Can I Put Items in My Vehicle Before an Auto Transporter Picks it Up?
Auto transportation companies are not licensed to ship what are considered “household items” because there’s already an industry that ships those types of things.
Therefore, the correct answer when asked if a customer can put items in their vehicle before transport is “no” – but that’s not counting the “junk in the trunk” loophole that many car shipping companies don’t tell you about but don’t do anything about either.
Auto shippers aren’t allowed to look in the trunk of your vehicle without express permission and reason to do so; since few can actually manage to think of a reason to look in your trunk, most just say “forget it” and assume that the trunk of your vehicle is cleared, even if it’s not.
This is the “junk in the trunk” loophole, or clause, that a lot of customers use to get around the fact that car shipping companies technically aren’t allowed to carry household items.
Since car shippers aren’t allowed to look in the trunk of your vehicle unless told to by a law enforcement official (or someone else with equal say in government or law enforcement), items that are in the trunk of your vehicle are generally safe from seizure. so in this scenario you can indeed put items in your vehicle before your car shipping company arrives to pick your vehicle up.
There are, however, a few things that you’ll want to keep in mind if you plan on going this route, however, with perhaps the most important being that you need to watch how much you put in the trunk.
You can’t just load it willy-nilly – you have to keep it below a certain weight limit, and you should never put anything that’s valuable or that can break in the trunk of your vehicle prior to shipping it. Weight limits are important because car shippers, just like interstate haulers of any industry, are subject to specific weight limits imposed by the federal government.
Weight limits are important, especially from an infrastructure standpoint – if a bridge can only handle so much weight, and one of the heaviest interstate trucks on the road today is overweight, can you imagine what might happen to the bridge? This is one scenario – there are many more across this vast country of ours.
And you shouldn’t put things that can break into your trunk because…well, they can break. That’s kind of common sense.
Seriously, though, try to keep any items that you place in your trunk limited to clothes, linens and other types of materials that are lightweight, not very bulky, and can easily be replaced if they get lost, damaged or stolen.
While your car shipping company may not be allowed to look in your trunk, it doesn’t stop thieves from raiding your vehicle, and car shippers aren’t going to be held liable for things that they didn’t even know were in the vehicle – as well as things that could get them in trouble for being in there in the first place.
Their ignorance – real or feigned – when it comes to the stuff in your trunk is more for their protection than yours. Your items will not be insured when they are in your trunk while the car’s on a transport truck, which means that if they do get lost, damaged or stolen, you’re on the hook for the full price of those items. But since they’re your items, that’s a risk that’s entirely up to you.
If you’re looking for quotes to ship a vehicle, regardless of if you have items you need to put in the trunk of the vehicle or not, make sure to fill out our free online quote request form. If you do, you’ll get a free quote right away. We work with only top-rated, licensed and insured carriers. You can also call us toll-free at 800-930-7417 to speak to one of our live agents, who can give you helpful advice about shipping a vehicle, the auto transport industry in general, and they can also help you get your free quote or navigate our free quote form or our website. It’s that simple.
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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