that’s opened up a bit.

In that sense, you can probably see why we’d say that it’s worth it if you need the service.  Being able to sell a car to people out-of-state is a pretty great benefit too, especially since you can charge your buyer for some of the shipping expenses if you want to.  For a move, it’s also quite nice, saving you a bit of a headache as far as planning out a road trip.