Auto Shipping FAQ: Can I Ship Parts in my Car?
A major stipulation in the auto transport industry is that you can’t have anything in your vehicle while it is being transported. This is due to license issues – there are a lot of different types of freight out there, and there are specialized industries that handle all those different types of freight.
Therefore, household movers handle moving household items but not cars. Auto shippers are licensed to carry vehicles but not household items. Mixing the two can lead to some problems down the road, namely in the fact that carriers could theoretically get in trouble. But then again, what about shipping parts of a car inside the car? That’s a different issue entirely.
Most auto transport carriers on the road today allow a bit of extra junk in the trunk. Usually it comes down to things like pillows or blankets or maybe some personal effects, and they’ll often allow you to put parts of a vehicle inside the trunk as if it were anything else. They have weight restrictions that they have to abide by, and the more stuff you put in your car the heavier it gets.
If everyone put stuff in the vehicles they shipped, the truck would be overweight at the first weigh station they stop at. This causes a lot of problems for a number of reasons, but at the end of the day car shipping companies have max weights and if they’re overweight at a weigh station, that extra weight will be found and dropped from the truck.
So, to answer the question posted in the title, yes, you can usually ship parts of a car in the vehicle itself, but it’s going to depend on the parts that you’re trying to ship. Try to keep them light – a car weighs a lot in part because of how many different parts it has. Lug nuts, spark plugs – loose things like that should be put in a box and shoved in the trunk.
If you have larger, heavier parts that need to be shipped, you should talk to a live agent and let them know what it is you’re trying to ship along with your vehicle. They can tell you more about it, but a good rule of thumb is no more than 50-100 pounds of items in the trunk of the vehicle only. The cab needs to be clear of anything that did not come with the car when it rolled off the assembly line, though some auto transport companies are more lenient than others in this regard.
If you’re interested in shipping a vehicle and also need to get some parts moved along with it, you should take a minute to fill out our free online auto transport quote request form. When you use our form you’ll get a free quote to ship your vehicle right away. You can also contact us any time at 800-930-7417 to get a quote, get questions answered, and even book your shipment. So use our services and see what American Auto Shipping can do for you.
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.
