Auto Shipping FAQ: Why is Terminal Shipping so Rare?
If you follow our blog at all you’ll likely know a bit about terminal to terminal auto transport services – or, how hard it can be to find terminal shipping services in the first place. Auto transporters don’t ship vehicles via terminals much anymore, mostly because of the fact they’re so hard to find. Back before the internet, terminal to terminal transportation was much more common than it is today, since auto shippers had to rely on different methods of contacting their customers and carriers. Paperwork was more cumbersome and orders took longer to process and dispatch. This made terminals more common for customers, but even then it wasn’t always that way for a carrier.
Today, the internet has revolutionized the industry, making it easier than ever for auto shippers and their customers to interact. More importantly, it’s made it easier than ever for brokers and carriers to interact in ways that allow them to more easily customize their routes and their orders, which is a big reason why door to door auto transport has taken the industry by storm. For many companies it’s simply easier; customers don’t have to worry about leaving their cars for long periods of time and shippers don’t have to worry about what might happen to said car while it’s waiting at a terminal.
Terminals, as used in terminal to terminal vehicle shipping, don’t have a very stellar reputation as-is, and with the way the industry operates today they are quickly getting left behind. As it stands, terminals only exist in major metro areas, though as time goes on their numbers continue to lessen, even in the largest cities. They are cumbersome to deal with and sometimes even inaccessible. With little to no security, as a cost-saving measure, terminals are havens for criminals as well, which makes shipping via a terminal much less secure – and who wants that? This is a major reason why terminals are becoming more and more scarce as well.
If you’re interested in shipping your vehicle via a terminal anyway, you should take a minute to fill out our free online auto transport quote request form. If you do, you’ll get a free quote directly from us to ship your vehicle. While we normally don’t offer terminal to terminal shipping services, it never hurts to ask. Moreover, you can learn more about why terminal shipping is so rare by speaking to one of our representatives. Get a price, compare services and get the best transportation experience you can find – just let us help you do it. You can also contact one of our own representatives toll-free at 800-930-7417 to learn more about shipping a vehicle, how the auto transport industry works, why terminals are fading, and more.
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.
