In the car shipping industry, it’s rarely a good idea to put items in your vehicle while it is being transported, and there are quite a few reasons as to why. In this helpful article we’ll talk about three of the biggest reasons why you shouldn’t put items in the vehicle during transport, though in some cases you can put things like blankets, pillows and clothes in the trunk, if you have one.
1. Weight plays a major factor in auto transportation
Most auto transport companies base their prices on the weight of the vehicles that they are shipping. Cars, trucks, SUV’s, minivans, cargo vans – they all fit in respective weight classes, and the larger the vehicle, the more expensive it’s going to be to ship.
Carriers, like most other long-haul trucks, have to abide by weight restrictions put on them by the government; this is why there are weigh stations littered across the Interstates. If they weigh over the maximum at the weigh station, their trucks are searched until the problem is found – more often than not it’s stuff that people have in their cars that are not allowed.
If this is the case, they will literally take everything out and dump it on the side of the weigh station (or in a dumpster), because they don’t care.
2. It’s illegal for auto shippers to transport things that aren’t motor vehicles
Carriers are limited by law to what they can physically transport. This comes in the form of a license, and auto shippers are licensed to carry motor vehicles, not anything that’s in them. This is why it’s common for auto shippers to tell you that you can’t put anything in the cab of the vehicle they are shipping for you, BUT you can typically put things in the trunk, where there’s a sort of out of sight, out of mind mentality.
However, you have to make sure that you keep it to just blankets, pillows, clothes and other types of linens. Heavy objects cannot go back there – refer back to tip #1 for more on that. If it’s out of sight and out of mind, your auto transporter won’t bother looking in the trunk – they actually aren’t allowed to according to law.
They really can’t do much with your vehicle other than move it – this can mean moving it on and off the truck, physically transporting it (you know, their job) or moving it on/off the truck in order to load another vehicle (though this is rare; most auto shippers have a good system for loading and unloading vehicles).
3. None of your goods will be insured during transport
This may be kind of obvious at this point, but in case you’re just skimming the article we’ll include this. If you ignore Tip #1 and Tip #2, and put your nice stereo system or TV right in the back, and for whatever reason the shipper transports it for you anyway, if it breaks, gets stolen or damaged or messed up in any way, you’re SOL.
No auto transport company is licensed to carry household goods, so they don’t carry insurance for household goods (that’s kind of obvious at this point), and if they don’t carry insurance for household goods, whatever happens to the stuff in your car is your responsibility, no matter what it is or what caused the damage. Of course, every vehicle they ship is fully insured against damage and theft while they are moving it – just not anything inside it that isn’t a part of the vehicle.
These are three of the main reasons as to why you don’t want to transport household goods in your vehicle while it is being shipped, but there are always extenuating circumstances that may allow you to fudge the rules a little bit (though we don’t recommend it in the slightest).
If you have additional questions about putting things in your vehicle and having them transported along with it, give us a call at 800-930-7417 to speak to a live agent who can answer your questions. If you’re ready to take the next step and actually have your vehicle shipped, fill out our free online quote form to get a quote, or speak to an agent to book your order.
Since 2007 Dave has written all the content and blogs for American Auto Shipping and during this time added the duties of customer support and transport logistics.
He currently resides in Washington with his three kids and their mom and cat. A fan of Marvel movies and good stories, when not shipping cars Dave can be found working on his novel, enjoying a good book or playing some tournament HALO.
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