Shipping vehicles

[Rosie]

Has anyone got any advice on shipping vehicles?
What is the best company to use, and is there anything I should know regarding problems that could occur, particularly with a Series Rover?

[Firemanshort]

I have shipped two trucks from England (I assume you mean internatioanlly and not domestic).

Read here - http://www.geocities.com/firemanshort/shipping.htm and here - http://www.geocities.com/firemanshor...e/stageone.htm

[Rosie]

Oh, sorry, I mean domestic shipping. The prices vary quit a bit.
Are there any companies to avoid?

[xsbowes]

I used Matson going from Seattle to Honolulu, cost $1000. No complaints. I think they do transAmerica shipping also. But nothing beats driving your new rover home. My first rover I purchased in Hamburg Germany, I drove 1200 miles back to Santa Maria La Stella, Sicily over a six day stretch, including an overnight ferry ride from Genoa to Palermo. Best trip I ever had.

[Rosie]

Nice blog read Firemanshort!
Stacey, that sounds like an adventure!
Wish I had the time!

[yank]

Has anyone here brought a container across the pond? Anyone know what it would cost?

[greenmeanie]

I brought a 40ft container over back in 2001. I had two vehicles in it and that cost included:

• Pickup and loading at the UK end.
• Hauling from the north of England to London docks.
• An all expenses paid cruise to LA docks.
• US customs clearance and import tax.
• Hauling to Tucson.
• I paid a shipping agent to deal with all this so their profit was included.

That cost about $4.5K back then. Oh and I did not insure the container which lead to about 5 anxious weeks when I started reading the statistics on how many are lost in transit. Buy the insurance.

Offset this cost by selling any volume you don't use to people who, oh lets say, have a set of Sals axles hanging around in the UK and need them over here.

I think there's a gent on D90.com called Safarirover who brings stuff over regularly so you might want to talk to him for a more modern cost estimate.

Cheers
Gregor

[Tim Smith]

In the states I found that you are better off shipping between major cities rather than door to door but that is up to the shipper and I'm sure they would advise you on that.

The only time I shipped a car was from Danbury, CT to Houston (I think), TX. It was a little old BMW 2002 so it could fit on a smaller flatbed truck. I think the total was $800 and the buyer was pleased with the results. That was before fuel went through the roof though.

I too did the one-way pick up with the Airportable. Jacksonville, FL to my home back in CT which was about 1100 miles in two days. Don't forget that this was in a truck that was bassically bought site unseen. Although I was lucky, it was definetly an adventure. I'd advise it only to someone who knows what they are getting into though. When I did my inspection before setting off, I missed a few items. Ran out of gas once (bad guage) in the Carolina's and some minor parts blew off in Georgia.

[Blueboy]

Rosie,

I have used http://www.barnesautotransportation.com/ for many years with great success.

The key for me is the carrier keeping in touch with you so you can be prepared to ship or receive the Rover.

Plus, they also get to there destination in fine shape.

Sometimes they are running sometimes not and in either case, it will get on the flatbed.

I used them for shipping from So.Cal., Ok, Ny, Pa.

Jaime

[jac04]

When I sold my 63 Rover, it was shipped from CT to PA via FedEx Custom Critical (fully enclosed trailer). The new owner arranged shipping, and I was very impressed with the whole operation.

[Mountain132]

This april, I used Veilleux auto transport out of NH 603-498-0488. The total fee was $650 from Maine to GA, if you book directly from Veilleux the rate is cheaper. Service was door to door and took about a week and a half; it just depends on where you are in the pick up and drop off schedule. I had to ty the number a while because I think its also their dial up connection, but no reason to pay double for a company that claims drop off on a 2 day window if you wait a few extra days.

[ericsherk]

I just bought a 1963 Dormobile. It didn't run and had no brakes or ebrake. I had it shipped from Seattle to San Diego for $500. I used uship.com where truckers bid on your set price. Its kinda like ebay for shipping which could be good or bad depending on your trust level. I lucked out and had a very good experience.

[Rosie]

Thanks!
Just reading the ECR site on shipping. They have lots of info.

[redmondrover]

Shipping vehicles domestically

Bottom line: money talks.

We learned this when we shipped our 109 from New Mexico to Redmond, WA. We first went with a broker who wasn't the cheapest at $950, but was still $300 less than the most expensive. After the 109 sat untouched for 3 weeks, we chose another broker out of Vancouver, WA, "offered" $1250 and our truck was picked up and on its way the very next day. We learned the following:
1. all of these brokers post vehicles for transport on the same "board" that is checked by transport truckers
2. don't list with more than one broker because they do not all regularly update and a trucker won't take the chance on driving to pick up your vehicle if there is a possibility that someone else has already picked it up.
3. if you get an online quote from a broker but do not chose them, make sure they have not posted your vehicle on the board (see #2). This happened to us and was part of the reason why no trucker touched our 109 for 3 weeks.
4. if you want your vehicle quickly, expect to pay towards the high end of the quotes especially now that diesel is so expensive.
5. if your vehicle is starting from a city where there is little auto-transport activity, expect to wait a while or offer more money.
6. make sure you get a copy of the pick-up report from the trucker who is going to transport your vehicle. It shows the damage on the vehicle when they picked it up, but it is also the only record you have that someone else has your vehicle.
7. Unless your series is in pristine condition, don't expect a lot of detail in this report. Our report said something like "minor dents and scratches all over vehicle."

good luck!

[Rosie]

Thanks so much for tips!!