Use Terminal Car Shipping Only if You Need To
A lot of people like the idea of terminal car shipping. It’s cheaper than standard shipping, you just drop your car off and you’re good. But there are some truths that you may be unaware of when you ship a car terminal to terminal, and we’re going to explain some of them today. To start, most smaller cities don’t even have a terminal. They’re typically only located in major cities, and many times share space at an airport terminal, believe it or not. Many of them are not well secured, and some are simply open lots. This can prove problematic, wouldn’t you say?
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Is Terminal Car Shipping Unsafe?
Now, we’re not saying that. We are saying, however, that you should proceed with caution when using terminal car shipping services. It is true that it’s generally cheaper than door to door service, but it definitely is less secure. For starters, you lose the ability to do a pickup and delivery inspection. Sure, some terminals let you inspect the car with someone at the terminal. But most don’t. That, and the fact that you won’t be there to sign off on the Bill of Lading. And that’s a real problem. If there is no one at the terminal, the carrier can simply pick it up and fill out the BoL themselves. This can result in unreported damages, which means they won’t be covered by the carrier’s insurance.
But isn’t that fraud?
Yes and no. On the one hand, carriers can’t just falsify a Bill of Lading. They have to provide an inspection report and sign off on it. But it’s not unheard of for a carrier to get lazy and simply do everything at delivery. They can’t get away with that when you ship door to door because you’re there to oversee both loading and unloading, and you sign off on the Bill of Lading before they load it. Not so with terminal car shipping. Now, we don’t want to scare you – the companies that do this are rare indeed. But couple that with lack of security at the terminal itself, and the fact that cars tend to sit longer waiting for pickup when they’re shipped terminal, and you end up with a lot of ingredients for a bad car shipping experience.
How do I avoid a bad shipping experience?
The best way to go about it is to get multiple free quotes from experience, reliable car transport companies before you make any decisions. You can do this for free right here – just fill out and submit our free quote request form. You’ll get free quotes from top auto transporters, and they can explain the differences between door to door and terminal shipping in more detail. But more than that, your quotes come from honest, reputable and reliable shipping companies. Those are companies we clear for dependability and reliability. We make sure each is fully licensed and bonded and that they only work with top-rated and insured carriers. And if you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact us any time at 800-930-7417.
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.
