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One of the reasons why people are so adamant about driving themselves when traveling to another state is because they want to cut down on costs. There seems to be a preconceived notion that car shipping services are excessively expensive, and people should generally just opt to transport their vehicles personally. Well, we’re here to completely debunk that idea and show you how car shipping services are actually way more affordable than you might think.
The Real Costs of Not Shipping Your Car
First of all, just because you don’t receive an official billing statement when you choose to transport your vehicle yourself to other places doesn’t mean that the long distance trip is not costing you anything (read more). In fact, there are several expenses that just fly under your radar because they don’t seem like a lot when you pay for them individually. Little do you know that when you add them all up, you might actually be spending more driving long distances than simply having your car shipped and saving yourself the trouble of dealing with your car’s transfer.
Apart from the monetary aspect, you’re also losing other valuable resources by making the long-distance trip, such as your time and energy. The time you spend on the road is the time you spend away from work or other productive tasks that generate your income. If you can’t text and drive, you certainly can’t work and drive either. Your focus needs to be on the road for safety reasons.
On top of spending your time, energy, and lowering your productivity in the process, you also have to spend gas money—and, heaven forbid, maintenance and repair fees should your car unsurprisingly decide to break down during the long drive. Include meal expenses and other miscellaneous fees you may have to pay (e.g., toll fees), and you end up with a longer receipt than you would’ve expected—not to mention, you’d be dead tired, physically and mentally, from the trip as well. But if you really must, at least take these tips with you: https://www.straitstimes.com/life/motoring/the-car-expo-cars-for-road-trips-long-distance-driving-tips.
If you look at it this way, I’m sure you realize why car shipping services exist. Professional car shipping companies are able to transport more vehicles in one trip, and their extensive road experience allows them to deliver cars in shorter periods of time. The only reason you probably feel anxious about hiring such services is because you lack understanding of how car shipping prices work.
Fortunately, there is a convenient tool widely available to help you determine car shipping costs: a car shipping calculator. Best of all, it’s free, and all you need to do is get online to access it.
Even without a car shipping fee calculator, however, you can still estimate how much it would cost you to ship your car to another state. You can do this by learning and understanding what factors are taken into consideration when creating quotations. We’ve taken the liberty to list some of them below:
Traveling Distance
The first thing that is taken into account when companies calculate auto shipping expenses is the distance that needs to be covered during transport. Certain factors such as the accessibility of the destination address might also affect the overall computation of your car shipment. If you are getting a car shipped coast-to-coast, expect higher fees given that more miles need to be covered. Nevertheless, it still beats driving for 20+ hours and the costs of making that trip.
Vehicle Weight
Next is weight. Car shipping is no different from any other shipping service. The “car” is the package and like most packages that get shipped out, it is weighed and measured to see how much space it needs to occupy during transport. That being said, the bigger and heavier your vehicle is, the higher your shipping fees are.
Car Brand & Model
If you’re driving a model that would make a regular salaryman, go bankrupt, should they mistakenly land a scratch on your car, then expect higher shipping fees. High-value items such as vintage, custom, or luxury cars often need special attention during the shipping process. While every car is given a lot of care during transport, high value vehicles just come with more liability and are therefore charged accordingly.
Service and Delivery Type
Last but not least, is your choice of services. You can either opt for an open or closed carrier to haul your vehicle and choose between terminal-to-terminal or door-to-door delivery. As you may expect, the services that provide more security and convenience (closed carrier, door-to-door) are priced higher. You should choose which type of service you need based on your own priorities and preferences. For example, if you value convenience more, then opting for a door-to-door delivery may be for you.
