Transporting an automobile is expensive and time-consuming, so it’s only natural to want to kill two birds with one stone and throw some stuff in the trunk or the cab of your car in hopes that it can ride along with your car. The logic behind this is sound – household movers are expensive and if you’re without a car, how will you get your stuff from A to B? But the problem is that most auto transport carriers can’t physically transport household goods – it’s against the law. But there’s a small little loophole that you can exploit if you’re careful: it’s called “junk in the trunk.” Junk in the trunk is simple: you can have anywhere from 50-100 pounds of personal items in the trunk of your car, but NO MORE. Weight limits are taken very seriously, and if ten cars on a carrier each have 50 pounds of stuff in their trunks, that’s 500 extra pounds that the carrier has to account for. We recommend avoiding putting stuff in the trunk of the car unless absolutely necessary, and never under any circumstances should you transport sentimental or valuable items – make sure they’re things like clothes, blankets and pillows. No electronics, either. Remember: anything you put in the trunk of your vehicle during transport will NOT be insured by the truck’s insurance. Pack at your own risk.
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Auto Transport Tips: Junk in the Trunk
Auto Shipping Breakdown: Enclosed Carriers
Like open carriers, an enclosed carrier is a type of auto shipping truck that can transport your vehicle from anywhere, to anywhere in the U.S. Unlike an open carrier, though, enclosed carriers are designed to haul vehicles that can’t be exposed to the elements that open carriers expose their vehicles to. Enclosed shipping is rather expensive, so it’s generally recommended that you only ship vehicles that are really worth the extra money via an enclosed carrier – but they do offer a lot of added protection. If you’re shipping a car you drive every day to work, enclosed carriers are probably not for you. Read more about enclosed carriers by visiting our enclosed auto transport page.
Auto Transport Tips: Pickup Windows
When you book your shipment with an auto transport company, most likely they’ll tell you about the pickup window that your shipment has – in other words, how long it will take them to find a carrier to transport your vehicle and how long it will take before they arrive. The pickup window can be more easily defined as the period of time between booking and pickup, and most pickup windows are 1-10 days for most shipments. Shipments utilizing an enclosed carrier may take up to 14 days (same for non-running vehicles and flatbed carriers). If you’re shipping a car, be sure to give your shipping company up to the full pickup window range to find a carrier and have them schedule pickup, because sometimes it does take that long.
Car Transport to Virginia Beach
If you’re looking for car transport to Virginia Beach, you should understand that the city itself is one of the largest and most popular auto transport destinations in Virginia, which makes it easier for you to find great deals in the summer. But because of the routes that carriers take into the city, it might be tougher to get in there during the winter months simply because of the snow accumulation in the surrounding region. Be sure to talk to your auto transport company about winter transport, if you’re shipping right around now, but if you can wait a bit you should expect some good deals come spring. Prices may increase during the summer months, but only if you’re in a major hurry. You can fill out our free quote request form to the left and get some car transport quotes to Virginia Beach from top-rated auto shipping companies, and you can read more about the city itself by visiting our Auto Shipping to Virginia Beach page.
Auto Shippers Eyeing Natural Gas?
As the cost of oil – and its refined derivative, gasoline – continues to rise, many overland transportation companies are trying to find ways to cut costs and keep their balance sheets in the black. Since simply not driving isn’t an option for most auto shippers, as driving is the only way they get paid, many companies are looking at switching from diesel fuel to something a bit cheaper. But there are few alternatives to diesel fuel; aside from the power that diesel generates, it is the most readily-available and most cost-effective.
However, some new breakthroughs in natural gas has some auto shipping companies wondering if that might not be the next big thing. Natural gas as an alternative to crude oil isn’t necessarily new; plenty of power companies tap into underground natural gas reservoirs to supply power to customers’ homes. The same principle could theoretically be applied to long-haul trucking; unlike electricity, natural gas has enough oomph to propel an 80,000 pound truck at 55 miles per hour for eight consecutive hours. But the conversion would be costly right now, and even now there are few natural gas stations that they could stop to refuel at. These logistical problems could start disappearing if natural gas becomes the “next big thing,” though, so maybe some auto shippers will get ahead of the curve and start using natural gas to run their trucks.
As we’re fond of saying on this website, only time will tell.