Auto Shipping FAQ: Do I Need to be There for Pickup/Delivery?
The question of whether or not a customer needs to be there for pickup or delivery of their vehicle is actually a fairly common question, and the short answer is that no, you don’t need to be there for pickup or delivery, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The reality is that while you, as the customer, don’t necessarily need to be there for the pickup or delivery of your vehicle, someone has to be – there has to be someone available to meet with the driver at pickup and delivery, go over the paperwork and do the pickup and delivery inspections, and ultimately make sure that everything goes according to plan and that the driver and the customer (or whoever) are both on the same page when it comes to the transport of the vehicle.
A person is required to do certain things, but there will be times when there’s absolutely no one that you can turn to for help if you can’t be there at pickup or delivery. This isn’t all that uncommon, believe it or not; as many auto transport orders are part of a larger household move, customers are often too busy dealing with the minutiae of their daily lives as is that they don’t have the time to wait around for the carrier to arrive to pickup or deliver their vehicle or spend the half-hour or so doing the inspection and going over the paperwork and signing all the documentation (and paying the driver upon delivery, when the time comes). Auto shipping services are fairly expensive, and many people who ship cars lead busy, productive lives. That’s why terminal to terminal shipping is generally available, though it would likely be done by request only.
Terminal to terminal shipping is a great alternative for busy customers that don’t have the ability to be there for pickup or delivery and don’t have someone who can be there for them. Terminal shipping is not ideal for most people, as most terminals are located only in major metro areas. This means that someone utilizing terminal shipping will likely have to drive their car quite a bit to get it to the terminal, where it can then wait until the driver picks it up. It gets around the paperwork aspect and allows you to simply drop your car off and wait for it to be delivered. There are a lot of cons to terminal shipping, as you have so little oversight when it comes to pickup or delivery, but it’s useful for people who need it – most won’t need it, however, so keep that in mind as well.
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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